#Barnes and noble collectible foundation series#

The Foundation is a prime example of what telling instead of showing looks like. All I saw were two people talking in an empty room, void of any distinguishing features.

I couldn't imagine the scenes with much detail, I couldn't picture where the characters were. This, as well as reasons I will go into more detail about later, is part of why I found The Foundation to be so boring. While reading the book, it appeared as if Asimov was allergic to internal monologue, and you would be lucky to find more than a paragraph-if any at all-describing the setting. Expository dialogue can be a good way to convey information to readers and I am by no means saying it shouldn't be used at all, but in this instance it was overused. A good many of the scenes in The Foundation are just a couple of men talking to each other about the happenings of the world and then occasionally doing something about it. You can have great ideas, and Asimov certainly had great ideas, but I believe that the execution of those ideas matters a great deal too, and, as I've stated above, I do not think Asimov executed them well. I think The Foundation has some very important themes surrounding religion and politics that are still relevant today, and while I liked seeing how these played out in the story, Asimov's writing style made it tremendously harder for me to get through than it should have been. And, though I will not delve into it much in this review, the lack of women-or even the mention of women-in this book irked me. I wasn't engaged in the plot or the characters due to the way the story constantly jumped between characters and time periods. Most of The Foundation is told through dialogue between a bunch of men and it often suffered from white room syndrome. But after the first part, I found myself growing increasingly bored while reading this book and I do attribute this to Asimov's writing. I enjoyed reading about the Empire and the planet Trantor, and I thought Gaal and Hari Seldon were interesting characters. After part I, which pulled me into the story almost immediately, I had high hopes. However, I think that the execution of said ideas was subpar. After reading, I do see the influence The Foundation has had on later works like Dune and as such I do recognize its importance to sci-fi and the contributions it has made in the ideas that it presents. I was told that Dune-and many other popular science fiction novels-was inspired by The Foundation, and so I decided to give it a read. I recently read Dune and enjoyed it immensely. *Note: I wrote this review on Goodreads when I was in 10th grade, if I read the book again in the future I may have a different opinion on it, but for now this is the review I have for this book*Įvident by my rating, I did not like this book, which is unfortunate because it is such a respected and revered book in science fiction. Publisher- Random House Worlds, Publication date- 04-29-2008.In Foundation, Asimov has written a timely and timeless novel 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 Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are among the most influential in the history of science fiction, celebrated for their unique blend of breathtaking action, daring ideas, and extensive worldbuilding. 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. 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.

#Barnes and noble collectible foundation series#

The first novel in Isaac Asimov's classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation seriesTHE EPIC SAGA THAT INSPIRED THE APPLE TV+ SERIES FOUNDATION, Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme.