Foundation's edge
Ratings225
Average rating4
Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy - a riveting saga of humanity's struggle against darkness played out on the grandest possible scale - is one of the cornerstones of modern science fiction. It is the saga of the Galactic Empire, crumbling after twelve thousand years of rule. And it is the particular story of psychohistorian Hari Seldon, the only man who can see the horrors the future has in store - a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and violence that will last for thirty thousand years. Gathering a band of courageous men and women, Seldon leads them to a hidden location at the edge of the galaxy, where he hopes they can preserve human knowledge and wisdom through the age of darkness. In 1966, the Foundation trilogy received a Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series, and it remains the only fiction series to have been so honored. After more than fifty years and the addition of numerous sequels...[the three Foundation novels] stand as classics of thrilling, provocative, and inspired world-building. – Dust jacket.
I thought I’d enjoy a full-length novel from Asimov more than his collections, and I was right. It was well-paced, it kept me intrigued, it felt like quintessential space opera in Asimov’s voice, and it had a solid conclusion that also invited another novel and mystery, almost reminiscent of Herbert’s. Trevize and Pelorat were delightful. And while this is called Foundation, it was really a connecting novel to Asmimov’s other works.
This book is just wow. I love how everything from the previous books forms together to make this amazing story and even introduces new concepts such as collective consciousness of the Gaians.
I liked all the characters in this book. I even liked the protagonist, Golan Trevize, which is a surprise because protagonists rarely tend to get any interest (of course Elijah Baley is an exception!). The antagonist was also great. So many great things to say about the characters.
I also loved how the robots were re-introduced to be relevant again! I love robots so this was a huge surprise, but a welcome one.
The only minor criticism I have is on the approach to Gaia. The book makes the point that Golan is taking his time to get to Gaia and I really felt it. It's good character development but it was just a little too slow for me. But other than it was perfect.
The First and Second Foundation were both brilliant in this and the Gaians were mindblowing and their connections to robots was just awesome.
I also liked how the Mule is a Gaian and that really adds to his backstory and explains why nobody knows where he's from.
Such a great book.
Doesn't have the same zing as the original trilogy, but introduces the most memorable characters of the series. The characters are logical and consistent and you can't put the book down for wondering what's going to happen next. Some spice, another thing that makes it not as good as the original trilogy.
Age range: 16+
More mature content than the rest of the series, mostly used as character development for the protagonist, but almost nothing compared to any romance book. There are complex philosophical themes throughout that would be incomprehensible to most younger readers.
Just fucking fantastic, as always. 10s all around. The Foundation Saga maintains it's position as my fave scifi series of all time, I fear.
Asimov delivers again! First half of the book is a little slow, but I found it very hard to put the book down when reading the second half. What an absolute delight to read!
Assez excitant de découvrir les lois de la robotique dans cet ouvrage.
Les discours des perso féminins sont du lourd putain : Joie qui parle de son cul et ses kilos en trop, ça n'a pas vieilli décidément le body shaming
Foundation trilogy were the first Asimov books I've read, and with them he has become my favorite fiction writer. Even though I am not a voracious reader, I'm convinced that this opinion won't change even after I've read a lot more than I have so far. This book is excellent and it's another Asimov book I've finished in record time.
Il faudra un jour que je relise et que j'écrive une critique plus complète de ce grand classique de la science-fiction, un roman et une saga que j'avais lu avec énormément de plaisir quand j'étais plus jeune.
This book introduced Gaia, which I thought as the third foundation and was wrong. Gaia predates the Seldon's plan, And it is good to see that robots are back into business. :D
This book is a little less interesting than other foundation books, but good enough for not to be bored.
Hadn't read this for decades. It stood up well to the pasing of time. Asimov is a good illustration of the importance of science and the humanities and books like this are evidence against the current denigration of the humanities in modern universities.
The fourth book in the 7 volume Foundation series, this one was written 30 years after the initial trilogy. Interesting but a bit talky. Could have used more action.
This is readable enough, though the style remains similar to that of the original Foundation trilogy (dating from the 1940s) and seemed curiously archaic even by the 1980s—he wrote as if he'd slept through several decades.
The quality of writing remains much as it was. The plot briskly follows its ordained path; description is sparse; characterisation is simple and tends to follow stereotypes; dialogue is rather stilted and consists mainly of debate. Asimov writes confidently, and the book doesn't read too badly in the context of 1940s sf; but his style seems primitive and rather juvenile by modern standards.
However, style isn't really an issue here. The question is surely whether this book retains the other qualities by which the Foundation trilogy became a classic of sf. The concept of psychohistory, and the sense of history unrolling massively along its predicted path (more or less), were surely a large part of its success.
Well, the trappings of psychohistory remain superficially prominent in this novel, but the action all takes place over such a short period of time that there's little sense of history, and in this important respect I think Asimov has failed to come up with the goods. Furthermore, the poor old Seldon Plan, battered but still surviving, in the end just sort of fizzles out, extinguished in a most unsatisfying way by a deus ex machina.
If Asimov was going to go on a nostalia trip—and the book can hardly be justified in any other way—I'd have preferred something spanning several centuries at least, including a few more of his little lessons in recycled history, and perhaps finishing up with the successful reunion of the two Foundations in the Second Empire.
I think it's an unsatisfactory continuation of the series. I don't like Gaia and I don't believe it belongs in the Foundation universe. I don't believe in Trevize's knack of leaping to right conclusions by magic. Nor are any of the characters really likeable, except perhaps Pelorat, and even he goes a bit funny at the end.