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For nearly fifty years, Isaac Asimov thrilled millions of readers with his internationally bestselling Foundation Series, a spell-binding tale of the future that spans hundreds of years and dozens of worlds. Here, now, is Forward the Foundation, the seventh and final volume in the series. Completed just before his death, it is the Grand Master's last gift to his legions of admirers.
    Here, at last, is the story Asimov fans have been waiting for, an exciting tale of danger, intrigue, and suspense that chronicles the second half of hero Hari Seldon's life as he struggles to perfect his revolutionary Theory of Psychohistory and establish the means by which the survival of humanity will be ensured: Foundation. For, as Seldon and his loyal band of followers know, the mighty Galactic Empire is crumbling, and its inevitable destruction will wreak havoc Galaxy-wide ...
   
A resounding tour de force, Forward the Foundation brings full circle Asimov's renowned Foundation epic. It is the crowning achievement of a great writer's life, and a stunning testament to the creative genius of Isaac Asimov.
   
Isaac Asimov began his Foundation Series at the age of twenty-one, not realizing that it would one day be considered a cornerstone of science fiction. During his legendary career, Asimov penned over 470 books on subjects ranging from science to Shakespeare to history, though he was most loved for his award-winning science fiction sagas, which include the Robot, Empire, and Foundation series. Named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Asimov entertained and educated readers of all ages for close to five decades. He died, at the age of seventy-two, in April 1997.

   
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"I could not have written this book forty-or thirty, twenty, or even tenyears ago. That is because, piece by piece, over the years, I have been working back to Foundation's source: Hari Seldon. Today I enjoy the gift given to me by time: Experience (some might call it wisdom, but I will refrain from such bald self-aggrandizement). For it is only now that I am able to give my readers Hari Seldon during the most crucial, creative years of his life ...You see, over time, Hari Seldon has evolved into my alter ego... In my earlier books Hari Seldon was the stuff of legend-with Forward the Foundation I have made him real."
    -Isaac Asimov, June 1991
   
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DEMERZEL, ETO- .    
While there is no question that Eto Demerzel was the real power in the government during much of the reign of Emperor Cleon I, historians are divided as to the nature of his rule. The classic interpretation is that he was another in the long line of strong and ruthless oppressors in the last century of the undivided Galactic Empire, but there are revisionist views that have surfaced and that insist his was, if a despotism, a benevolent one. Much is made, in this view, of his relationship with Hari Seldon though that remains forever uncertain, particularly during the unusual episode of Laskin Joranum, whose meteoric rise-
    ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA *

    * All quotations from the Encyclopedia Galactica here reproduced are taken from the 116th Edition, published 1,020 F.E. by the Encyclopedia Galactica Publishing Co., Terminus, with permission of the publishers.

内容提要
在克里昂一世统治下，第一银河帝国勉强维持最后的统一与繁荣；但帝国国势仍持续衰落。这主要是帝国的政治、经济盘根错节的因素所导致，并非当时任何人所能解决的。克里昂的第二任首相哈里·谢顿发展出能预测未来的心理史学，为拯救帝国，他在群星 尽头建立起第二基地，与第一基地互为呼应。哈里·谢顿、铎丝·凡纳比里、婉达·谢顿等人身上充满着传奇色彩，情节的发展匪夷 所思……但敌对的力量异常强大，鹿死谁手实难预料。他们能使银河帝国复兴吗……?结局如何？看来我们只有迈向基地，才能探测个中奥秘。


第一部  伊图·丹莫茨尔
伊图·丹莫茨尔……尽管科学家一致认为，在克里昂大帝一世在位大半期间，伊图·丹莫茨尔无疑是政府中真正的掌权者，但关于他的统治方式却众说纷纭。根据传统的诠释，丹莫茨尔是银河帝国分裂前最后一世纪，一贯强势而无情的压迫者之一。但如今已有一些修正主义观点，坚持丹莫茨尔即使独裁，也是开明专制。根据此一观点，他与哈里·谢顿的关系 常被大做文章。不过真相永远无法确定。尤其是在拉斯金·久瑞南事件那段非常时期。久瑞 南的昙花一现……
—— 《银河百科全书》①
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①本书所引用的《银河百科全书》数据，皆取自基地纪元一○二○年出版的第一百一十六版。发行者为端点星银河百科全书出版公司， 作者承蒙发行者授权引用。