Foundation and Empire cover art

Foundation and Empire

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

Foundation and Empire

By: Isaac Asimov
Narrated by: Scott Brick
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £16.69

Buy Now for £16.69

The second novel in Isaac Asimov’s classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series

Led by its founding father, the psychohistorian Hari Seldon, and utilizing science and technology, the Foundation survived the greed and barbarism of its neighboring warrior-planets. Now cleverness and courage may not be enough. For the Empire—the mightiest force in the Galaxy—is even more dangerous in its death throes. Even worse, a mysterious entity called the Mule has appeared with powers beyond anything humanly conceivable. Who—or what—is the Mule? And how is humanity to defend itself against this invulnerable avatar of annihilation?

Filled with nail-biting suspense, nonstop action, and cutting-edge speculation, Foundation and Empire is the story of humanity’s perpetual struggle against the darkness that forever threatens to overwhelm the light—and of how the courage of even a determined few can make all the difference in the universe. Classics Fantasy Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
Foundation book 1 was a classic piece of SF. I found this a bit more hard going and whilst it picked up at the end, was a bit of a slog at times. friends reliably inform me it picks up again in the 3rd book, but I felt this wasn't on par with the first.

slightly more hard going than the first book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I already lived this book, but the reader is so good too. It's required reading for Sci Fi fans!

classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you could sum up Foundation and Empire in three words, what would they be?

Continuation, classic, compelling.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Foundation and Empire?

The denouement is the face off of the Foundation with the remains of the Galactic Empire, but it is handled so well, like any diplomatic crisis, people don't cry 'eureka' but change occurs imperceptibly, inevitably.

Have you listened to any of Scott Brick’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I've listened to the 3 'Foundation Saga' audiobooks and Scott was great in all of them. I think that sometimes the greatest accolade for a narrator is simply to go unnoticed. Too much or too little acting draws attention to itself.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It is certainly one I would listen to again, but it is a big chunk of time to do it all in one sitting.

The Difficult Second Book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listening to the audio version of this book was wonderful. It really added to the tension and the climax. I always liked this book best of the foundation series. The beta player I used had none of the quirks of the released windows phone player. Audio always resumed from the last position. Great when you are listening through the Bluetooth connection while driving and make many stops.

Very happy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A magnificent book that surpasses the first in the series, although both books are superb. The Foundation is in trouble and Hari Seldon's prophecies are at risk from a mutant intelligence he could not have predicted. Hope is turned towards the revelation of a second foundation but discovering its location could prove its downfall as dark forces are also interested in it.

This book is different from the first in that it is not so split up into shorter stories (five in the first book) that cover hundreds of years of history. This book consists of two stories ('The General' and 'The Mule') and as such I enjoyed it more since I could get better involved in the characters and longer plot than the fragmented structure of the first book. Both of these books are sci-fi at its best, though.

This book was a real pleasure to listen to, all the more enjoyable for the great narration by Scott Brick.

Better than the first book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews