Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 63 (click to see context) from:
** ''Isaac Asimov'' is the title for a six-book compilation; ''Literature/TheStarsLikeDust'', ''Literature/TheNakedSun'', ''Literature/IRobot'', and the three books of ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy''.
to:
** ''Isaac Asimov'' is the title for a six-book compilation; ''Literature/TheStarsLikeDust'', ''Literature/TheNakedSun'', ''Literature/IRobot'', ''Literature/TheStarsLikeDust''; ''Literature/TheNakedSun''; ''Literature/IRobot'': and the three books of ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 60 (click to see context) from:
* NamingYourColonyWorld: Since "Literature/Foundation1941", Terminus has been the capital panet of the (First) Foundation. It is given this name because it is the furthest habitable planet from the galactic core, the 'terminus' of the galaxy. It also shares its name with the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Roman god]] of boundary stones and property disputes.
to:
* NamingYourColonyWorld: Since "Literature/Foundation1941", ''Literature/Foundation1951'', Terminus has been the capital panet of the (First) Foundation. It is given this name because it is the furthest habitable planet from the galactic core, the 'terminus' of the galaxy. It also shares its name with the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Roman god]] of boundary stones and property disputes.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* EnigmaticInstitute: The eponymous Foundation becomes more and more enigmatic and secretive as time goes on, partially because the neighboring worlds have lost nearly all their technical know-how so the technology the Foundation retains might as well be magic to them.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Page Creation
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/avonfoundationtrilogy.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asimov_foundation_trilogy.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: IdiosyncraticCoverArt]]
->''"You are a planet suddenly cut off from the still-civilized centers of the Galaxy, and threatened by your stronger neighbors. You are a small world of scientists surrounded by vast and rapidly expanding reaches of barbarism. You are an island of nuclear power in a growing ocean of more primitive energy; but are helpless despite that, because of your lack of metals. You see, then, that you are faced by hard necessity, and that action is forced on you. The nature of that action -- that is, the solution to your dilemma -- is, of course, obvious!"''
-->-- '''Hari Seldon''', "Literature/TheEncyclopedists"
These [[{{Trilogy}} three books]], published individually as well as in BoxedSet and {{Omnibus}} volumes, form the core of Creator/IsaacAsimov's famous SpaceOpera. ''The Foundation Trilogy'' is an [[TheEpic Epic Narrative]] that was first told in {{Pulp Magazine}}s during the GoldenAge of ScienceFiction. It describes the [[RisingEmpire rise of Terminus]] as the [[GalacticSuperpower Second Galactic Empire]], the obstacles presented by the [[UngovernableGalaxy schisms along the Periphery]], the [[VestigialEmpire remnants of the first Galactic Empire]], and the [[OutsideContextProblem Mule]]. Additional stories taking place in [[TheVerse this setting]] have been written, forming the ''Literature/{{Foundation|Series}}'' series.
Dr Asimov wrote a SelfParody about the trilogy, titled "Literature/TheFoundationOfSFSuccess", and other adaptations include a 1970s [[Radio/TheFoundationTrilogy radio dramatisation]] by [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio]], accessible from Creator/{{Audible}} and Website/InternetArchive. To see more, visit the [[{{Franchise/Foundation}} multimedia franchise page]].
----
!!Works published as ''The Foundation Trilogy'':
[[index]] %%Works in chronological order
* ''Literature/Foundation1951'':
** "Literature/ThePsychohistorians"
** "Literature/TheEncyclopedists"
** "Literature/TheMayors"
** "Literature/TheTraders"
** "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces"
* ''Literature/FoundationAndEmpire'':
** Prologue
** "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation"
** "Literature/TheMule"
* ''Literature/SecondFoundation'':
** Prologue
** "Literature/SearchByTheMule"
** "Literature/SearchByTheFoundation"
[[/index]]
----
!!''The Foundation Trilogy'' provides examples of:
* AgriWorld: During the time between "Literature/ThePsychohistorians" and "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation", the Imperial Capital of Trantor is a CityPlanet that requires the combined output of 20 agricultural worlds to feed its population of 40 billion people. Ironically, between the events of "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation" and "Literature/TheMule", Trantor is sacked. After the Galactic Empire's fall cuts off its supply lines and it ceases to be the center of the galaxy, it starts to turn into a purely agrarian society, except for the Imperial Library [[spoiler:where the Second Foundation is ruling the First Foundation from behind the scenes]].
