This is book five of the seven-book Foundation series. I read this after the book Foundation’s Edge. This is a good book but it was not as gripping as the rest of the Foundation series.
This is Trevize’s quest to justify the course he picked for the galaxy’s future. The decision itself is made in the prior book, Foundation’s Edge.
The parts felt independent of each other. As though you could move the parts around or even omit them. They visit planets such as uninhabited Aurora and Melpomenia. On both the planets there are some adventures and a lot of philosophy. Solaria is sparsely populated. This was my favorite chapter. This is what happened 20,000 years after the events in Solaria from the Robot series book: The Naked Sun.
Trevize was petulant with Bliss throughout the trip and it got exhausing after a while. Sometimes I felt like asking Trevize to just grown up. Trevize spent a lot of time asking Bliss what happens to Gaia’s food once you eat it and when you poop. All sorts of possibilities depending on what you eat and where. Sometimes Bliss felt like one of a Borg collective from Star Trek. Alpha and its people sounded like Hawaiian people with their outfits, music and friendliness.
Asimov maintains the thrills and keeps you engaged. As always the story is full of twists and turns. This is a good read. The story could have continued beautifully in sequel. Yet, after publishing this in 1986, Asmimov opted to write two prequels instead. They were Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993). That was the last book he wrote before he passed away in 1992. And so the future of the Foundation forever remains in the mind of the great Asimov.
June 2017