Foundation and Empire

Foundation and Empire was a bit disappointing. Riose was cool but the protagonists in that story were mid. I didn't really like the Mule storyline either, I thought it was going to be a big plot twist that the Mule was Daneel gone rogue and used his mental powers to conquer the galaxy for the benefit of humanity: the zeroth law. I also didn't particularly care for Bayta and Toran though their relationship was cute and reveals how important love can be in stories, it can teach us a lot about a character in some ways. I also found the book a bit samey and nothing too original from the original Foundation. The biggest twist is that Seldon could be wrong if his assumptions were wrong so it was a great scene of him talking about the wrong Seldon Crisis. I felt the Mule/Magnifico reveal a bit amateurish and nothing compared to the Giskard reveal which was more subtle. Hopefully the next book is better.