The Foundation by Isaac Asimov

My husband and I recently started a small book club with some friends focusing on sci-fi and fantasy. We decided a great beginning book would be one of the classics, The Foundation by Isaac Asimov. We were wrong. This was a book that dragged on and on, seemingly without a point, and then just ended.

This book was set in space but so little of it actually focused on that aspect. It was just a bunch of politics with cheesy lines like "Oh great galaxies!" thrown in every now and then. None of the science fiction was explained. The planets that were traveled to were not described. The book is split up into five parts but each part jumps into the future with a new character and does not explain what happened in the time between. Thus there is no character development whatsoever and no point in getting attached to any characters because they are cardboard pieces thrown away as soon as their respective part has ended.

I know all of this seems harsh, but I am someone who has always tried to read classic literature. Even if I do not enjoy a novel I can usually discern what it is about the book that made it classic (with the exception of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but that is another story). So I did try to look at The Foundation from all angles to see what it was that made this a cornerstone of modern science fiction, and I just could not find anything. There was no real plot, no rising action or climax or resolution, no character development, and not very much science fiction at all.

The comment was made that perhaps this book is so important because of the series it is a part of, or at least the original trilogy. This may be true, but I think that books need to be able to stand on their own to be considered "good" or "classic". So maybe Asimov's Foundation series is what most look at as a "foundation" for science fiction, but I do not intend to continue reading to find out.

In conclusion, there are much better science fiction books out there. If you are looking for a classic I hear that Dune is really good. I always love Alastair Reynolds. Even the Star Wars books I have read are better than The Foundation. Does this mean I will never read a book by Asimov again? Not necessarily. I have heard great things about I, Robot. I also know that Asimov began this series when he was twenty-one, so perhaps this book is just an example of immature writing and Asimov gets better. For now, I will be exploring other books, but maybe one day I will return to Asimov's world.