Asimov's Foundation Series

AnteCantelope

Hey guys, I've just bought Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, and I was wondering what order I should read them in. Normally that'd be a silly question, but there are prequels and such to consider. Should I read them in the order they were written, or the order that they're set?

Thanks.

Malyonsus

Assuming this is your first time through the series, I recommend publication order. That will send you into each following book with the same amount of information that Asimov expected/intended for the reader to have.

Incidentally, I also recommend this kind of order for every other series as well.

The second or third time through I would consider in-universe chronological, especially for a long series in which the publication order differs significantly from the chronological (like, say, Foundation, particularly if you're including *every* book written in that universe). It can help you get a more cohesive overview of the progression of the series-wide plot/history, and you don't have to worry about prequel-based spoilers anymore.

Antithesis

I agree. Just so that you don't have to look around too much:

I'd start with Foundation, then read Foundation and Empire, and finally Second Foundation.

Those are the original three and trust me, they are the ones that you want to read first. The rest are more than a fair bit different in theme/tone and introduce quite a bit of new stuff that you wouldn't want to have hanging with you for the rest of the series.

After those, I'd recommend the two sequels to the trilogy (Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth).

I'd finish with the two prequels, Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation.

AnteCantelope

Awesome, thanks.

I've only read a little of Foundation before, so I'm looking forward to this.

DeadlySherpa

antithesis has a gret lineup, starting at the "beginning" will deprive a lot of potential enjoyment out of the series.

shutz

If you want the full sweep of things, here's how to go about it:

1- I, Robot

The Empire novels:
2- Pebble in the Sky
3- The Stars, Like Dust
4- The Currents of Space

The Foundation Trilogy:
5- Foundation
6- Foundation and Empire
7- Second Foundation

The original Robot Novels:
8- The Caves of Steel
9- The Naked Sun

Then, onto the continuations that were written years later:

10- Foundation's Edge
11- The Robots of Dawn
12- Robots and Empire
13- Foundation and Earth
14- Prelude to Foundation
15- Forward the Foundation (Asimov's final novel, written as he knew he didn't have much time left, and published after his death)

Then, if you still crave more, you can try the trilogy of novels that was authorized by his estate, and which adds some cool stuff to the saga:

Foundation's Fear, by Gregory Benford
Foundation and Chaos, by Greg Bear
Foundation's Triumph, by David Brin

I enjoyed those, even though they're stylistically a hybrid between Asimov's clear, almost non-existent style, and each of those writers' individual styles. The first one was the least enjoyable to me, but I suppose it was because it had to set up a lot of things for the other two. I remember really liking the last two.

Anyway, the order above is mostly in publication order, which is how Asimov figured things. The Robots, Empire and Foundation series weren't originally planned to fit together. Asimov made them fit when he started writing novels again in the 80's, and the way he did has always felt brilliant and somewhat grandiose to me.

If it seems like too much, you can skip the Empire novels, as they're only tangentially related, but they do fill in some of the blanks between the Robot and Foundation series.

The two novels that really tie things together are Robots and Empire, then Foundation and Earth. You should try to read all the Robot and Foundation novels that come before those two, first. Otherwise, some cool surprises will be spoiled for you.