Isaac Asimov - Prelude to Foundation Trilogy

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You will see, if you study the publication dates of these books, that

there was a twenty-five-year hiatus between 1957 and 1982, during

which I did not add to this series. This was not because I had stopped

writing. Indeed, I wrote full-speed throughout the quarter century,

but I wrote other things. That I returned to the series in 1982 was not

my own notion but was the result of a combination of pressures from

readers and publishers that eventually became overwhelming.

In any case, the situation has become sufficiently complicated for

me to feel that the readers might welcome a kind of guide to the se-

ries, since they were not written in the order in which (perhaps) they

should be read.

The fourteen books, all published by Doubleday, offer a kind of his-

tory of the future, which is, perhaps, not completely consistent, since I

did not plan consistency to begin with. The chronological order of the

books, in terms of future history (and not of publication date), is as

follows:

1. The Complete Robot (1982). This is a collection of thirty-one ro-

bot short stories published between 1940 and 1976 and includes every

story in my earlier collection 1. Robot (1950). Only one robot short

story has been written since this collection appeared. That is "Robot

Dreams," which has not yet appeared in any Doubleday collection.

2. The Caves of Steel (1954). This is the first of my robot novels.

3. The Naked Sun (1957). The second robot novel.

4. The Robots of Dawn (1983 ). The third robot novel.

5. Robots and Empire (1985). The fourth robot novel.

11. foundation and Empire (1952). The third Foundation novel, made

up of two stories, originally published in 1945.

12. Second foundation (1953). The fourth Foundation novel, made up

of two stories, originally published in 1948 and 1949.

13. Foundations Edge (1982). The fifth Foundation novel.

14. Foundation and Earth (1983). The sixth Foundation novel.

Will I add additional books to the series? I might. There is room for

a book between Robots and Empire (5) and The Currents of Space (6)

and between Prelude to Foundation (9) and Foundation (10) and of

course between others as well. And then I can follow Foundation and

Earth (14) with additional volumes-as many as I like.

Naturally, there's got to be some limit, for I don't expect to live

forever, but I do intend to hang on as long as possible.

Having succeeded to the Imperial throne in 12,010 at the age of

twenty-two, Cleon I's reign represented a curious interval of quiet in

those troubled times. This is undoubtedly due to the skills of his Chief

of Staff, Eto Demerzel, who so carefully obscured himself from public

record that little is known about him.

Cleon himself ...

ENCYLOPEDIA GALACTICA

(All quotations from the Encyclopedia Galactica here reproduced are

taken from the 116th Edition, published 1,020 FE by the Encyclopedia

Galactica Publishing Co., Terminus, with permission of the publishers.)

Suppressing a small yawn, Cleon said, "Demerzel, have you by any

chance ever heard of a man named Hari Seldon?"

Cleon had been Emperor for just over ten years and there were

times at state occasions when, dressed in the necessary robes and re-

galia, he could manage to look stately. He did so, for instance, in the

holograph of himself that stood in the niche in the wall behind him. It

was placed so that it clearly dominated the other niches holding the

holographs of several of his ancestors.

The holograph was not a totally honest one, for though Cleon's hair

was light brown in hologram and reality alike, it was a bit thicker in the

holograph. There was a certain asymmetry to his real face, for the left

side of his upper lip raised itself a bit higher than the right side, and

vated, Hari Seldon? It is an unfamiliar name to me, Sire. Ought I to

know of him?"

"The Minister of Science mentioned him to me last night. I thought

you might."

Demerzel frowned slightly, but only very slightly, for one does not

frown in the Imperial presence. "The Minister of Science, Sire, should

have spoken of this man to me as Chief of Staff. If you are to be bom-

barded from every side-"

Cleon raised his hand and Demerzel stopped at once. "Please, De-

merzel, one can't stand on formality at all times. When I passed the

Minister at last night's reception and exchanged a few words with him,

he bubbled over. I could not refuse to listen and I was glad I had, for

it was interesting."

"In what way interesting, Sire?"

"Well, these are not the old days when science and mathematics

were all the rage. That sort of thing seems to have died down somehow,

perhaps because all the discoveries have been made, don't you think?

Apparently, however, interesting things can still happen. At least I was

told it was interesting."

"By the Minister of Science, Sire?"

"Yes. He said that this Hari Seldon had attended a convention of

mathematicians held here in Trantor - they do this every ten years, for

some reason---and he said that he had proved that one could foretell

the future mathematically."

Demerzel permitted himself a small smile. "Either the Minister of

Science, a man of little acumen, is mistaken or the mathematician is.

should predict a long and happy reign for me, a time of peace and pros-

perity for the Empire- Eh, would that not be well?"

"It would be pleasant to hear, certainly, but what would it accom-

plish, Sire?"

"But surely if people believe this, they would act on that belief.

Many a prophecy, by the mere force of its being believed, is trans-

muted to fact. These are 'self-fulfilling prophecies.' Indeed, now that

I think of it, it was you who once explained this to me."

