Foundation (Foundation Novels)
by Isaac Asimov

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Book Summary Information

• ISBN13: 9780553293357
• Condition: New
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Book Reviews of Foundation (Foundation Novels)

Book Review: Nice book - that's it
Summary: 4 Stars

Foundation's setting is in the far-future, when planets have not only been discovered and colonized, but millions of planets have been organized into a Galactic Empire that spans thousands os star systems. Hyper-industry and nuclear power form the core to this civilization, which seems to have an endless grasp on the future of civilization.

That is, until Hari Seldon, a scientist, discovers the science of psychohistory, by which future events can be predicted based on calculations of human behavior. He foresess the collapse of the Empire based on inevitable social, political, and economic forces. He devises a plan to save humankind from an imminent dark age by instituting a scientific Foundation at the edge of the galaxy.

This premise is what drew me to the read the book. What exciting prospects! The opportunity to plumb the mind of the genous Hari Seldon. To get a closer look at this Galactic Empire, whose proportions were mindboggling. To understand, at a more nuts and bolts level, this "psychohistory." To see what Hari Seldon has up his sleeve.

Unfortunately, though the book provides an historical fiction that encompasses 300 years of life after Hari Seldon, and introduces leaders of his Foundation that are memorable for their nerve and intellect, some of the imaginative possibilities, such as most of those mentioned above, are not fully realized. I am not sure if they are realized in other books of the series, but I guess that's for someone else to comment on.

Foundation came to me highly recommended. I am not new to science fiction, but I have not read that much of this genre. I was looking forward to something that would really blow my mind away. Though I admired several things about the book and thought it was a nice read, I am not going to read the other books in this series. Coming away from this book, I felt it was good, but not much more. There were several ways in which I clearly found the book to be lacking in addition to the brevity of focus on Hari, a good discussion of psychohistory, or much emphasis on the Galactic Empire.

Though Asimov's style is surely concise and highly readable, he views plot as the central element to his writing, at the expense of other aspects of great fiction that really should have been incorporated. I will outline these at length because it appears that the book's praises are already sung widely.

First, there is not much character development. Characters are presented merely to accomplish a historical event in the flow of the story. We get a feel for the characters not as real people, but as actors on the stage of world history. Though the reader admires the nerve and intellect behind each of these heroes (there are 5 heroes that are portrayed in the generation following Hari), there is little else that makes them interesting. While this kind of presentation of characters may work in movie adaptations or history textbooks, I like to view my characters as a little more than men-at-work. Everybody is always scheming, there's not much downtime or description of what day-to-day life is like with these guys so far in the future, such far-off planets. The dialogue is great, though, and that's part of the reason the book is a quick read.

Secondly, there is a lack of real meaning or symbolism that defines great books. There's not much refelction on the part of the narrator, or poignancy. The closest we get to intrinsic meaning is the interesting description of the false religion that a protagonist, Salvor Hardin, invents in order to undermine the economy of a neighboring state. Religion is also used to manipulate other planets. Hard to swallow, this helps us understand what the author probably thinks about organized religion. The book is also full of cute phrases that portray the all-importance of technology in Asimov's future: characters say things like, "What in the name of space?" or "Thank space!" The all-importance of nuclear energy also seems like propaganda to get ther reader to "understand" how important it will be in our era, with no attention paid to other kinds of fascinating technology that may exist in the future, such as super-intellect, robotics, biotechnology, etc. Not only are technology and politics the deepest material this book touches, but even the technology the book introduces is not very interesting. With the exception of his brilliant description of the mother planet Trantor, the only thing different between this far off future and nowadays is the ability to jump through space.

Thirdly, romance does not play a role in the book. There are no women in the book, which means there can be no romantic intrigue, or world events influenced by a woman. Also in the true spirit of what the word "romance" conveys, there is no sense of wonder and excitement that a reader surely hopes to get when they enter an author's imagination. The landscape of these far-off worlds is sparesly and hardly described. We spend much of our time in staterooms. Though, admittedly, Asimov's grasp of political personalities is astounding.

On the other hand, if you like books that are centered on brilliant leaders of nation-states and how their decisions affect the course of history, you will like this book. If you are fascinated by the economic, political, and sociological macroforces that shape history, you will like this book. If you're more about the game and the moves than the players, you will like this book.

Summary of Foundation (Foundation Novels)

Literature & Fiction Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction
• Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > High Tech