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Foundation 3-Book Bundle: Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation
The original trilogy of Isaac Asimov’s bestselling science fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series, in a convenient ebook bundle
THE EPIC SAGA THAT INSPIRED THE APPLE TV+ SERIES FOUNDATION • Nominated as one of America’s best-loved series by PBS’s The Great American Read
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire—both scientists and scholars—and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.
Collected in this boxed set, Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation form the celebrated original trilogy that started it all. One of the most influential in the history of science fiction, the Foundation series is celebrated for its unique blend of breathtaking action, daring ideas, and extensive worldbuilding. Here, Asimov has written a timely and timeless saga of the best—and worst—that lies in humanity, and the power of even a few courageous souls to shine a light in a universe of darkness.
THE EPIC SAGA THAT INSPIRED THE APPLE TV+ SERIES FOUNDATION • Nominated as one of America’s best-loved series by PBS’s The Great American Read
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire—both scientists and scholars—and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.
Collected in this boxed set, Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation form the celebrated original trilogy that started it all. One of the most influential in the history of science fiction, the Foundation series is celebrated for its unique blend of breathtaking action, daring ideas, and extensive worldbuilding. Here, Asimov has written a timely and timeless saga of the best—and worst—that lies in humanity, and the power of even a few courageous souls to shine a light in a universe of darkness.
- GenresFictionScience Fiction
907 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 7, 2022
1414 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,338 books27.7k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 5, 2023
not worth it
It spends far too much time re-explaining itself. If I have to read the “seldon plan” one more time I may stop reading all together. It isn’t even as if it pops up only at every new chapter. It seems every time a character meets anyone he has to have an overly tedious conversation about what the seldon plan is and how there actions may or may not effect it, and at what cost to other people. The last book sadly may have been the best written, but by the time I got to it I was so turned off by the over explanations I started skimming. The other odd thing is throughout the book you have all these super tedious arguments piling on top of each other only to have a deus ex machina at the end. It is as if Asimov wanted us all to be aware of just how groundbreaking his concepts were, and if we forgot he’d remind us, constantly. Then he’d throw all the story out at the end and the-explain why what you just read was EVEN more impressive.
From just a knowledge of science fiction, and a knowledge of different writing styles the book may be good as reference. It does get quite tiring however.
It spends far too much time re-explaining itself. If I have to read the “seldon plan” one more time I may stop reading all together. It isn’t even as if it pops up only at every new chapter. It seems every time a character meets anyone he has to have an overly tedious conversation about what the seldon plan is and how there actions may or may not effect it, and at what cost to other people. The last book sadly may have been the best written, but by the time I got to it I was so turned off by the over explanations I started skimming. The other odd thing is throughout the book you have all these super tedious arguments piling on top of each other only to have a deus ex machina at the end. It is as if Asimov wanted us all to be aware of just how groundbreaking his concepts were, and if we forgot he’d remind us, constantly. Then he’d throw all the story out at the end and the-explain why what you just read was EVEN more impressive.
From just a knowledge of science fiction, and a knowledge of different writing styles the book may be good as reference. It does get quite tiring however.
January 17, 2023
Needs no introduction
I first read these books 14 years after their publication. Fifty five years later they are absorbing as ever. You impoverish yourself if you don't know them.
I first read these books 14 years after their publication. Fifty five years later they are absorbing as ever. You impoverish yourself if you don't know them.
April 21, 2023
I think if this were a modern-day series, I would not have given it 5 stars. For one thing, it's three books and virtual no women characters. I remember thinking that when I first read it many long years ago. But back in the day, no SF had women in it. It is still a fun read though and I had forgotten much of it so it's concepts seemed new-ish.
September 25, 2023
Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy – Foundation, 1951; Foundation and Empire (1952); and Second Foundation (1953) – is rooted in a series of short stories in Astounding Science magazine during the 1940s. These were among the earliest contributions to the new Science Fiction genre that arose after the Lovecraftian era of "supernatural" stories. The original three volumes were supplemented later by two prequels and two sequels, bringing the total to seven volumes and roughly 2,100 pages.
The Trilogy is the foundation of Foundation, a 2022 two-season series streaming on Apple TV. The video adaptation has taken considerable liberties, many to incorporate modern sensitivities, among them a change in a key character's gender from male to female, a conversion of the oppressed races from undefined ethnicity to Black, and an action-oriented "flash-bang" style in lieu of Asimov's sedate and cerebral development.