* AllAccordingToPlan: Despite having died decades to centuries ago, [[PosthumousCharacter Hari Seldon]] planned the events of each chapter. Appearing in the "[[DeadManWriting Time Vault]]", he announces the primary conflict of the story and reassures the people of Terminus that it will be resolved in their favour. His predictions become known as [[ThePlan the Seldon Plan]].
* BatmanGambit: Hari Seldon sets up [[LongGame centuries worth of plans]] in advance, [[PrescienceByAnalysis using statistics]]. The actions taken by his Foundation on Terminus are dictated by the starting conditions (conditions that he arranged). Every so often, a "Seldon Crisis" occurs, where there is only one possible action that the Foundation can take, because any other action would result in their destruction. {{Subverted|Trope}} when it turns out that [[spoiler:the Second Foundation he keeps talking about is a [[AncientConspiracy secret organisation he began]] with the purpose of [[XanatosSpeedChess constantly tweaking details]] of ThePlan to force Terminus back onto his predictions if they began to deviate]].
-->"You see, then, that you are faced by hard necessity, and that action is forced on you. The nature of that action -- that is, the solution to your dilemma -- is, of course, obvious!"'' -- '''Hari Seldon''', ''Literature/TheEncyclopedists"
* BenevolentConspiracy: The Second Foundation is the opposite of the Foundation on Terminus in many ways; established at "the opposite end of the galaxy", a secret cabal of mentalists rather than a public presence of scientists and engineers, but both are present to prevent thirty thousand years of anarchy that would occur without following [[ThePlan the Seldon Plan]].
* BilledAboveTheTitle:
** The 1963 Science Fiction Book Club copy of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' {{Omnibus}} printed his name above the title, with "Isaac" in roughly the same size as the title, but with "Asimov" about 50% larger. The full name is underlined and coloured green.
** The Creator/{{Avon}} and Equinox cover for ''The Foundation Trilogy'' {{Omnibus}} from 1974 printed Dr Asimov's name above the title, but at the same size.
** Creator/BasteiLubbe's 1983 German translation of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' ([[MarketBasedTitle changed to]] ''Die Psychohistoriker'') places Dr Asimov's name in slightly smaller font above the title.
* BoxedSet:
** Creator/GnomePress published a slipcase to fit the original hardcover for all three books to celebrate the printing of ''Second Foundation''. The box uses the art of ''Foundation'''s dust jacket for the sides.
** Creator/{{Avon}} published a box set of their editions in the 1970s, using a minimized version of each cover for the slipcase art.
* ClarkesThirdLaw: When ''Foundation'' begins, the Galactic Empire's [[UsedFuture civilization and technology]] has already begun to crumble; local systems are losing the scientific expertise necessary for an interstellar society to function and control of the Periphery is quickly lost. Starting from the end of "Literature/TheEncyclopedists", the people of Terminus begin educating people from the Four Kingdoms in technology, such as nuclear power, radioactive synthetics, and hyperwave relays. However, in order to explain the technology in a way they could understand, Terminus [[ScamReligion has to couch everything in religious terms]], effectively saying [[AWizardDidIt The Galactic Spirit Did It]] to convince the local barbarians that it was safe for human use. When a better educated man is trying to piece through the veil of mysticism created by the gulf of distance, he protests that [[DeflectorShields a personal shield]] is impossible. To which the person he's interrogating drolly points out that their status as "magicians" is not wholly unearned.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Instead of dashing heroics and swashbuckling, as featured in most SpaceOpera stories, the protagonists use their wits and intelligence to escape their problems. Indeed, in most stories, the individuals themselves are unable to do anything to save the day, but historical forces, [[YouCantFightFate beyond the protagonists' control]], resolve the conflicts in their favour anyway.
* {{Doorstopper}}:
** The 1963 {{Omnibus}} by Creator/{{Doubleday}} is over 650 pages long. Most omnibus editions are similarly lengthy.
** The 1966 {{Omnibus}} by Creator/SidgwickAndJackson condensed the page count to about 550 pages without losing any of the story.
** The largest copies are the 939 page German {{Omnibus}} translations by Creator/{{Heyne}} in 1991 and 1994.
* DoubleSidedBook: Creator/AceBooks double novel series has D-110; ''Literature/NoWorldOfTheirOwn'' by Creator/PoulAnderson on the front and ''Literature/TheThousandYearPlan'’ by Creator/IsaacAsimov (the first novel of ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'') on the back.
