Prelude to Foundation
Cover of the first edition
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| Author | Isaac Asimov |
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| Cover artist | Boris Vallejo |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Foundation Series |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
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Publication date
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November 1988 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 403 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | '"Blind Alley"' |
| Followed by | Foundation's Fear |
Prelude to Foundation is a novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1988. It is one of two prequels to the Foundation series. For the first time, Asimov chronicles the fictional life of Hari Seldon, the man who invented psychohistory and the intellectual hero of the series. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award.
Prelude to Foundation is set in the year 12,020 G.E. (Galactic era), during the rocky reign of the Emperor Cleon I. It starts with Hari's presentation of a paper at a mathematics convention detailing how practical use of psychohistory might theoretically be possible. The Emperor of the Galactic Empire learns of this and wants to use Hari for political gain. But an interview with Hari causes Cleon to conclude that Hari is of no use to the Empire. After he leaves he goes to see the rest of Trantor.
Hari then meets reporter Chetter Hummin, who convinces him that Cleon's first minister, Eto Demerzel, is attempting to capture him, and that it is therefore imperative for Hari to escape and to try to make psychohistory practical. Thus, Hari accompanied by Hummin goes to Streeling University, one of the top ranked of the Empire, with the idea of developing a practical application to anticipate the future. He is introduced to Dors Venabili by Hummin. Hari theorizes that in order to make psychohistory work, he needs to find a small but significative sample, and that the best one would be the original world where humans originated...which is now lost to all but in a few histories.
Hari and Dors narrowly evade capture at Streeling University, following which the pair move to Mycogen. Hari and Dors are welcomed to Mycogen by Sunmaster Fourteen, the leader of Mycogen. Determined to work out his psychohistory with the knowledge that the Mycogenians supposedly possess, Hari decides to speak to a Mycogenian alone about history, hoping to find if their world was the original one as they claim. He manages this by convincing Raindrop Forty-Three to show him the prized Mycogenian microfarms, a prized source of food for the aristocracy and Mycogenians alike, then asking her to show her their religious historical book. Raindrop Forty-Three accepts on the condition that Hari allows her to touch his hair, hair being expressly forbidden in Mycogenian society. When Hari starts reading the book, he finds it disappointing except for the revelation of what the Mycogenians call their home planet, Aurora, and references to "robots".
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