"Asimov, Isaac - 2. Foundation and Empire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

author, for goodness' sake. You couldn't go by me.
I was on the edge of deciding it was all a terrible mistake and of insisting on
giving back the money, when (quite by accident, I swear) I came across some
sentences by science-fiction writer and critic, James Gunn, who, in connection
with the Foundation series, said, "Action and romance have little to do with the
success of the Trilogy – virtually all the action takes place offstage, and the
romance is almost invisible – but the stories provide a detective-story
fascination with the permutations and reversals of ideas."
Oh, well, if what was needed were "permutations and reversals of ideas," then
that I could supply. Panic receded, and on June 10, 1981, I dug out the fourteen
pages I had written more than eight years before and reread them. They sounded
good to me. I didn't remember where I had been headed back then, but I had
worked out what seemed to me to be a good ending now, and, starting page 15 on
that day, I proceeded to work toward the new ending.
I found, to my infinite relief, that I had no trouble getting back into a
"Foundation-mood," and, fresh from my rereading, I had Foundation history at my
finger-tips.
There were differences, to be sure:
1) The original stories were written for a science-fiction magazine and were
from 7,000 to 50,000 words long, and no more. Consequently, each book in the
trilogy had at least two stories and lacked unity. I intended to make the new
book a single story.
2) I had a particularly good chance for development since Hugh said, "Let the
book find its own length, Isaac. We don't mind a long book." So I planned on
140,000 words, which was nearly three times the length of "The Mule," and this
gave me plenty of elbow-room, and I could add all sorts of little touches.
3) The Foundation series had been written at a time when our knowledge of
astronomy was primitive compared with what it is today. I could take advantage
of that and at least mention black holes, for instance. I could also take
advantage of electronic computers, which had not been invented until I was half
through with the series.
The novel progressed steadily, and on January 17, 1982, I began final copy. I
brought the manuscript to Hugh O'Neill in batches, and the poor fellow went
half-crazy since he insisted on reading it in this broken fashion. On March 25,
1982, I brought in the last bit, and the very next day got the second half of
the advance.
I had kept "Lightning Rod" as my working title all the way through, but Hugh
finally said, "Is there any way of putting 'Foundation' into the title, Isaac?"
I suggested Foundations at Bay, therefore, and that may be the title that will
actually be used. *
You will have noticed that I have said nothing about the plot of the new
Foundation novel. Well, naturally. I would rather you buy and read the book.
And yet there is one thing I have to confess to you. I generally manage to tie
up all the loose ends into one neat little bow-knot at the end of my stories, no
matter how complicated the plot might be. In this case, however, I noticed that
when I was all done, one glaring little item remained unresolved.
I am hoping no one else notices it because it clearly points the way to the
continuation of the series.
It is even possible that I inadvertently gave this away for at the end of the
novel, I wrote: "The End (for now)."