* DoubleMeaning: A deliberate InUniverse version is when Hari Seldon admits during ''Literature/Foundation1951'' that he created two Foundations at 'opposite ends of the galaxy'; one at a [[MetalPoorPlanet remote backwater]] planet at the edge of the galactic arms called Terminus, and the other at Star's End. During ''Literature/FoundationAndEmpire'', characters start trying to discover the location of the Second Foundation that Hari Seldon keeps mentioning. In ''Literature/SecondFoundation'', characters use 'the other end of the galaxy' as a clue. Some are doing it spatially (i.e. a planet on the opposite edge of the galaxy), others temporally (i.e. Terminus was the last planet to be settled by that point; by that logic, the Second Foundation must be on the first planet -- EarthThatWas). Some of these suggestions were deliberately misleading ideas by the Second Foundation in order to maintain their secrecy. [[spoiler:Hari Seldon meant Trantor, whose [[IstanbulNotConstantinople archaic nickname was Star's End]], was at the galactic core (in a spiral, the opposite ends are the centre and the far arms), and was the sociological opposite of Terminus (the centre of galactic business/government versus a remote backwater).]]
* {{Epigraph}}: When these stories were collected into a {{Novel}} format, segments from the ''[[GreatBigBookOfEverything Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' were included at the start of each chapter [[EncyclopediaExposita to give the setting more depth]].
* {{Hologram}}: Hari Seldon, [[PosthumousCharacter near the end of his life]], recorded [[DeadManWriting messages for the future]]. These messages are built into what the people of Terminus call a "Time Vault", and a three-dimensional recording of Seldon shows up within the cube. These are simple recordings, and Seldon cannot respond to any visual or auditory cues from the audience. He uses these messages to [[AllAccordingToPlan comment on current events]].
* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: Creator/{{Panther}}'s 1962 covers were illustrated by Creator/ChrisFoss and they designed a 3-part joiner cover, where laying the books side-to-side form one continuous artwork [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asimov_foundation_trilogy.jpg (link)]].
* LongGame: The first story in this {{Trilogy}}, "Literature/ThePsychohistorians", has Hari Seldon on trial, where he explains his belief that the [[GalacticSuperpower Galactic Empire]] will dissolve within the next few centuries, leading to [[TenThousandYears thirty thousand years of anarchy]]. The conclusion of the trial allows him to establish a project writing the ''[[GreatBigBookOfEverything Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' on Terminus, a planet at the furthest edge of the galaxy. Fifty years later, in "Literature/TheEncyclopedists", the [[PosthumousCharacter long-dead Hari Seldon]] appears as a [[DeadManWriting recording]] to announce that the project is a sham, concocted to establish them as [[RisingEmpire the nucleus of a second Galactic Empire]]. It will take nine hundred fifty more years until they reclaim the entire galaxy, but [[AllAccordingToPlan even now, they face the first of several Crises that will shape their destiny]]. Also, there's a second Foundation at the opposite end of the galaxy, which comes into play when someone tries to disrupt [[ThePlan his Plan]].
* LowCultureHighTech: One of the factors causing the collapse of the Galactic Empire is, having long become used to complacent peace and prosperity, its scientists have become content to simply preserve and pass down received wisdom rather than creating new inventions or making new discoveries. At the same time, the divide between theoretical and applied science grows to the point that nearly everyone (except for the Foundation itself) loses the ability to maintain their own infrastructure, much less expand it. As early as 25 years after Hari Seldon predicted the fall of the Empire, a nuclear reactor experiences a Chernobyl-like disaster due to lack of understanding, so the Empire's response is to [[LostTechnology restrict the use of nuclear power]]. The neighboring Four Kingdoms are fighting in spaceships with oil and coal powering them.
* MarketBasedTitle:
** Creator/SidgwickAndJackson published a version of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' with the name ''An Isaac Asimov Omnibus'' in 1966.
** Creator/BasteiLubbe's 1983 German translation of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' based the title of their volume [[TitleDropChapter on the first chapter]]; ''Die Psychohistoriker''.
* NamingYourColonyWorld: Since "Literature/Foundation1941", Terminus has been the capital panet of the (First) Foundation. It is given this name because it is the furthest habitable planet from the galactic core, the 'terminus' of the galaxy. It also shares its name with the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Roman god]] of boundary stones and property disputes.
* {{Omnibus}}:
** Multiple publishers have printed this {{Trilogy}} as a single volume, which usually forms a {{Doorstopper}} hardcover book.
** ''Isaac Asimov'' is the title for a six-book compilation; ''Literature/TheStarsLikeDust'', ''Literature/TheNakedSun'', ''Literature/IRobot'', and the three books of ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy''.
* PatchworkStory: This {{trilogy}} is made from nine short fiction stories (eight of which were previously published in {{Pulp Magazine}}s), set [[DistantSequel decades to centuries apart]], all patched together into three volumes.
