Foundation: A Review

I've had this series on my to-read list for a hot minute. Isaac Asimov is such an influential author in the sci-fi genre that I'd be doing myself a disservice to not read his works. 

Asimov originally wrote the Foundation series as individual pieces during the 40s. So the first book isn't one singular story, rather it details the history of "The Foundation" through the eyes of various influential characters. The work was written to mirror the fall of the Roman Empire. 

Foundation

What a book. 

The story starts with Gaal Dornick (the first of many view point characters) arriving on Trantor, the capital planet of the Imperial Empire. Think Coruscant from Star Wars. Dornick is a doctor joining the team of renowned mathematician Hari Seldon. Immediately, Dornick finds out that the job he signed up for isn't exactly what he thought it was. 

Without giving away spoilers, Seldon has predetermined the fall of the Galactic Empire through a science called "psychohistory." He has predicted that a dark age will take place and essentially wipe out human history (not humanity itself, just the civilized part). To combat that, he has started the "Encyclopedia Foundation" to create a massive repository of human arts, history, and science. The Foundation secures a remote planet called Terminus where they are charged with preserving the Empire's knowledge.

The book follows the Foundation through history as it faces a series of crises that threaten to destroy it. Each event has been predetermined by Seldon—to an extant—and the reader views how certain influential characters respond to each event.

My Thoughts

I loved it. My favorite part of the book is the world building. I really enjoyed exploring the idea of turning science into a religion in order to control potential rivaling "kingdoms" and the parallels with the Roman Empire.

I also really enjoyed the structure of the book and the different viewpoints. I felt that it made for a fun read by trying to figure out what the next crises was and how the characters were going to respond (although it became somewhat predictable).

On the flip side of that were the characters themselves. I felt this was a weak point. Because each viewpoint is constrained to specific time in history, we don't get fully fleshed arcs. But the characters aren't the point of the story, it's world. The idea of what the Galactic Empire and the Foundation represents is the focal point. And we have to remember that this book was written as standalone short stories. 

Some of the dialogue might come across as dry, but I didn't mind it. It's the idea of what the Foundation is that is engaging, and because of that, there aren't big action scenes (there's a couple). So if you're looking for a Star Wars-type story, you might be disappointed.

I gave the book a 5/5 which I reserve for really influential pieces of work. I really found the idea of this book fascinating and can't wait to continue the series.