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See what science fiction and fantasy authors
fro about
Isaac Asimov:
“The extraordinary and grand concept which fory hat drew inally”—Brian W Aldiss
“With his fertile iination, his wit, and his prolific output, Isaac Asienerations of science fiction writers”—Kevin J Anderson
“A true poly and accessible writer in both fiction and nonfiction, Isaac Asimov was simply a master of all he surveyed Beloved entertainer, pioneer, author ofstories of the twentieth century, he will probably be best known as the creator of Hari Seldon, Lije Baley, R Daneel Olivaw, Trantor, the Encyclopedia Galactica, and the idea that robots—our eternal servants— Bear
“Isaac Asimov was not only one of the most important writers in science fiction, he was one of the best and brightest people ever Read I, Robot to see this sparkling genius at his best”—Ben Bova
“Asimov served wondrous meals-of-the- about the future To this day, his visions spice our ongoing dinner-table conversation about human destiny”—David Brin
“Asi science fiction I cut uratively) on The Caves of Steel and followed it up with The Naked Sun So at the world, but Isaac Asimov opened up the door to the universe and invited us to co for one hell of a fabulous ride”—Esther Freisner
“Isaac Asi Ideas so crucial to the sense of wonder in science fiction and es—particularly in his robot stories, Foundation works, and other speculative fiction both long and short—raised the bar high for all of us who have followed him in the tradition of idea-driven science fiction Asiave his felloriters laws—of robotics, and psychohistory—that have shaped all of us who have tried to write of ence or of hureat and vital legacy”—Howard V Hendrix
“Asiy was the pivotal touchstone in my life in creative fiction His vision and scope spanned the galaxy across eons and at the sa characters The writer I a from the boy that these books touched back then They continue tomy mind and life to the possible”—Tracy Hickman
“I grew up on the ABCs of science fiction—Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke There’s a reason Asimov’s name comes first, and not just because of the alphabet!”—Janis Ian
“Asimov’s Foundation series stands the test of ti the first science fiction books I ever read and I still enjoy the vision of galactic empire”—Karen Lowachee
“The idea of robots rising up against their human masters is at least as old as the word ‘robot’ itself Asi problem, which he solved with his famous Three Laws of Robotics This by itself would have earned him a spot in history, but he went on (and on!) to explore the ramifications and unintended consequences of his solution In so doing, he crafted one of thefuture histories the field of science fiction has ever seen, or probably ever will Reader, you are in for a treat”—Wil McCarthy
“If anything can be said to have been the launchpad for space age science fiction, it has to be the Foundation trilogy It’s a classic And it’s unforgettable”—Jack McDevitt
“I’m sure there will be more Foundation stories, and more robot stories, and more science fictional acies to us But reading them won’t be quite the same There was only one Isaac Asimov; there will never be another”—Mike Resnick
“The Foundation series is one of the masterpieces of science fiction If you’ve never read these novels, then you’re in for a treat, and even if you’ve already read them, then you owe it to yourself to reread thereat”—Allen M Steele
“Quite siot me started”—Liz Williams
“Isaac was still in his teens when Ifor John W Cae of science fiction,’ he became one of the founders of our field With the robot stories and the Foundation stories, he helped to shape science fiction as we know it”—Jack Williamson
Bantam Spectra Books
by Isaac Asimov
THE FOUNDATION NOVELS
Prelude to Foundation
Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Second Foundation
Foundation’s Edge
Forward the Foundation
THE ROBOT NOVELS
I, Robot
The Caves of Steel
The Naked Sun
The Robots of Dawn
Nemesis
The Gods Themselves
Fantastic Voyage
With Robert Silverberg
Nightfall
The Positronic Man
FOUNDATION AND EARTH
A Bantaement with Doubleday
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Doubleday hardcover edition published 1986
Bantam mass market edition / September 2004
Published by
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc
New York, New York
All rights reserved
Copyright © 1986 by Nightfall, Inc
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 86-2130
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any for photocopying, recording, or by any infore and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law
For information address: Bantam Books, New York, New York
Bantaistered trademarks of Random House, Inc
eISBN: 978-0-553-90094-1
v31
To the memory of Judy-Lynn del Rey
[1943–1986]
a giant in mind and spirit
THE STORY BEHIND THE FOUNDATION
ON AUGUST 1, 1941, WHEN I WAS A LAD OF TWENTY-ONE, I was a graduate student in che science fiction professionally for three years I was hastening to see John Ca, to whom I had sold five stories by then I was anxious to tell him a new idea I had for a science fiction story
It was to write a historical novel of the future; to tell the story of the fall of the Galactic Erew as excited as I was He didn’t want le story He wanted a series of stories, in which the full history of the thousand years of turmoil between the fall of the First Galactic Empire and the rise of the Second Galactic Empire was to be outlined It would all be illuminated by the science of “psychohistory” that Campbell and I thrashed out between us
The first story appeared in the May 1942 Astounding and the second story appeared in the June 1942 issue They were at once popular and Campbell saw to it that I wrote six rew longer, too The first one was only twelve thousand words long Two of the last three stories were fifty thousand words apiece
By the time the decade was over,
I had grown tired of the series, dropped it, and went on to other things By then, however, various publishing houses were beginning to put out hardcover science fiction books One such house was a small semiprofessional firm, Gnome Press They published my Foundation series in three volumes: Foundation (1951); Foundation and Empire (1952); and Second Foundation (1953) The three books together cay
The books did not do very well, for Gnome Press did not have the capital hich to advertise and proot neither statements nor royalties from them
In early 1961, my then-editor at Doubleday, Tin publisher to reprint the Foundation books Since they were not Doubleday books, he passed the request on to et royalties on those books”
Seldes was horrified, and instantly set about getting the rights to the books froust of that year, the books (along with I, Robot) became Doubleday property
Froan to earn increasing royalties Doubleday published the Trilogy in a single voluh the Science Fiction Book Club Because of that the Foundation series became enormously well-known
In the 1966 World Science Fiction Convention, held in Cleveland, the fans were asked to vote on a category of “The Best All-Time Series” It was the first tiory had been included in the noy won the award, which further added to the popularity of the series
Increasingly, fans kept askingStill, it fascinated me that people who had not yet been born when the series was begun had ht up in it