* ThePlan: The Seldon Plan is a very very ''very'' [[LongGame long-term plan]]. The Seldon Plan involves [[TheMilkyWayIsTheOnlyWay the entire Milky Way galaxy]], populated by a few quadrillion people at least, over a period of a millennium, with a dash of XanatosSpeedChess ([[spoiler:The Second Foundation]]) thrown in to keep the whole thing from going off the rails.
* TheProphecy: Hari Seldon [[{{Seers}} predicts the future of the galaxy]] using psychohistory, a set of [[PrescienceByAnalysis mathematical formulas that can predict human behaviour]] (developed by Seldon). He anticipates that the [[GalacticSuperpower Galactic Empire]] will collapse and leave the Milky Way in anarchy for [[TenThousandYears thirty thousand years]]. To avoid this, he designs [[ThePlan the Seldon Plan]] to shorten this interval to about [[ThousandYearReign one thousand years]] instead. It becomes popular knowledge in the galaxy that Seldon's Plan makes the Foundation of Terminus undefeatable.
* RecycledInSpace: Creator/IsaacAsimov was open about his efforts to write a ScienceFiction [[TheEpic saga]] that was effectively ''Literature/TheDeclineAndFallOfTheRomanEmpire'' [-IN SPACE-]! Trantor is the capital of Rome, and the primary perspective is from a planet at the outer edges of the empire, watching as they grow to supplant Trantor as the [[GalacticSuperpower capital of a galactic empire]]. Several aspects of the collapse are recycled to fit the new setting, such as the Byzantine Empire (Cleon II is Justinian I and Bel Riose is Bellisarius) and the sacking of Rome (Trantor's CityPlanet is torn apart and the capital is moved to Neotrantor).
* ScryVsScry: Using psychohistory, the actions of a population and large-scale events that will happen in their future can be predicted with near-perfect precision, barring [[OutsideContextProblem never-before-seen events]] that throw the entire game out of whack. However, the [[PrescienceByAnalysis mathematics underpinning psychohistory]] depend on the population [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee being unaware of the predictions]], which means conflicts between factions capable of psychohistory need to be resolved with what amounts to old-fashioned [[BattleOfWits plotting and scheming]].
* {{Seers}}: Everyone who learns psychohistory, [[PrescienceByAnalysis a system of mathematics to predict human behaviour]], is capable of analyzing the future and guessing (with a high degree of accuracy) what will happen. Hari Seldon, the one who designed the [[FictionalFieldOfScience science]], was decried as "[[TheEndIsNigh Raven Seldon]]". It's not until decades after his death that the ScamReligion established by Terminus starts spreading the message of him as a prophet and [[BecauseDestinySaysSo the Foundation's destiny to rule the galaxy]].
* SerialNovel: Each book in this {{Trilogy}} is comprised of several stories that began as short fiction in ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction''.
* StrongEmpireShriveledEmperor: The Mule is a mutant with enough skill and power to build a huge empire and the ability to brainwash his enemies into being fanatically loyal servants, but with a frail build and enough health problems to die before he's fifty.
* {{Tagline}}:
** "Three Classics of Science Fiction" -- Creator/{{Doubleday}} edition of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' from 1963
** "Winner of The Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series" -- Creator/{{Avon}}'s BoxedSet from the 1970s
** "Hugo award for best all-time series" and "The classic read by millions" -- Creator/{{Avon}} and Equinox cover for ''The Foundation Trilogy'' {{Omnibus}} from 1974
** "Die beruhmte [=Foundation-Trilogie=]" -- Creator/BasteiLubbe's cover for the German translation of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' from 1983
** "The Million-copy Bestseller" -- Creator/DelRey's cover from 1983
* TitleDropChapter: The 1983 German {{Omnibus}} translation of the trilogy by Creator/BasteiLubbe chose to name the volume ''Die Psychohistoriker'', matching the first chapter, "Literature/ThePsychohistorians".
* UnbuiltTrope: This {{trilogy}} codified TheFederation, under the name of the "Galactic Empire". The main plot describes the inherent '''weakness''' of interstellar democracy, and its decay into a corrupted [[TheEmpire Empire]]. While it is one of the formative works of the Golden Age of science fiction, Hari Seldon is neither the archetypal ActionHero or ScienceHero character, but instead a GuileHero who uses social and political tools against the Foundation's enemies... he dies of old age before the plot begins in earnest, [[PosthumousCharacter not that it stops him]] from guiding the development of the next HegemonicEmpire.