It's difficult to rate the Trilogy. Its origins are in the 1940s and early 1950s when scientific ideas like nuclear power and scientific methods like statistical simulation – in which the story of the Trilogy is grounded – were crude ideas. Today the science and technology of the Trilogy is common knowledge, and it reads more as anachronism than novelty. In comparison with today's science fiction, I'd give it a 3, but in light of its once pathbreaking qualities, it gets a 4.
The Galactic Empire
The Trilogy's vast sweep covers many millennia and a host of planets in a galaxy cleverly named "The Galaxy." It opens in the 12th millennium of the Galactic Empire after sentient life, once confined to Earth, has populated trillions of planets from the Empire's epicenter, Trantor, to planets in the Outer Reaches like Terminus, the center of the Foundation.
At the top of the Empire's power pyramid are three Romanesque figures: an old man called "Dusk," a middle-aged man ("Day"), and a young man named "Dawn." Thus, the Empire is a triumvirate with the trinity even closer than fathers and sons – these emperors are clones of Cleon I, the original emperor. When it's time for Dusk to shuffle off the mortal coil, Dawn and Day are elevated and a new Dawn is "decanted."
This triumvirate is a solution to the sine qua non of every empire: continuity; there is always a Dawn to replace a Day and a Day to replace a Dusk. And the parts are interchangeable because each is a clone of the original Cleon. In this sequence, Day is the active Emperor, the decider; Dusk is the former decider; and Dawn is a trainee in cosmic governance.
The Advent of Psychohistory
In the middle of the thirteenth millennium, during the reign of Cleon XIII, a mathematician named Hari Sheldon from the outer planet Helicon upsets the harmony of the Galaxy with a telescope into the future – a new mathematical field called Psychohistory. This is an application of mathematical methods to derive a statistical model that can calculate the key characteristics of the Empire and its member planets at each future point in time. The predictions of this simulation model are derived using as starting conditions the current psychological, political, attitudinal, and economic attributes of the Empire's population.
But Psychohistory is inherently destabilizing. Before Hari Sheldon, the Empire's future developed without the Imperial agent's knowledge of the future. But after Seldon the effects of current and past events can be calculated and the results of today's actions on the future can be incorporated into today's decisions: causality is now a two-way street with the future determined by the present, and the present determined by the future. Now each Empire member can readily determine if it will be helped or harmed by the Empire's actions.
The predictable result of Psychohistory is fragmentation of the Galactic Empire and war between its planets. The results of Sheldon's discovery are stark: within 300 years the Empire will break up with the loss of social and political cohesion between planets and between the planets and the Empire. A long Dark Age of disorder will dominate for the next 6,000 years until, eventually, a Second Empire will emerge at around Imperial Year 19,000 to create a new galactic order.
Psychohistory and the Empire
The current Emperor is greatly displeased by the advent of Psychohistory. Not only is its prediction of dissolution unsettling, but he sees that Psychohistory might be a ruse, a deliberate act of sabotage designed to begin an era of chaos that will escalate over time. The Emperor's inclination is to incinerate Seldon, but once Psychohistory is out of its box it can't be stuffed back into its box. Also, if killed, Seldon won't be around to answer some fundamental questions: "What were Seldon's intentions in creating his psychohistory model?"; "How accurate is the psychohistoric prediction?"; and "What tools can be used to alter that prediction?"
Amid all this sturm und drang a new figure arrives. On an outer planet called Synnax, a young (male) mathematician named Gaal Dornick verifies Sheldon's mathematics and confirms his predictions. Sheldon is so impressed that he hires Gaal to be his assistant in a grand new institution designed to prepare for the dark ages ahead. Gaal will be transgendered before the arrival of the Apple TV series.
That grand new institution is called the Foundation. Its mission is to gather together thousands of scientists tasked to compile the Galactic Encyclopedia, a depository of all existing knowledge, to ensure that knowledge survives the Dark Age to come. To ensure that its work is not contaminated by outside influence, the Foundation is sited on one of the outermost planets in the Empire, an uninhabited and resource-poor planet named Terminus. And to avoid putting all the eggs in one basket, a second Foundation is sited at Star's End, another uninhabited planet on the opposite side of the galaxy from Terminus. Yes, even psychohistorians understand the benefits of diversification.
But is codification of knowledge really Hari Sheldon's mission for the two Foundations? Could Hari be slipping sand into the Galactic machinery? Is the Foundation a ruse to end the Empire?
The answers will emerge as you read the Foundation Trilogy.
The Trilogy is the foundation of Foundation, a 2022 two-season series streaming on Apple TV. The video adaptation has taken considerable liberties, many to incorporate modern sensitivities, among them a change in a key character's gender from male to female, a conversion of the oppressed races from undefined ethnicity to Black, and an action-oriented "flash-bang" style in lieu of Asimov's sedate and cerebral development.
It's difficult to rate the Trilogy. Its origins are in the 1940s and early 1950s when scientific ideas like nuclear power and scientific methods like statistical simulation – in which the story of the Trilogy is grounded – were crude ideas. Today the science and technology of the Trilogy is common knowledge, and it reads more as anachronism than novelty. In comparison with today's science fiction, I'd give it a 3, but in light of its once pathbreaking qualities, it gets a 4.
The Galactic Empire
The Trilogy's vast sweep covers many millennia and a host of planets in a galaxy cleverly named "The Galaxy." It opens in the 12th millennium of the Galactic Empire after sentient life, once confined to Earth, has populated trillions of planets from the Empire's epicenter, Trantor, to planets in the Outer Reaches like Terminus, the center of the Foundation.
At the top of the Empire's power pyramid are three Romanesque figures: an old man called "Dusk," a middle-aged man ("Day"), and a young man named "Dawn." Thus, the Empire is a triumvirate with the trinity even closer than fathers and sons – these emperors are clones of Cleon I, the original emperor. When it's time for Dusk to shuffle off the mortal coil, Dawn and Day are elevated and a new Dawn is "decanted."
This triumvirate is a solution to the sine qua non of every empire: continuity; there is always a Dawn to replace a Day and a Day to replace a Dusk. And the parts are interchangeable because each is a clone of the original Cleon. In this sequence, Day is the active Emperor, the decider; Dusk is the former decider; and Dawn is a trainee in cosmic governance.
The Advent of Psychohistory
In the middle of the thirteenth millennium, during the reign of Cleon XIII, a mathematician named Hari Sheldon from the outer planet Helicon upsets the harmony of the Galaxy with a telescope into the future – a new mathematical field called Psychohistory. This is an application of mathematical methods to derive a statistical model that can calculate the key characteristics of the Empire and its member planets at each future point in time. The predictions of this simulation model are derived using as starting conditions the current psychological, political, attitudinal, and economic attributes of the Empire's population.
But Psychohistory is inherently destabilizing. Before Hari Sheldon, the Empire's future developed without the Imperial agent's knowledge of the future. But after Seldon the effects of current and past events can be calculated and the results of today's actions on the future can be incorporated into today's decisions: causality is now a two-way street with the future determined by the present, and the present determined by the future. Now each Empire member can readily determine if it will be helped or harmed by the Empire's actions.
The predictable result of Psychohistory is fragmentation of the Galactic Empire and war between its planets. The results of Sheldon's discovery are stark: within 300 years the Empire will break up with the loss of social and political cohesion between planets and between the planets and the Empire. A long Dark Age of disorder will dominate for the next 6,000 years until, eventually, a Second Empire will emerge at around Imperial Year 19,000 to create a new galactic order.
Psychohistory and the Empire
The current Emperor is greatly displeased by the advent of Psychohistory. Not only is its prediction of dissolution unsettling, but he sees that Psychohistory might be a ruse, a deliberate act of sabotage designed to begin an era of chaos that will escalate over time. The Emperor's inclination is to incinerate Seldon, but once Psychohistory is out of its box it can't be stuffed back into its box. Also, if killed, Seldon won't be around to answer some fundamental questions: "What were Seldon's intentions in creating his psychohistory model?"; "How accurate is the psychohistoric prediction?"; and "What tools can be used to alter that prediction?"
Amid all this sturm und drang a new figure arrives. On an outer planet called Synnax, a young (male) mathematician named Gaal Dornick verifies Sheldon's mathematics and confirms his predictions. Sheldon is so impressed that he hires Gaal to be his assistant in a grand new institution designed to prepare for the dark ages ahead. Gaal will be transgendered before the arrival of the Apple TV series.
