Pebble in the Sky

I thought it was alright. I didn't particularly like Joseph Schwarz as a character and felt Arvadan was more compelling. Balkis wasn't a good villain as we never got to understand his motivations as we did for Aratap and Fife who were way better villains and I preferred seeing them. Balkis is given a whole section in which he uses good logic but totally misunderstands the plot making him feel idiotic which is what you don't want in a villain. The Empire was cool and had an interesting presence but I think I preferred the dynamics of the Tyranni or Sark. The radioactivity of Earth was interesting. I feel like they didn't explore the time travel element enough but rather focused on Schwartz's telepathy instead of Schwartz bringing a new Renaissance of old knowledge. For instance, the US Constitution is rumoured to have helped create the Trantorian Empire, thus, wouldn't Schwartz's knowledge be immensely valuable? I think a story in which Schwartz's renaissance conflicts with the traditionalists of Earth could be interesting. It was alright nonetheless and I think might be my least favourite of the trilogy since there's no interesting villain which I like most in a novel.