Foundation is my first science-fiction book. And it blew me away. I am a huge fan of science-fiction movies but this is so much more. There is the usual advanced technology but the plot is thick. The characters are awesome and the twists are amazing. After reading this I just had to read the other two books: Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation.
The first book lays the ground work for psychohistory. This is the mathematics of predicting the future. The story starts off innocently enough with people writing an encyclopedia. Then Mayors such as Salvador Hardin show amazing political skill. This follows the age of the Traders such as Hober Mallow. This part feels like a Bond movie.
The second book pits the Foundation against the Galactic Empire. General Bel Riose seems unstoppable. The war tactics are witty. When it looks like nothing can stop the Foundation, along comes the Mule. And it gets exciting! The suspense is amazing and all seems lost.
The third book deals with the little known Second Foundation. They are almost a myth. First the Mule searches for them. Then the first Foundation searches for them.
Overall, this was completely satisfying. Asimov is young and impatient. He leaves a lot to the readers to figure out. This is different from the mature Asimov of the later books in the Foundation series. I love this young Asimov from the Foundation trilogy. It feels like many novels combined into each of these books.
June 2017