That grand new institution is called the Foundation. Its mission is to gather together thousands of scientists tasked to compile the Galactic Encyclopedia, a depository of all existing knowledge, to ensure that knowledge survives the Dark Age to come. To ensure that its work is not contaminated by outside influence, the Foundation is sited on one of the outermost planets in the Empire, an uninhabited and resource-poor planet named Terminus. And to avoid putting all the eggs in one basket, a second Foundation is sited at Star's End, another uninhabited planet on the opposite side of the galaxy from Terminus. Yes, even psychohistorians understand the benefits of diversification.
But is codification of knowledge really Hari Sheldon's mission for the two Foundations? Could Hari be slipping sand into the Galactic machinery? Is the Foundation a ruse to end the Empire?
The answers will emerge as you read the Foundation Trilogy.
November 8, 2023
Observe grasshopper
I remember reading these books in my teens, and enjoying them. This re reading in my 80's leaves me a little unimpressed. There are some attempts at dialect that don't work. The language is somewhat dated, and many concepts are out of date. We start with the expansion of foundation through traders combined with religious evangelists who keep the colonies suppressed by insisting on teaching a pseudo religion shrouded in mysterious rituals connected to the use and maintenance of the nuclear devices being distributed. We are exposed to the deterioration of this process as the traders overcome resistance to the provision of the gadgets combined with its religious aspects. As the foundation progresses along its predicted path, we come upon a Seldon event where a rebellion between the core foundation worlds and the traders is planned to occur, but is interrupted by the appearance of the mule. With super psychic abilities, the mule attempts to create a new empire, but gets diverted in seeking out the second foundation. It's felt the second foundation has the ability to interrupt his plans. Mysteriously the mule abandons his plans of conquest. Somehow this factor develops a faction within foundation that mistrust the second foundation. This doesn't make sense, but by the end of the book, a solution is found that confusingly results in the sacrifice of 50 second foundation members. We then get a lecture by the first speaker to a student that is reminiscent of the lectures given by master to Kwai Chang Cain in Kung Fu this lecture is apparently intended to clarify and explain the mishmash of events and actions that preceded in the book. Also, in the process we learn the meaning of 'star's end' and the location of the second foundation.
I remember reading these books in my teens, and enjoying them. This re reading in my 80's leaves me a little unimpressed. There are some attempts at dialect that don't work. The language is somewhat dated, and many concepts are out of date. We start with the expansion of foundation through traders combined with religious evangelists who keep the colonies suppressed by insisting on teaching a pseudo religion shrouded in mysterious rituals connected to the use and maintenance of the nuclear devices being distributed. We are exposed to the deterioration of this process as the traders overcome resistance to the provision of the gadgets combined with its religious aspects. As the foundation progresses along its predicted path, we come upon a Seldon event where a rebellion between the core foundation worlds and the traders is planned to occur, but is interrupted by the appearance of the mule. With super psychic abilities, the mule attempts to create a new empire, but gets diverted in seeking out the second foundation. It's felt the second foundation has the ability to interrupt his plans. Mysteriously the mule abandons his plans of conquest. Somehow this factor develops a faction within foundation that mistrust the second foundation. This doesn't make sense, but by the end of the book, a solution is found that confusingly results in the sacrifice of 50 second foundation members. We then get a lecture by the first speaker to a student that is reminiscent of the lectures given by master to Kwai Chang Cain in Kung Fu this lecture is apparently intended to clarify and explain the mishmash of events and actions that preceded in the book. Also, in the process we learn the meaning of 'star's end' and the location of the second foundation.
July 28, 2023
a must read for any sci fi enthusiast
The sheer breadth of vision is astounding, especially for a book written so many decades ago. This series is indeed the foundation of all space-faring sci fi that followed. As long as one accepts that there are some flaws such as relative lack of female characters, something the author obviously was aware of and tried to adjust over the trilogy, it’s a worthy read. The action takes place mainly in the form of dialogues between major characters, which makes it more of a philosophical novel than a standard sci fi action story. Getting through the third book is a bit of a slog but it does pick up so be patient. It’s well worth getting to the stunning conclusion of the trilogy. And for those who are watching the TV series, the trilogy is important to read so that the reader can understand how and why the TV show departed from the original story while maintaining some of its essential features. Galaxy, what a grand story!
