Well, here we are again with another installment on Asimov's swansong, Forward the Foundation.

You might recall that Forward was written as a series of Novellas the first three of which appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.  The installment we're discussing this time is "Cleon I" which originally appeared in the magazine's 15th-anniversary issue in April 1992 as "Cleon the Emperor."  Much like the previous story, it isn't very much about the titular character but it's a lot about Hari Seldon.  This one is set during his tenure as Cleon's First Minister.

The cover, by Gary Friedman, is lovely; it's Asimov himself alongside a woman who is almost certainly Dors Venabali.  I can't say it's Dors for sure, but I can state with absolute certainty that character is neither from Mycogen nor Dahl. 

Inside the issue, there's an extensive editorial about the Foundation series and its history and it answers, in part, one of the questions we posed on the podcast.  We'd wondered why Asimov decided to write Forward as a series of novellas and evidently, the genesis of the idea came from Jennifer Brehl, who Asimov calls "my brilliant and lovely editor."

You can see the cover and read more about the editorial at your leisure on our website.

And, if you want to learn more about those costume design awards, there's some more information here.

But in the meantime, join us for our latest episode as we continue through the life story of Hari Seldon!