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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
A 12,000-year Galactic Empire is about to collapse, which will lead to 30,000 years of chaos and human misery. One man foresees it, a psychohistorian who can statistically map out the great social forces of the future. That's Isaac Asimov's Foundation, coming soon to a streaming service near you. Originally written as a number of connected short stories, the series jumps across decades at a time to the crisis points that will allow the terrible interregnum to be shortened to a mere 1000 years. Book 1 only gets through the first, I dunno, 125 years, over five stories and four casts. Each "chapter" has its heroes use the so-called soft sciences to figure out their next step towards a second great and bountiful human empire, and it's mostly done through conversation. And somehow, it's absorbing as all get-out. Part of why it's a page-turner is that, I've found - at least in my case - dialog reads a lot faster than description. But despite the cast changes, I was always in like Flynn, and wanted to see how, no, not the story, but the HISTORY plays out. One quirk of Asimov having written these in the 40s is that female characters seem to be almost entirely absent. One woman shows up very late in the book, and it's not exactly an enlightened one. As per the upcoming show's cast and trailer, they've feminized a number of characters, and I was very happy to change the pronouns in my head as a I read. Otherwise, what a sausage fest. But yeah, I'm heading directly into the second book.
Very cerebral, and long game in the plot for sure. However if you like Dune and you like short stories, this is a nice marriage of concept and style to narrate how to execute a multi-generational plan to save humanity.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
grand societal forces as seen through vignettes at critical junctures in history. if you're expecting space-faring laser battles and action packed sci-fi you won't find it here. but if speculative history on a grand scale sounds interesting to you, you'll thoroughly enjoy.
Very interesting science fiction, with interesting characters and philosophical issues. I enjoyed the way it jumps around it time, at times, but then I wish we got to spend much, much more time with each of the protagonists than we did.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
A classic for a reason. Definitely a little dated in places but overall a great cornerstone of sci if!
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No