Foundation’s Friends
{5/5} “Some of you may now be saying that psychohistory was not what I made it out to be, and you will be right, in the way that most shortsighted minds are right. But it was, I hope, enough of what it had to be — a rallying cry against the irrational darkness that threatened to plunge the Galaxy into thirty thousand years of barbarism.” (From “Foundation’s Conscience” by George Zebrowski)
Foundation’s Friends edited by Martin H. Greenberg, published in 1989
“Trantor Falls” tells the story of the interactions between the man who kicked out the last Emperor and the librarians at the University. By Harry Turtledove, it fits perfectly into what we know from Asimov’s novels.
“Dilemma” tells the story of a 94-year-old Isaac Asimov dealing with some robots who come to his office and ask him to repeal the First Law. By Connie Willis, it’s very clever and funny.
“The Originist” is about a friend of Hari Seldon’s who researched human origins like no one else. By Orson Scott Card, it’s about stories, communities, and marriage.
This anthology celebrates Isaac Asimov’s 50th year as a writer — he was still alive at the time and wrote an afterward. Major authors contributed their best stories to honour their colleague and friend.
It contains Robot stories, Foundation stories, and even a “Nightfall” story. A couple of the stories are pretty science-y and one ends abruptly — other than that, the stories are marvellous. Two of the stories have Isaac Asimov as a character, in an alternate universe.
One more quotation: “The only thing that lives on after us is the new shape we’ve given to the communities we lived in. There are things that are known because I said them, and even though people have forgotten who said it, they’ll go on knowing.” (From “The Originist”)
Greenberg was a prolific editor of science fiction and fantasy anthologies. I’ve read a few of them, including Pharoah Fantastic, Give Me Liberty, and 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories.
I previously reviewed Prelude to Foundation.