The sheer breadth of vision is astounding, especially for a book written so many decades ago. This series is indeed the foundation of all space-faring sci fi that followed. As long as one accepts that there are some flaws such as relative lack of female characters, something the author obviously was aware of and tried to adjust over the trilogy, it’s a worthy read. The action takes place mainly in the form of dialogues between major characters, which makes it more of a philosophical novel than a standard sci fi action story. Getting through the third book is a bit of a slog but it does pick up so be patient. It’s well worth getting to the stunning conclusion of the trilogy. And for those who are watching the TV series, the trilogy is important to read so that the reader can understand how and why the TV show departed from the original story while maintaining some of its essential features. Galaxy, what a grand story!
March 18, 2024
Asimov's original Foundation Trilogy is a classic for a reason. It introduces a lot of tropes of the genre, and is an interesting story overall.
Still, Asimov was never great at writing characters, and these stories are no exception. He's particularly bad at writing women, and his misogyny tends to show through when he writes them. I thought there might be an exception in the third book, where one of the protagonists is an intelligent 14 year old girl, but then the final reveal undercuts that.
Combine this with a lot of science that isn't considered to be theoretically possible today, and you get a lot that hasn't aged very well. It was worth re-reading after more than three decades, but I don't know that I'd recommend it to anyone.
Still, Asimov was never great at writing characters, and these stories are no exception. He's particularly bad at writing women, and his misogyny tends to show through when he writes them. I thought there might be an exception in the third book, where one of the protagonists is an intelligent 14 year old girl, but then the final reveal undercuts that.
Combine this with a lot of science that isn't considered to be theoretically possible today, and you get a lot that hasn't aged very well. It was worth re-reading after more than three decades, but I don't know that I'd recommend it to anyone.
May 17, 2023
DNF.
I have read exited reviews or mentions of the Foundation by Asimov that I wanted to try. The first book didn't really impress me. It wasn't able to catch me and I found it boring and nothing really special. Story telling was okay, just that this thing didn't age well. Things like messages delivered on paper. Come on. The second book I didn't like at all and I speed read through the last third of it and decided that the whole business is not worth my time and didn't even try the third.
Can't understand how someone can give it more than 3 stars.
I have read exited reviews or mentions of the Foundation by Asimov that I wanted to try. The first book didn't really impress me. It wasn't able to catch me and I found it boring and nothing really special. Story telling was okay, just that this thing didn't age well. Things like messages delivered on paper. Come on. The second book I didn't like at all and I speed read through the last third of it and decided that the whole business is not worth my time and didn't even try the third.
Can't understand how someone can give it more than 3 stars.
November 9, 2023
About 20 years ago, this was one of my favourite book series. Today it does not quite live up to the glorious memories I have of it.
The basic premise of the series remains interesting and compelling, but the execution sometimes feels a bit underwhelming. Some plot elements feel a bit over explained, while other parts like world building and character descriptions feel a bit sparse.
The story remains an absolute classic however, so if you haven't read it yet, I would still recommend that you do.
The basic premise of the series remains interesting and compelling, but the execution sometimes feels a bit underwhelming. Some plot elements feel a bit over explained, while other parts like world building and character descriptions feel a bit sparse.
The story remains an absolute classic however, so if you haven't read it yet, I would still recommend that you do.
January 13, 2024
The books that started me on my obsession with science fiction (in addition to his short story "The Last Question" which my father read to me when I probably was too young to really understand it but still loved). Very influential and a classic series of books. You can stop after the first three though - the rest are interesting but not up to the same standards in my opinion. Love the Robot series too which is connected.
March 28, 2024
Classic science fiction.
These are the original books of the Foundation trilogy. It's not Space Opera, like Star Wars. Or Hard Sci-Fi, like Ringworld or Sundiver. It is still a classic Trilogy in the science fiction genre. There would be two more novels in the saga. Then Asimov would write 2 prequel books. The first five books are the ones I recommend. 1 Foundation, 2 Foundation and Empire, 3 Second Foundation, 4 Foundation's Edge, and the 5th Foundation and Earth.
These are the original books of the Foundation trilogy. It's not Space Opera, like Star Wars. Or Hard Sci-Fi, like Ringworld or Sundiver. It is still a classic Trilogy in the science fiction genre. There would be two more novels in the saga. Then Asimov would write 2 prequel books. The first five books are the ones I recommend. 1 Foundation, 2 Foundation and Empire, 3 Second Foundation, 4 Foundation's Edge, and the 5th Foundation and Earth.
