Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy is a revered and respected classic, one of science fiction's most enduring works: Asimov's portrayal of a civilization's fall and eventual resurrection was told within the framework of technology as a changing force in a galactic society, and the book remains one of the purest examples of science fiction as the literature of ideas. Now, scant years after Asimov's death, his estate has agreed to allow Greg Benford and a handful of other established writers to continue the Foundation story. Benford got first crack at the master's body of work and chose to make Foundation's Fear a prequel, focusing his attention on the character of Hari Seldon, Asimov's inventor of psychohistory and founder of the foundation that will preserve human culture from falling into barbarism. As the book opens, Seldon has just been appointed first minister of the galaxy by an Emperor whose complex Machiavellian schemes might benefit from seeing Seldon fail. Political chicanery is one strange new twist from Benford, who also decided to pursue plotlines such as the lack of aliens or advanced computers in the Foundation universe, as well as flesh out the mathematical/sociological theories behind the future predicting science of psychohistory. In short, Benford fell into the trap of trying to elaborate on someone else's self-sufficient ideas. Certainly a few readers of the classic trilogy cared about the nuts and bolts; the fun of science fiction is its audacity of speculation. But there's more to good storytelling than good mechanics or fascination with one or two heroic characters. Foundation's Fear has some of the epic sweep of Asimov's work, but it bogs down too often because it ignores the simple, spare, bold style that gave Asimov's characters and ideas archetypal status. Despite some interesting ideas, it comes off no better than a Star Trek movie-serialization knockoff pulp. Readers will do well to treat themselves to a reading—or re-reading—of the original, and try and forget that Foundation's Fear was ever written.