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wcrobi 's review for:
Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
This book does a great job at world-building, I have to say. What it doesn’t do as well is establish momentum. There are really four disparate stories recounted, and each introduces entirely new characters. I think Asimov was working to create a long arc of history which I admire, but at the expense of depth in the individual characters. Also, the characters aren’t vastly different (one of them is a foreigner… but that doesn’t really play out in a meaningful way), so the stories and various protagonists/antagonists/minor characters become hard to distinguish.
Hilariously, there is a character named Wienis. Pronounced Weenis. That got a chuckle out of me.
Part 2 — “The Mayors”, was my favorite part. I think if that part had been the central part of the book, I would have enjoyed it more.
Also, the only woman character of any significance is a Herodias-type political schemer with maybe 5 pages of interesting dialogue? I can forgive Asimov for this since he was writing in the early 1950s, but it’s still pretty boring at times to read about political intrigue between just a handful of dudes (bros, even).
This is a quick enough read that I would still recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in science fiction — I hope book #2 is a better read.
Hilariously, there is a character named Wienis. Pronounced Weenis. That got a chuckle out of me.
Part 2 — “The Mayors”, was my favorite part. I think if that part had been the central part of the book, I would have enjoyed it more.
Also, the only woman character of any significance is a Herodias-type political schemer with maybe 5 pages of interesting dialogue? I can forgive Asimov for this since he was writing in the early 1950s, but it’s still pretty boring at times to read about political intrigue between just a handful of dudes (bros, even).
This is a quick enough read that I would still recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in science fiction — I hope book #2 is a better read.