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It's always good to read something that helped mold a genre you love -- in the case of science fiction, that means reading Heinlein, Bradbury and Asimov. What's even better is when that classic turns out to be more interesting than anticipated.
In this particular case, that seems to be in spite of itself. It tries really hard to be very boring, in a number of ways.
1) Consistently telling instead of showing, to the extreme that there were literally no action sequences in the entire novel, a nove ...more
In this particular case, that seems to be in spite of itself. It tries really hard to be very boring, in a number of ways.
1) Consistently telling instead of showing, to the extreme that there were literally no action sequences in the entire novel, a nove ...more
What's remarkable about Foundation is how captivating it is despite all the things it's got stacked against it, for example:
- Almost entirely consisting of people sitting in rooms talking
- Tinges of imperialist apologia
- Apparently no women of real import in the galactic future
- Thin characterization
- Various anachronisms
It's a novel of ideas, sure, but Asimov is more interested in seeing how the ideas play out in various situations than he is in the ideas themselves (it's noteworthy that the no ...more
- Almost entirely consisting of people sitting in rooms talking
- Tinges of imperialist apologia
- Apparently no women of real import in the galactic future
- Thin characterization
- Various anachronisms
It's a novel of ideas, sure, but Asimov is more interested in seeing how the ideas play out in various situations than he is in the ideas themselves (it's noteworthy that the no ...more
You know, when I first read this book I remember thinking how darn smart Asimov was. And I can still see that, but as I get older, it just feels like he rewrote the Roman Empire (which he is always telling people he did) with some math added. And not very good math at that. He keeps talking about how you can't predict the actions of one person anymore than you can predict the actions of one gas molecule and yet he keeps doing it. It's incredibly annoying. Then again maybe I was just mad because
...more
This holds up well for an older sci-fi book. Of course it's Asimov, so you would hope it would. The fact that nuclear power is the pentacle of energy technology 12,000 years into the future could seem dated, but I thought it was kitschy and gave some insight into the times this book was written.
The book is actually more of a series of short interconnected stories with a common theme and each one follows the same story arc pattern which did feel a little repetitive by the end. Overall a good read ...more
The book is actually more of a series of short interconnected stories with a common theme and each one follows the same story arc pattern which did feel a little repetitive by the end. Overall a good read ...more
The story of how Hari Seldon's Psychohistory is used to try to cushion the fall of the galactic empire. Actually a collection of short stories, I enjoyed the intersection of politics and religion.
Some of the psychological aspects are interesting, particularly the Heisenburg-like repercussions of psychohistory (if people know you've made a certain predition about their behavior, that can AFFECT their behavior and change the outcome).
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Some of the psychological aspects are interesting, particularly the Heisenburg-like repercussions of psychohistory (if people know you've made a certain predition about their behavior, that can AFFECT their behavior and change the outcome).
...more
Nov 22, 2009
Shante
marked it as to-read
Feb 11, 2011
Jennifer
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Mar 25, 2011
Otis Chandler
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May 17, 2011
Ashley
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Dec 24, 2012
Nat
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Jan 28, 2013
Theresa
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May 18, 2013
Mark
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