Demerzel said, "I believe I did, Sire." His eyes were watching the

Emperor carefully, as though to see how far he might go on his own.

"Still, if that be so, one could have any person make the prophecy. "

"Not all persons would be equally believed, Demerzel. A mathemati-

cian, however, who could back his prophecy with mathematical formulas

and terminology, might be understood by no one and yet believed by

everyone."

Demerzel said, "As usual, Sire, you make good sense. We live in

troubled times and it would be worthwhile to calm them in a way that

would require neither money nor military effort-which, in recent his-

tory, have done little good and much harm."

"Exactly, Demerzel," said the Emperor with excitement. "Reel in

this Hari Seldon. You tell me you have your strings stretching to every

Hari Seldon did not make an impressive appearance at this time.

Like the Emperor Cleon I, he was thirty-two years old, but he was only

1.73 meters tall. His face was smooth and cheerful, his hair dark

brown, almost black, and his clothing had the unmistakable touch of

provinciality about it.

To anyone in later times who knew of Hari Seldon only as a legen-

dary demigod, it would seem almost sacrilegious for him not to have

white hair, not to have an old lined face, a quiet smile radiating wisdom,

not to be seated in a wheelchair. Even then, in advanced old age, his

eyes had been cheerful, however. There was that.

And his eyes were particularly cheerful now, for his paper had been

given at the Decennial Convention. It had even aroused some interest in

a distant sort of way and old Osterfith had nodded his head at him and

had said, "Ingenious, young man. Most ingenious." Which, coming from

Osterfith, was satisfactory. Most satisfactory.

But now there was a new-and quite unexpected-development and

Seldon wasn't sure whether it should increase his cheer and intensify

his satisfaction or not.

He stared at the tall young man in uniform-the Spaceship -and- Sun

neatly placed on the left side of his tunic.

To be brought to the Palace, sir. That s the extent of my instruc-

tions. "

"But why?"

"I was not told why, sir. And I have my strict instructions that you

must come with me-one way or another."

"But this seems as though I am being arrested. I have done nothing

to warrant that."

"Say, rather, that it seems you are being given an escort of honor -

if you delay me no further."

Seldon delayed no further. He pressed his lips together, as though

to block of further questions, nodded his head, and stepped forward.

Even if he was going to meet the Emperor and to receive Imperial

commendation, he found no joy in it. He was for the Empire-that is, for

the worlds of humanity in peace and union but he was not for the Em-

peror.

The lieutenant walked ahead, the other two behind. Seldon smiled at

those he passed and managed to look unconcerned. Outside the hotel

they climbed into an official ground-car. (Seldon ran his hand over the

upholstery; he had never been in anything so ornate. )

don thought) for official vehicles.

A door opened and the ground-car sped through. When the door

closed behind them, they were in the open-the true, the real open.

There were 250 square kilometers of the only stretch of open land on

Trantor and on it stood the Imperial Palace. Seldon would have liked a

chance to wander through that open land-not because of the Palace,

but because it also contained the Galactic University and, most in-

triguing of all, the Galactic Library.

And yet, in passing from the enclosed world of Trantor into the

open patch of wood and parkland, he had passed into a world in which

clouds dimmed the sky and a chill wind rued his shirt. He pressed the

contact that closed the ground-car's window.

It was a dismal day outside.

Seldon was not at all sure he would meet the Emperor. At best, he

would meet some official in the fourth or fifth echelon who would claim

to speak for the Emperor.

How many people ever did see the Emperor? In person, rather than

on holovision? How many people saw the real, tangible Emperor, an Em-

peror who never left the Imperial grounds that he, Seldon, was now

rolling over.

now represented an Empire that had become a dead weight upon its

people-not the Emperor.

So it was that when Seldon was ushered into a moderately sized,

lavishly furnished room and found a young-looking man sitting on the

edge of a table in a windowed alcove, one foot on the ground and one

swinging over the edge, he found himself wondering that any official

should be looking at him in so blandly good-natured a way. He had al-

ready experienced the fact, over and over, that government officials--

and particularly those in the Imperial servicelooked grave at all times,

as though bearing the weight of the entire Galaxy on their shoulders.

And it seemed the lower in importance they were, the graver and more

threatening their expression.

This, then, might be an official so high in the scale, with the sun of

power so bright upon him, that he felt no need of countering it with

clouds of frowning.

Seldon wasn't sure how impressed he ought to be, but he felt that

it would be best to remain silent and let the other speak first.

The official said, "You are Hari Seldon, I believe. The mathemati-

cian. "

Seldon responded with a minimal "Yes, sir," and waited again.

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摘要：

Youwillsee,ifyoustudythepublicationdatesofthesebooks,thattherewasatwenty-five-yearhiatusbetween1957and1982,duringwhichIdidnotaddtothisseries.ThiswasnotbecauseIhadstoppedwriting.Indeed,Iwrotefull-speedthroughoutthequartercentury,butIwroteotherthings.ThatIreturnedtotheseriesin1982wasnotmyownnotionbutw...

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Isaac Asimov - Prelude to Foundation Trilogy

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