Foundation

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Summary: Foundation By Isaac Asimov
Review: I always enjoy reading Isaac Asimov's writing, and foundation was no exception. The plot is imaginative and original, like much of Asimov's writing. Foundation is set in the future, a time when our galaxy is ruled by a failing empire. Hari seldon, a psychologist, must prevent the galaxy from falling into anarchy and barbarism by creating a foundation of scientists. Foundation is fun to read, and provides ample entertainment. I recommend reading it.

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Summary: Must read science fiction
Review: Originally written in the 1950's for serial publication, the Foundation Trilogy (and the additional books written in the series) is often hailed as Asimov's greatest achievement. Certainly, the original trilogy is high on my list of "must read" science fiction.

The Foundation Trilogy presents us with a universe controlled by the Galactic Empire. The Empire has governed the known universe for tens of thousands of years and appears to be at the zenith of its power. But the Empire is burdened by the weight of the bureaucracy needed to govern millions of worlds. Trantor, the administrative seat of the Empire is a planet completely covered by buildings. A vast, planet-wide city, it houses the millions of functionaries necessary to administer the Empire. As wealthy and as powerful as the Empire seems, disaster is just around the corner. However, only one man, Hari Seldon, is able to recognize the Empire's impending doom.

Hari is a mathematician who has developed the breakthrough field of Psychohistory. Psychohistory is the mathematical process by which the actions of people can be predicted in advance. This science does not work for predicting individual behavior, but instead predicts the behavior of a mass of humanity (billions of people). By analyzing the Empire with Psychohistorical methods, Hari has determined that the Empire will crumble within 500 years, plunging the known universe into barbarism that will prevent a new Empire from arising for 30,000 years!

Fortunately, Hari has developed a plan that, if executed, will curtail the period of galactic decay to a mere 1,000 years. However, it is unclear whether Hari can persuade the Emperor to allow him to move forward with his plan. Can Hari and his fellow scientists save the universe? Or will the shortsighted aims of a greedy, grasping Emperor derail their plans?

Although these works are science fiction, they would probably not be classed as "hard" science fiction. There is some necessary discussion of scientific principles, but not enough to bore any "technophobes" who may be reading the novels. The trilogy focuses mainly on the people involved in the Seldon plan, as opposed to the technology being used by them. Asimov always enjoyed speculating on how people would evolve and react to advanced technology and he lets his imagination run wild here.

Two significant milestones were achieved with this work. First, Asimov became one of the first writers to theorize that atomic power would revolutionize society. Second, I believe Asimov was the first to present a planet that was entirely covered by buildings. The universe he creates is engaging and filled with fascinating, believable characters. Since the books were serialized, many chapters (especially in the first volume) contain complete plot lines and make the book easy to read if you need to break up your reading time into small increments. Lots of political intrigue and maneuvering keeps the action flowing through all three books.

Foundation sets the stage for the rest of the series. Hari Seldon is introduced and his theories of Psychohistory are explained. Then Seldon's Foundation is established on Terminus, a remote planet at the edge of the Empire, with the goal of shortening the period of barbarism the universe will experience. However, there are no Psychohistorians located in the Foundation... only scientists. The planet has very few native metals and virtually no defenses. The scientists must figure out how to rule their world and fend off avaricious neighbors as the Empire begins to crumble. The majority of this first volume contains vignettes chronicling the Foundation leaders responding to various crises that Hari Seldon predicted centuries before. The crises are varied and plausible. The solutions to the problems that arise are not solved by any miraculous means, but by tough, clever political maneuvering. Watching the crises and their solutions unfold is very enthralling and keeps you turning the pages at a rapid pace.

There is something here for everyone to enjoy. If you have never read this fine trilogy, buy a copy today. You won't be disappointed.

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Summary: Few deserve 5 stars...
Review: People like to throw five star reviews at just about anything. I suppose they feel that almost everything written is as good as it gets. Foundation is one that deserves all five stars.

It's a classic. The premise is intriguing. The story unwinds brilliantly over three books. Don't expect to read The Foundation alone. It does leave you hanging. The next two books in the trilogy are a must.

This is one of a handful of solid, enduring works that will be enjoyed long after other works fade off the lists...


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Summary: This is both the best science fiction story and series ever
Review: The writing is hard and cynical. Characters are intelligent and clear. There is scant attention paid to emotional content or the softer virtues. The writing is clear and precise. The premise of the story is simple: civilization is decaying in the future. A colony is set up on the periphery of the known universe.
This colony emerges as a society and faces challenges to both it's growth and survival. There's a clever premise to raise the stakes a bit; this society is the Foundation of a new Galactic Empire, created to close the gap of a fifty-millenia barbarity.


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Summary: Great Trip Around the Stars
Review: I have not readf the Foundation series in years. However, the other day I was thinking about how much fun the trilogy had been. One has to remember that most of the scifi you read today has at least some of its roots based in Asimov's work, Asimov was not the best writer, nor was he the most creative. What he did accomplish was selling you another time and world that you could believe in. So, taking it for what it is, not a great piece of literature but a really enjoyable trip, i need to give the trilogy 5 stars.

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Summary: Superman sydrome and weak characterization
Review: I can understand why this book is considered one of the best science fiction books ever written, especially considering the time period it was written in. It has a very interesting concept of destination and cause and effect (although it is weak in execution and very weak in explanation). For these reasons and other I should only give this book a one star, but instead I gave it two and I will explain why later.

There is almost zero character development in this book. The extremely short chapters jump thirty years to eighty years and more between chapters. Almost every "book" within this book has a new set of characters with only a few references of the "heroes" from the previous "books." At times, this makes for very confusing reading because I had no idea who the new people were in the successive chapters.

As mentioned in the title, this book suffers greatly from the Superman sydrome. By this I mean that you know the outcome before the events have unfolded. Superman can't be beat (except for by Doomsday in the comics but he comes back anyway) and therefor when watching the movies you know he wins. So there just has to be more elaborate plans and more complex ways of defeating him but he still will win. The same is true with the foundation. Harry Seldon, the prophet who esentially created the foundation, knew what was going to happen because he could see the future. Every "book" in "Foundation" will ultimately see the Foundation as the victor, so there just must be more complex problems arising, but of course the Foundation will ultimately prevail. And in this book, the problems are not really that complex, just different social economies arising to counter the previously established social economy that prevailed in the previous "book." I can only imagine that in the later books the problems will get ridiculously complex - maybe even too complex for enjoyment.

Because this book has almost zero characterization and is very predictable I would give this book one star, but instead I gave it two. The reason for this is because I have read the backs of the other books in the Foundation series and other reviews of them and I am interested in the storyline. I want to read about the Mule in Foundation and Empire, and I want to read about Earth in Foundations Edge. If not for that this book would recieve a one star rating from me and I would also never recommend this book or ever pick it up again.

It may be a classic, but it's not that great. It's not great at all.

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Summary: The crown jewel of post WWII SF series
Review: Start here then go to The Gods Themselves
Then bring on Heinlein and all the others.

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Summary: Waste of time;Stick to Robot novels.
Review: This book is one of the most overrated books I have ever read. There is very little in the way of plot and character development. There is no climax in this book. The book reads like a historical record, similar to Tolkiens Silmarillion, rather than an actual story. If you like reading historical records, you may like this book. If you are looking for an exciting novel.... better luck elsewhere.