December 19, 2023
Ok but not great.
Asimov's novels have been interesting. But when I discovered Dune and it's universe I found a much more interesting story. Foundation is a 2d story while Dune is multidimensional. Frank Herbert's imagination is more reaching, interesting and exciting. Hence my review title. Foundation was not an entertaining story. I had to force my way through it.
Asimov's novels have been interesting. But when I discovered Dune and it's universe I found a much more interesting story. Foundation is a 2d story while Dune is multidimensional. Frank Herbert's imagination is more reaching, interesting and exciting. Hence my review title. Foundation was not an entertaining story. I had to force my way through it.
April 9, 2023
A Wild Ride
I first read Foundation about fifty years ago. I didn’t remember much of the story. Reading the trilogy now was engrossing and extremely entertaining. Asimov was a brilliant writer.
I first read Foundation about fifty years ago. I didn’t remember much of the story. Reading the trilogy now was engrossing and extremely entertaining. Asimov was a brilliant writer.
May 17, 2023
This was a really fun series to read with several unanticipated twists. I haven't read a book like this in a long time and it was nice to take a breather from non-fiction. I would recommend to any age reader.
December 1, 2023
Just as i remembered
Really enjoyed reading this again. I like the TV series but there is no replacing the original. I would recommend these books for anyone interested in science fiction.
Really enjoyed reading this again. I like the TV series but there is no replacing the original. I would recommend these books for anyone interested in science fiction.
January 1, 2024
Asimov's "Foundation 3-Book Bundle" is a masterclass in sci-fi storytelling, weaving a galactic epic that transcends time and genre. The premise is ingenious: a dying Galactic Empire on the brink of a dark age, and a hidden Foundation tasked with preserving knowledge and guiding humanity's future. Asimov's masterful use of psychohistory, a science predicting the future based on mass emotions, adds a layer of intellectual intrigue that keeps you hooked.
Beyond the grand sweep of history, the trilogy shines in its intimate character moments. The complex relationship between Hari Seldon, the Foundation's founder, and his successors is a study in leadership, ambition, and the burden of foresight. Each book throws fresh challenges at the Foundation, from political machinations to interstellar war, showcasing Asimov's brilliant world-building and captivating storytelling. This bundle is a must-read for anyone seeking a thought-provoking and thoroughly engrossing sci-fi adventure.
Beyond the grand sweep of history, the trilogy shines in its intimate character moments. The complex relationship between Hari Seldon, the Foundation's founder, and his successors is a study in leadership, ambition, and the burden of foresight. Each book throws fresh challenges at the Foundation, from political machinations to interstellar war, showcasing Asimov's brilliant world-building and captivating storytelling. This bundle is a must-read for anyone seeking a thought-provoking and thoroughly engrossing sci-fi adventure.
December 30, 2024
Life-long Asimov fan
I personally love his writing style and this trilogy is a perfect example of it. It's the original Sci-fi that so many other stories and universes are based on. It was written in the early 50s.
I personally love his writing style and this trilogy is a perfect example of it. It's the original Sci-fi that so many other stories and universes are based on. It was written in the early 50s.
August 12, 2025
Captivating plot
Asimov's foundation series is a brief, energetic, satisfying exploration of some really big ideas. Don't look for deep character development in his writing, but the action and development of the plot will keep you reading when you should be doing other things.
Asimov's foundation series is a brief, energetic, satisfying exploration of some really big ideas. Don't look for deep character development in his writing, but the action and development of the plot will keep you reading when you should be doing other things.
March 8, 2024
As smart as it gets!
Masterpiece! What a story! If only more writers could be as smart as Asimov. Funny, smart, and so enjoyable. Loved it!
Masterpiece! What a story! If only more writers could be as smart as Asimov. Funny, smart, and so enjoyable. Loved it!
March 9, 2024
Better 50 years later
I read this in as a freshman in the first Sci-Fi class at my college.
It is even better now.
I read this in as a freshman in the first Sci-Fi class at my college.
It is even better now.
September 24, 2025
all over the place
Just couldn’t get into this. Skips generations and is super boring in most places. Hard pass in my book. Sorry
Just couldn’t get into this. Skips generations and is super boring in most places. Hard pass in my book. Sorry
October 9, 2025
Good trilogy. Not much on characters & the plot is linear, but fun, interesting ideas bouncing off each other throughout.
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