Play Book Tag discussion

After centuries of absolute rule throughout the galaxy, the Galactic Empire is beginning to decay. Hari Seldon, using the predictive science/mathematics of psychohistory, makes a plan to limit the age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare to come and preserve human knowledge. He establishes the Foundation in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, peopled with the best minds in the Empire. As the Empire’s control begins to crumble, and the Periphery descends into the first stage of the dark ages, the Foundation its first set of crises.

It is very easy to understand why this book is considered a classic of the genre. I can see clear parallels between this (written in the 50s) to later major works of science-fiction; Star Wars comes to mind immediately. As for the content itself, it was excellent. The timeline jumps ahead several decades in each part, giving a sweeping view of events on a larger scale. Asimov’s world building is excellent, with exposition subtly written throughout.

The only thing that kept me from giving it five stars was the characters. Because you spend so little time with each character before jumping ahead in time, you don’t get to know them very well. Otherwise a solid read and highly recommended for any science-fiction fan.

Nice review, Morgan. I had similar feelings about this one - definitely a SciFi classic!