* VideoWills: Hari Seldon, [[PosthumousCharacter near the end of his life]], recorded several [[{{Hologram}} holographic messages]] to be viewed at specific dates in the future, anniversaries of the [[FoundingDay founding of Terminus]]. Unusually for this trope, these [[DeadManWriting messages]] are not about the distribution of his assets, but rather opportunities for him to [[AllAccordingToPlan comment on current events]].
* {{Zeerust}}: Society seems to be stuck in TheFifties despite the setting being tens of thousands of years in TheFuture. EverybodySmokes, mobile communication devices don't exist, [[RaygunGothic everything runs on nuclear power]], the newspaper print industry is still around, and computer data is stored on microfilm.
----
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asimov_foundation_trilogy.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: IdiosyncraticCoverArt]]
->''"You are a planet suddenly cut off from the still-civilized centers of the Galaxy, and threatened by your stronger neighbors. You are a small world of scientists surrounded by vast and rapidly expanding reaches of barbarism. You are an island of nuclear power in a growing ocean of more primitive energy; but are helpless despite that, because of your lack of metals. You see, then, that you are faced by hard necessity, and that action is forced on you. The nature of that action -- that is, the solution to your dilemma -- is, of course, obvious!"''
-->-- '''Hari Seldon''', "Literature/TheEncyclopedists"
These [[{{Trilogy}} three books]], published individually as well as in BoxedSet and {{Omnibus}} volumes, form the core of Creator/IsaacAsimov's famous SpaceOpera. ''The Foundation Trilogy'' is an [[TheEpic Epic Narrative]] that was first told in {{Pulp Magazine}}s during the GoldenAge of ScienceFiction. It describes the [[RisingEmpire rise of Terminus]] as the [[GalacticSuperpower Second Galactic Empire]], the obstacles presented by the [[UngovernableGalaxy schisms along the Periphery]], the [[VestigialEmpire remnants of the first Galactic Empire]], and the [[OutsideContextProblem Mule]]. Additional stories taking place in [[TheVerse this setting]] have been written, forming the ''Literature/{{Foundation|Series}}'' series.
Dr Asimov wrote a SelfParody about the trilogy, titled "Literature/TheFoundationOfSFSuccess", and other adaptations include a 1970s [[Radio/TheFoundationTrilogy radio dramatisation]] by [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio]], accessible from Creator/{{Audible}} and Website/InternetArchive. To see more, visit the [[{{Franchise/Foundation}} multimedia franchise page]].
----
!!Works published as ''The Foundation Trilogy'':
[[index]] %%Works in chronological order
* ''Literature/Foundation1951'':
** "Literature/ThePsychohistorians"
** "Literature/TheEncyclopedists"
** "Literature/TheMayors"
** "Literature/TheTraders"
** "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces"
* ''Literature/FoundationAndEmpire'':
** Prologue
** "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation"
** "Literature/TheMule"
* ''Literature/SecondFoundation'':
** Prologue
** "Literature/SearchByTheMule"
** "Literature/SearchByTheFoundation"
[[/index]]
----
!!''The Foundation Trilogy'' provides examples of:
* AgriWorld: During the time between "Literature/ThePsychohistorians" and "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation", the Imperial Capital of Trantor is a CityPlanet that requires the combined output of 20 agricultural worlds to feed its population of 40 billion people. Ironically, between the events of "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation" and "Literature/TheMule", Trantor is sacked. After the Galactic Empire's fall cuts off its supply lines and it ceases to be the center of the galaxy, it starts to turn into a purely agrarian society, except for the Imperial Library [[spoiler:where the Second Foundation is ruling the First Foundation from behind the scenes]].
* AllAccordingToPlan: Despite having died decades to centuries ago, [[PosthumousCharacter Hari Seldon]] planned the events of each chapter. Appearing in the "[[DeadManWriting Time Vault]]", he announces the primary conflict of the story and reassures the people of Terminus that it will be resolved in their favour. His predictions become known as [[ThePlan the Seldon Plan]].
* BatmanGambit: Hari Seldon sets up [[LongGame centuries worth of plans]] in advance, [[PrescienceByAnalysis using statistics]]. The actions taken by his Foundation on Terminus are dictated by the starting conditions (conditions that he arranged). Every so often, a "Seldon Crisis" occurs, where there is only one possible action that the Foundation can take, because any other action would result in their destruction. {{Subverted|Trope}} when it turns out that [[spoiler:the Second Foundation he keeps talking about is a [[AncientConspiracy secret organisation he began]] with the purpose of [[XanatosSpeedChess constantly tweaking details]] of ThePlan to force Terminus back onto his predictions if they began to deviate]].
