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Prelude to Foundation is a 1988 novel by Isaac Asimov, about 160,000 words long, in which Asimov recounts the early career of the central character of the Foundation series, Hari Seldon. Before this novel, Hari Seldon, the man who invented the science of psychohistory and laid the plans for the two Foundations, had appeared only in the first eight chapters of the original novel, Foundation (1951), and then in a series of pre-recorded messages he made before his death and left for his followers on Terminus. In Prelude to Foundation, Asimov also provides the most in depth look at the planet Trantor, the capital of the galactic empire, although the sections of the planet seen are mostly the poorest sections, and those sections most distant from imperial control.

Although the events of this novel take place before the events described in the original Foundation trilogy (Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), and Second Foundation (1952)), the reader should probably read the original trilogy before tackling this book. Prelude to Foundation also contains references and allusions to the robot mystery novels (The Caves of Steel (1954), The Naked Sun (1957), and The Robots of Dawn (1983)), as well as to Robots and Empire (1985). The reader would do well to read those four books as well, before reading Prelude to Foundation.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Plot

The young Hari Seldon comes to Trantor, the capital of the galactic empire, to present a paper on his new idea for psychohistory—the notion that it might be possible, one day, to use mathematics and chaos theory to predict major events in a social body as large as the empire. The emperor, Cleon I, summons Seldon to his chambers at the suggestion of his assistant (and power behind the throne), Eto Demerzel. The emperor wants to use psychohistory for his own ends, but when Seldon explains that it is only a nascent theory, and might not be made practical within a single lifetime, then the Emperor says he wants the next best thing—to use the public reputation of Hari Seldon and psychohistory, which he will build up, to make public predictions for the benefit of the emperor.

Before he can leave Trantor and return to his homeworld of Helicon, Hari is accosted by two thugs, and saved by the help of a man named Chetter Hummin. Hummin explains that he heard Seldon’s presentation, and he thinks psychohistory has promise. But he wants to keep Hari away from the clutches of the emperor, or Eto Demerzel, or any other powerful man on Trantor who might want to use Hari for his own advancement. Hummin says that in his opinion the Empire is dying; and psychohistory might be the only way to save it. Further, he says Hari will be safer on Trantor than he would be on an imperial world, since Trantor has a number of enclaves that the emperor cannot easily reach. Hummin sets Hari up as a professor of mathematics at Streeling University, and sends a woman, a historian named Dors Venabili, to protect him. A few months later, a frustrated Hari goes with a small geological expedition above the city, in the freezing weather, where he gets lost, and spends some time hiding from an automated probe that he thinks might be from the emperor’s people. He is saved by Dors Venabili just in the nick of time.

In the hospital, Hari tries to explain that his work is hindered by the lack of really ancient histories. Dors and Hummin suggest they move to the Mycogen sector, which is rumored to have ancient books. The people in Mycogen live like monks; they shave their heads, wear ritual clothing, never talk to strange women, and worship an ancient world of their ancestors which they hope to one day find again—Aurora. Hari manages to acquire one of their sacred books, which seems to be a boring political history of the planet Aurora; but what most intrigues him about it is talk of robots, which don’t exist in the Empire anymore. Indeed the Mycogens believe that one day, one of the great robots will reappear and save them. Hari and Dors manage to penetrate the sacred temple of the Mycogens, and make their way to the top floor, where they discover a derelict, metallic robot. However, the Mycogen leader, Sunmaster Fourteen, suddenly appears and threatens to have them arrested for sacrilege and trespassing. Fortunately, Hummin then appears and somehow talks Sunmaster out of it.

Hari and Dors’ next stop is the poverty-stricken Dahl sector. They room with Mr. and Mrs. Tisalver, middle-class Dahlians with a distinct distaste for the classes just below them. While touring a factory, Hari is impressed with a young, self-educated scholar named Yugo Amaryl. In their talks, Amaryl mentions Earth. When Hari presses him on the subject, he refers Hari to a seer in the Billibotton area, a rough neigborhood. They go to visit this woman, Mother Rittah, fighting off thugs on the way (Dors proves to be handy with knives). Mother Rittah, whose knowledge is entirely word-of-mouth handed down through the millennia, talks of Earth as the original home of mankind, of the “evil” worlds like Aurora that nearly destroyed Earth, and of a hero named “Bah-Lee”:

“I could tell you stories for a year of the great hero Ba-Lee, but you would have no time to listen and I have lost the strength to tell.”
Seldon said, “Have you ever heard of robots?”
The old woman shuddered and her voice was almost a scream. “Why do you ask such things? Those were artificial human beings, evil in themselves and the work of the Evil worlds. They were destroyed and should never be mentioned.”
“There was one special robot, wasn’t there, that the Evil worlds hated?”
Mother Rittah tottered toward Seldon and peered into his eyes. . . . “There was an artificial human being who helped Earth. He was Da-Nee, friend of Bah-Lee. He never died and lives somewhere, waiting for his time to return. None knows when that time will be, but someday he will come and restore the great old days and remove all cruelty, injustice, and misery. That is the promise.”

While in this area, they also make the acquaintance of a tough little boy, Raych, and a social revolutionary named Davan. But when they return to their rooms, Mrs. Tisalver has called the police (they’ve made a few transgressions), and only escape arrest with the help of Raych. Hiding in the underground sewers, they are met by a large soldier named Emmer Thalus, who takes them to meet the Mayor of Whye.

The Mayor of the Whye sector had been an old man, but he only recently abdicated in favor of his daughter, who greets the three of them. She wants to use psychohistory in much the same way Emperor Cleon wanted to use it. She sees herself as the "rightful" heir to the throne, and realizes that the only way to take power will be to seize Trantor and a few nearby systems, leaving the rest of the empire to fend for itself. Next morning, however, news reports come in that imperial troops are landing in Whye, and that the mayor’s generals have suddenly decided that they will not remain obedient to a woman. She comes into Hari’s room that morning, determined to deny the Emperor Cleon and Eto Demerzel at least one thing—she orders her burly seargent, Emmer Thalus, to shoot Hari Seldon. Hari is saved only because the always-obedient seargent had previously promised to protect Hari. In her anger, the mayor shoots Emmer Thalus. She turns the gun on Hari, but Dors manages to tackle her before she shoots them. Chetter Hummin then comes into the room, and the Mayor of Whye reveals Hummin's great secret—that Chetter Hummin is in fact Eto Demerzel, the power behind the imperial throne.

We now learn that this "flight" was Eto Demerzel’s scheme to motivate Hari Seldon to work harder on making psychohistory practical, and to give him a close-up look at life on Trantor (it worked; he now thinks the project can eventually succeed). But then Hari Seldon unveils the second great surprise of the book—he reveals that he knows that Hummin/Demerzel is in fact a robot! Hummin seemed to be able to manipulate people in an inhuman way. Hummin reveals that it is true—he is in fact R. Daneel Olivaw. He has been protecting humanity for millennia, but he has a hard time determining between what is best for humanity, and what might only seem like a good idea. He follows the three laws of robotics, but he has come to believe in another law, what he calls the “zeroth law”—that he must protect humanity in the abstract, as well as individual humans. That is why he needs psychohistory—to guide him in finding out how to protect an abstraction like humanity. Hari agrees on a collaboration. Hummin/Demerzel will set Hari up with all the money and assistants he needs, as well as access to historical records and information that perhaps only the robot can provide.

We then learn the third great surprise of the book—that Dors Venabili is also a robot. Hari proclaims his love for her, and asks her to be his partner/lover. She agrees.

Related Works

R. Daneel Olivaw was one of the heroes of Asimov’s mystery novels—The Caves of Steel (1954), The Naked Sun (1957), and The Robots of Dawn (1983). He also played a prominent role in Robots and Empire (1985). The planet Aurora, which the people of the Mycogen sector worship, was the setting of The Robots of Dawn. Mother Rittah’s stories about “Bah-lee” and “Da-Nee” are obviously dimly remembered accounts of the exploits of Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw in the three mystery novels. Daneel Olivaw’s notion of the “zeroth law” is an idea which Asimov first introduced in Robots and Empire, in discussions between Daneel and Giskard. The idea, but not the phrase, was used in the 2004 film version of I, Robot. The ending of Prelude to Foundation, in which R. Daneel Olivaw suddenly appears and explains many things, was also used in Asimov’s Foundation and Earth (1986). Asimov continued his account of the life and career of Hari Seldon in Forward the Foundation (1993), his last book.