Prelude to Foundation

In a foreword in my edition of Prelude to Foundation, Asimov tells us that it is the 14th novel he wrote in his Foundation, Empire, and Robot series. Chronologically, it is the first book in the Foundation series, a prequel to the Foundation trilogy, as its title suggests. In this book, at the end, The Foundation series is substantively connected to the Robot series, so I guess as well as being the first of the Foundation series, it also could be considered a sequel to the Robot series, kind of a bridge between the two. The writing style of Prelude to Foundation is, naturally, typical Asimovian.

In Prelude to Foundation, we learn how Hari Seldon first began to develop his theory of psychohistory which led to the Seldon Plan, on which the original Foundation Trilogy is based. It is a story of political intrigue, within the multicultural sectors of the planet of Trantor, seat of the Galactic Empire. Our heroes must deal with the mores, customs, and taboos of various diverse cultures, while hiding out from the long arm of the emperor. (How great it would have been if Asimov had had Le Guin's talent for building fictional cultures.) The climax consists of the revelation of hidden truths, and we meet R. Daneel Olivaw (the R stands for robot), a character from Asimov's Robot series.

Long ago, before the publication of Prelude to Foundation, I was an avid reader of Asimov. Most of his books have faded in the mist of my memory, so, little by little, I'm rereading them. I read Caves of Steel last year, but I don't remember the other books in the Robot series. Now, I'm inspired to reread the rest of them.