-->"You see, then, that you are faced by hard necessity, and that action is forced on you. The nature of that action -- that is, the solution to your dilemma -- is, of course, obvious!"'' -- '''Hari Seldon''', ''Literature/TheEncyclopedists"
* BenevolentConspiracy: The Second Foundation is the opposite of the Foundation on Terminus in many ways; established at "the opposite end of the galaxy", a secret cabal of mentalists rather than a public presence of scientists and engineers, but both are present to prevent thirty thousand years of anarchy that would occur without following [[ThePlan the Seldon Plan]].
* BilledAboveTheTitle:
** The 1963 Science Fiction Book Club copy of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' {{Omnibus}} printed his name above the title, with "Isaac" in roughly the same size as the title, but with "Asimov" about 50% larger. The full name is underlined and coloured green.
** The Creator/{{Avon}} and Equinox cover for ''The Foundation Trilogy'' {{Omnibus}} from 1974 printed Dr Asimov's name above the title, but at the same size.
** Creator/BasteiLubbe's 1983 German translation of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' ([[MarketBasedTitle changed to]] ''Die Psychohistoriker'') places Dr Asimov's name in slightly smaller font above the title.
* BoxedSet:
** Creator/GnomePress published a slipcase to fit the original hardcover for all three books to celebrate the printing of ''Second Foundation''. The box uses the art of ''Foundation'''s dust jacket for the sides.
** Creator/{{Avon}} published a box set of their editions in the 1970s, using a minimized version of each cover for the slipcase art.
* ClarkesThirdLaw: When ''Foundation'' begins, the Galactic Empire's [[UsedFuture civilization and technology]] has already begun to crumble; local systems are losing the scientific expertise necessary for an interstellar society to function and control of the Periphery is quickly lost. Starting from the end of "Literature/TheEncyclopedists", the people of Terminus begin educating people from the Four Kingdoms in technology, such as nuclear power, radioactive synthetics, and hyperwave relays. However, in order to explain the technology in a way they could understand, Terminus [[ScamReligion has to couch everything in religious terms]], effectively saying [[AWizardDidIt The Galactic Spirit Did It]] to convince the local barbarians that it was safe for human use. When a better educated man is trying to piece through the veil of mysticism created by the gulf of distance, he protests that [[DeflectorShields a personal shield]] is impossible. To which the person he's interrogating drolly points out that their status as "magicians" is not wholly unearned.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Instead of dashing heroics and swashbuckling, as featured in most SpaceOpera stories, the protagonists use their wits and intelligence to escape their problems. Indeed, in most stories, the individuals themselves are unable to do anything to save the day, but historical forces, [[YouCantFightFate beyond the protagonists' control]], resolve the conflicts in their favour anyway.
* {{Doorstopper}}:
** The 1963 {{Omnibus}} by Creator/{{Doubleday}} is over 650 pages long. Most omnibus editions are similarly lengthy.
** The 1966 {{Omnibus}} by Creator/SidgwickAndJackson condensed the page count to about 550 pages without losing any of the story.
** The largest copies are the 939 page German {{Omnibus}} translations by Creator/{{Heyne}} in 1991 and 1994.
* DoubleSidedBook: Creator/AceBooks double novel series has D-110; ''Literature/NoWorldOfTheirOwn'' by Creator/PoulAnderson on the front and ''Literature/TheThousandYearPlan'’ by Creator/IsaacAsimov (the first novel of ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'') on the back.
* DoubleMeaning: A deliberate InUniverse version is when Hari Seldon admits during ''Literature/Foundation1951'' that he created two Foundations at 'opposite ends of the galaxy'; one at a [[MetalPoorPlanet remote backwater]] planet at the edge of the galactic arms called Terminus, and the other at Star's End. During ''Literature/FoundationAndEmpire'', characters start trying to discover the location of the Second Foundation that Hari Seldon keeps mentioning. In ''Literature/SecondFoundation'', characters use 'the other end of the galaxy' as a clue. Some are doing it spatially (i.e. a planet on the opposite edge of the galaxy), others temporally (i.e. Terminus was the last planet to be settled by that point; by that logic, the Second Foundation must be on the first planet -- EarthThatWas). Some of these suggestions were deliberately misleading ideas by the Second Foundation in order to maintain their secrecy. [[spoiler:Hari Seldon meant Trantor, whose [[IstanbulNotConstantinople archaic nickname was Star's End]], was at the galactic core (in a spiral, the opposite ends are the centre and the far arms), and was the sociological opposite of Terminus (the centre of galactic business/government versus a remote backwater).]]
