Foundation and Earth - Isaac Asimov

⭐ 9.5/10

(Originally written by Tim)

The "conclusion" of the Foundation series, and kind of the conclusion of Asimov's universe, I was once again hooked. Some unexpected twists and more (typical at this point) mind-blowing connections to his earlier works, I was truly satisfied finishing this one. As the heroes of this book work their way towards Earth the anticipation they felt mirrored my own, and had me reading faster and faster right until the end.

And the ending. No way to say anything without spoiling, or without the knowledge of the ~10 books that come before, but it was more than worth the journey. I was slightly confused by the last paragraph, which leaves you wanting more. This left me semi-disappointed, since I wanted a true conclusion, but reading a bit online about Asimov's plans and death I feel at peace with it. How are you supposed to end a story about the final evolution of humankind anyways?

All in all, I have loved the ~3 year journey of reading all these. He has some stand alone books I can't wait to get to, and his final books were 2 Foundation prequels that fill in the gaps and (I'm sure) make more connections. So there will be more, but for now I feel complete.

I cannot stress enough the importance of the order in which these books are read. I think my enjoyment was largely based on the way everything fit together, and the order is not in-universe chronology or publication. Thinking about someone reading these in the wrong order and spoiling the reveals inadvertently, or not understanding the significance of a moment due to lack of information, breaks my heart. So hit me up if you are interested. I did tons of research after reading the Foundation trilogy (which many people might argue isn't the best entry point, I disagree), and can direct you to a million relevant reddit posts.