Golan Trevize, raadsman van de Eerste Foundation, krijgt opdracht het ontstaan en de ontwikkeling van het Galactische Imperium te bestuderen. Daarvoor gaat hij op zoek naar Aarde, de plaats waar eonen geleden de mensheid ontstond.

Maar Aarde schijnt op onverklaarbare wijze uit het Melkwegstelsel verdwenen te zijn en zelfs in de bibliotheken is geen enkele verwijzing meer terug te vinden. Heeft de tijd zijn werk gedaan of zijn hier andere krachten bezig geweest? Golan en zijn metgezellen moeten zien te achterhalen wie Aarde zo nonchalant heeft ‘zoek gemaakt’ en waarom.

At last, the costly and bitter war between the two Foundations has come to an end. The scientists of the First Foundation have proved victorious; and now they return to Hari Seldon’s long-established plan to build a new Empire on the ruins of the old. But rumors persist that the Second Foundation is not destroyed after all—and that its still-defiant survivors are preparing their revenge. Now two exiled citizens of the Foundation—a renegade Councilman and a doddering historian—set out in search of the mythical planet Earth . . . and proof that the Second Foundation still exists.

Meanwhile, someone—or something—outside both Foundations seems to be orchestrating events to suit its own ominous purpose. Soon representatives of both the First and Second Foundations will find themselves racing toward a mysterious world called Gaia and a final, shocking destiny at the very end of the universe.

Het vierde boek in de Foundation-serie.

Vijf eeuwen na de stichting van de Eerste Foundation bestaat de dreiging van Het Muildier niet meer; op Trantor heerst vrede en welvaart.

Maar: bestaat de Tweede Foundation nog? En: wat is er waar van de geruchten over het bestaan van andere wezens, die een hogere intelligentie hebben dan de mens? Golan Trevize, de ambitieuze raadsman van de Eerste Foundation, wordt erop uit gestuurd om deze vragen te beantwoorden. Zijn missie, die op den duur uitgroeit tot een speurtocht naar de legendarische Oude Aarde, brengt het voortbestaan van de Melkweg in gevaar…

Der Mensch ist zu den Sternen vorgestoßen und hat ein gewaltiges Imperium errichtet, das von einem Ende der Galaxis zum anderen reicht. Eines Tages beginnt es zu zerfallen, und ganze Welten sinken auf niedrigere Kulturstufen zurück. Doch es gibt einen Plan, entworfen von einem genialen Mathematiker, der das Wiederentsethen des Imperiums garantiert, durch weisen Einsatz von Technik und Naturwissenschaften zur rechten Zeit. Eine geheime Forschungsstation soll den Prozeß überwachen. Befindet sie sich auf der Erde? Aber wer weiß in einigen Jahrtausenden noch etwas von der alten Erde, der einstigen Wieder der Menschheit?

Dieser Roman erschien unter dem Titel .

By NASA’s best guess, the crew of Apollo 8 are an even money chance of dying. A long list of things could go catastrophically wrong as they attempt to park their supersonic spacecraft into stable lunar orbit. But they get it done, paving the way for one giant leap toward the surface. They are the first men alive to see the far side of the Moon — the lunar face permanently turned away from Earth. Inside the tiny capsule, astronaut Bill Anders points his camera at the lunar horizon and captures one of the most famous photographs of all time. Our planet, lonely and fragile in the eternal darkness of space. Lonely, but perhaps not alone. Another photo is taken that day… one so sensitive even the NASA chiefs don’t know about it. Sleeping Gods puts you right there on the first manned mission to the Moon. You’ll be surprised and amazed by this alternate view of space history, a prelude to Matt Eaton’s acclaimed novel, Blank. If you’ve pondered flying to the Moon, climb inside the capsule with the men who did it. Then join astronaut Frank Borman on a journey even more incredible that begins shortly after splashdown.

Astronaut Frank Borman is all alone on the moon. No ship. Nobody answering his radio calls. His spacesuit is running out of air fast, yet he doesn’t know what he’s doing there. Something is out there looming over him on the lunar surface. Something massive that doesn’t belong there. Borman shouldn’t be there either — in just a few months Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are due to touch down in the Sea of Tranquility. This is no NASA mission. But who else has the technological capability? Perhaps that sinister grouping of defence intelligence powerbrokers known as Bermuda, although Borman suspects this is a giant step too far even for them. Which only leaves the Russians. If that’s true, he must have an important job to do. A job that transcends Cold War politics and space age rivalry. But everything about this is is wrong. Why has he been abandoned? And why can’t he remember anything? Apollo 8.1 is compulsive reading… strap yourself in.