* {{Epigraph}}: When these stories were collected into a {{Novel}} format, segments from the ''[[GreatBigBookOfEverything Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' were included at the start of each chapter [[EncyclopediaExposita to give the setting more depth]].
* {{Hologram}}: Hari Seldon, [[PosthumousCharacter near the end of his life]], recorded [[DeadManWriting messages for the future]]. These messages are built into what the people of Terminus call a "Time Vault", and a three-dimensional recording of Seldon shows up within the cube. These are simple recordings, and Seldon cannot respond to any visual or auditory cues from the audience. He uses these messages to [[AllAccordingToPlan comment on current events]].
* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: Creator/{{Panther}}'s 1962 covers were illustrated by Creator/ChrisFoss and they designed a 3-part joiner cover, where laying the books side-to-side form one continuous artwork [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asimov_foundation_trilogy.jpg (link)]].
* LongGame: The first story in this {{Trilogy}}, "Literature/ThePsychohistorians", has Hari Seldon on trial, where he explains his belief that the [[GalacticSuperpower Galactic Empire]] will dissolve within the next few centuries, leading to [[TenThousandYears thirty thousand years of anarchy]]. The conclusion of the trial allows him to establish a project writing the ''[[GreatBigBookOfEverything Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' on Terminus, a planet at the furthest edge of the galaxy. Fifty years later, in "Literature/TheEncyclopedists", the [[PosthumousCharacter long-dead Hari Seldon]] appears as a [[DeadManWriting recording]] to announce that the project is a sham, concocted to establish them as [[RisingEmpire the nucleus of a second Galactic Empire]]. It will take nine hundred fifty more years until they reclaim the entire galaxy, but [[AllAccordingToPlan even now, they face the first of several Crises that will shape their destiny]]. Also, there's a second Foundation at the opposite end of the galaxy, which comes into play when someone tries to disrupt [[ThePlan his Plan]].
* LowCultureHighTech: One of the factors causing the collapse of the Galactic Empire is, having long become used to complacent peace and prosperity, its scientists have become content to simply preserve and pass down received wisdom rather than creating new inventions or making new discoveries. At the same time, the divide between theoretical and applied science grows to the point that nearly everyone (except for the Foundation itself) loses the ability to maintain their own infrastructure, much less expand it. As early as 25 years after Hari Seldon predicted the fall of the Empire, a nuclear reactor experiences a Chernobyl-like disaster due to lack of understanding, so the Empire's response is to [[LostTechnology restrict the use of nuclear power]]. The neighboring Four Kingdoms are fighting in spaceships with oil and coal powering them.
* MarketBasedTitle:
** Creator/SidgwickAndJackson published a version of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' with the name ''An Isaac Asimov Omnibus'' in 1966.
** Creator/BasteiLubbe's 1983 German translation of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' based the title of their volume [[TitleDropChapter on the first chapter]]; ''Die Psychohistoriker''.
* NamingYourColonyWorld: Since "Literature/Foundation1941", Terminus has been the capital panet of the (First) Foundation. It is given this name because it is the furthest habitable planet from the galactic core, the 'terminus' of the galaxy. It also shares its name with the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Roman god]] of boundary stones and property disputes.
* {{Omnibus}}:
** Multiple publishers have printed this {{Trilogy}} as a single volume, which usually forms a {{Doorstopper}} hardcover book.
** ''Isaac Asimov'' is the title for a six-book compilation; ''Literature/TheStarsLikeDust'', ''Literature/TheNakedSun'', ''Literature/IRobot'', and the three books of ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy''.
* PatchworkStory: This {{trilogy}} is made from nine short fiction stories (eight of which were previously published in {{Pulp Magazine}}s), set [[DistantSequel decades to centuries apart]], all patched together into three volumes.
* ThePlan: The Seldon Plan is a very very ''very'' [[LongGame long-term plan]]. The Seldon Plan involves [[TheMilkyWayIsTheOnlyWay the entire Milky Way galaxy]], populated by a few quadrillion people at least, over a period of a millennium, with a dash of XanatosSpeedChess ([[spoiler:The Second Foundation]]) thrown in to keep the whole thing from going off the rails.
* TheProphecy: Hari Seldon [[{{Seers}} predicts the future of the galaxy]] using psychohistory, a set of [[PrescienceByAnalysis mathematical formulas that can predict human behaviour]] (developed by Seldon). He anticipates that the [[GalacticSuperpower Galactic Empire]] will collapse and leave the Milky Way in anarchy for [[TenThousandYears thirty thousand years]]. To avoid this, he designs [[ThePlan the Seldon Plan]] to shorten this interval to about [[ThousandYearReign one thousand years]] instead. It becomes popular knowledge in the galaxy that Seldon's Plan makes the Foundation of Terminus undefeatable.
* RecycledInSpace: Creator/IsaacAsimov was open about his efforts to write a ScienceFiction [[TheEpic saga]] that was effectively ''Literature/TheDeclineAndFallOfTheRomanEmpire'' [-IN SPACE-]! Trantor is the capital of Rome, and the primary perspective is from a planet at the outer edges of the empire, watching as they grow to supplant Trantor as the [[GalacticSuperpower capital of a galactic empire]]. Several aspects of the collapse are recycled to fit the new setting, such as the Byzantine Empire (Cleon II is Justinian I and Bel Riose is Bellisarius) and the sacking of Rome (Trantor's CityPlanet is torn apart and the capital is moved to Neotrantor).
* ScryVsScry: Using psychohistory, the actions of a population and large-scale events that will happen in their future can be predicted with near-perfect precision, barring [[OutsideContextProblem never-before-seen events]] that throw the entire game out of whack. However, the [[PrescienceByAnalysis mathematics underpinning psychohistory]] depend on the population [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee being unaware of the predictions]], which means conflicts between factions capable of psychohistory need to be resolved with what amounts to old-fashioned [[BattleOfWits plotting and scheming]].
* {{Seers}}: Everyone who learns psychohistory, [[PrescienceByAnalysis a system of mathematics to predict human behaviour]], is capable of analyzing the future and guessing (with a high degree of accuracy) what will happen. Hari Seldon, the one who designed the [[FictionalFieldOfScience science]], was decried as "[[TheEndIsNigh Raven Seldon]]". It's not until decades after his death that the ScamReligion established by Terminus starts spreading the message of him as a prophet and [[BecauseDestinySaysSo the Foundation's destiny to rule the galaxy]].
* SerialNovel: Each book in this {{Trilogy}} is comprised of several stories that began as short fiction in ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction''.
* StrongEmpireShriveledEmperor: The Mule is a mutant with enough skill and power to build a huge empire and the ability to brainwash his enemies into being fanatically loyal servants, but with a frail build and enough health problems to die before he's fifty.
* {{Tagline}}:
** "Three Classics of Science Fiction" -- Creator/{{Doubleday}} edition of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' from 1963
** "Winner of The Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series" -- Creator/{{Avon}}'s BoxedSet from the 1970s
** "Hugo award for best all-time series" and "The classic read by millions" -- Creator/{{Avon}} and Equinox cover for ''The Foundation Trilogy'' {{Omnibus}} from 1974
** "Die beruhmte [=Foundation-Trilogie=]" -- Creator/BasteiLubbe's cover for the German translation of ''The Foundation Trilogy'' from 1983
** "The Million-copy Bestseller" -- Creator/DelRey's cover from 1983
* TitleDropChapter: The 1983 German {{Omnibus}} translation of the trilogy by Creator/BasteiLubbe chose to name the volume ''Die Psychohistoriker'', matching the first chapter, "Literature/ThePsychohistorians".
* UnbuiltTrope: This {{trilogy}} codified TheFederation, under the name of the "Galactic Empire". The main plot describes the inherent '''weakness''' of interstellar democracy, and its decay into a corrupted [[TheEmpire Empire]]. While it is one of the formative works of the Golden Age of science fiction, Hari Seldon is neither the archetypal ActionHero or ScienceHero character, but instead a GuileHero who uses social and political tools against the Foundation's enemies... he dies of old age before the plot begins in earnest, [[PosthumousCharacter not that it stops him]] from guiding the development of the next HegemonicEmpire.
* VideoWills: Hari Seldon, [[PosthumousCharacter near the end of his life]], recorded several [[{{Hologram}} holographic messages]] to be viewed at specific dates in the future, anniversaries of the [[FoundingDay founding of Terminus]]. Unusually for this trope, these [[DeadManWriting messages]] are not about the distribution of his assets, but rather opportunities for him to [[AllAccordingToPlan comment on current events]].
* {{Zeerust}}: Society seems to be stuck in TheFifties despite the setting being tens of thousands of years in TheFuture. EverybodySmokes, mobile communication devices don't exist, [[RaygunGothic everything runs on nuclear power]], the newspaper print industry is still around, and computer data is stored on microfilm.
----
