Foundation Trilogy Review No Spoilers 

Have you read the Foundation? Do you think you could survive a Seldon Crisis!?

I am 71 now and read all of Asimov’s Foundation and I Robot books (and learned of their eventual connection) decades ago. I am so happy to see young people discovering this great body of sci-fi work.

You mention 1951 often but more impressively only psychohistorians was written in 1951. The other four chapters were published between 1942 and 1944. Foundation and Empire was originally published in 1945. Second Foundaton was originally published between 1948 and 1950. Wild to think the first chapter of the trilogy was the last written. Thanks for making this video.

I've always been slightly intimidated by this series, because of it being such older SciFi, but hearing you say it feels a lot more modern then you expect is nice. Also you're right, that B&N edition is so gorgeous. Such a fantastic review tho, Jimmy!!

This trilogy won a special Hugo award for the best all-time science fiction series. My only complaint about it was that it didn't tell the rest of the story. It seemed that many other Asimov fans felt the same, and his publisher prevailed on him (by offering lots of money) to write a sequel, some thirty years later. So I hurried to my local Barnes % Noble bookstore (there was no Amazon, or even the internet back then) grabbed a copy of Foundation's Edge, and got in line to check out. Then I turned to my right and noticed a display of AUTOGRAPHED copies of Foundation's Edge! So I got one of those instead, and I could not wait to get home and start reading it.

This trilogy casts a long shadow. One of my biggest gripes with sci fi novels is how dry they tend to be, so it was nice hearing you say it’s actually quite fresh. I’m definitely willing to give the first book a shot at 250 pages.

Apparently, Asimov had read The Rise and Decline of the Roman Empire. And, he believed that he could do a similar story in his genre, science fiction. Well, also apparently, he was right. I was a teenager in the 1950s, but, hadn't yet gotten much into scifi reading. But, in my 20s and 30s, I really got into the genre. Read his trilogy even if such a thing was frowned upon by most people I knew. Then, I discovered Dune. That I read multiple times which was something very new for me. I'd never re-read a book before. More into the 1980s I read most of the rest of the Dune Chronicles. Got hung up in Chapterhouse: Dune and never finished it. But, Foundation was the beginning of all of that. Not real sure where my reading would have taken me if I'd not ever read Foundation. Probably would have still read Dune as it was recommended to my by a lot of my friends.

I grew up on the sci-fi mags of the 1950s and 60s so I jumped to Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein, the Big Three of Golden Age sci-fi. I have always loved the entire Foundation series and the robot books. Brilliant writer. Most of the sci-fi today is influenced by the Big Three or by writers who were influenced by them. And now I’ll go download the audiobooks so I can “read” them again.

Excellent review! I started reading Asimov in the 1960s, and I've loved his books ever since. Just a note that explains the short-story feel of the first book and the first segment of the second: Except for the first chapter of "Foundation", all of these were separate short stories published in sci-fi magazines in the 40s. He pulled them together to form "Foundation", and added the first chapter to establish the context. Also, the prequel and sequel novels, which he published later, are excellent. He also connects the Robot and Empire novels to the Foundation trilogy, so they all take place in the same "universe" over a 20,000 year span.

Bumping it up my TBR after this. The way you describe the structure of it, reminds me of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, which if you haven't read, I can't recommend highly enough. The Wachowski siblings made a movie adaptation of it some years back, but it really doesn't do it justice. The movie is constructed more like a mosaic, while the book is like a Russian matruyshka doll. There's seven stories, iirc, and each one is in a different literary genre and in a different time. Ranging the diary of an explorer on the Pacific Ocean in the 19th century, to a scifi some 200-400 years in the future. And they're all interconnected, and they really feel like you're opening a matruyshka doll, taking one out, taking a good hard look at it. But, before you finish, you open it up and start examining the next one, until you have them all in front of you, side by side. Then you start putting them back together, until you've examined every minute detail in each doll, and they're all in one again.

I’ve found this review very helpful. Detailed enough without spoilers. Thanks Jimmy!

This review was awesome. I am going through the first book and I loved getting your opinion on this expansive work

The stories making up most of the original trilogy were published between 1942 and 1950 in Astounding Science Fiction. See the Wikipedia article on the Foundation Series for more details.

Great video! I'm doing a re-read of the Foundation series, just finished the original trilogy and was in the mood to hear the thoughts of others. Sci Fi is a great "what if?" genre. What if we develop this technology? See this scientific advancement? Continue along this path of social development? It's a great way of thinking about, anticipating, and maybe even preparing for the future. What I love about the Foundation books is they ask these big questions about the social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, politics, economics, etc.) rather than the physical sciences (physics, astronomy, biology, engineering, etc.). How has society developed, where are it's problems, and can it be reshaped? And what are the ethics of using the tools developed by the social sciences to reshape society, even if you're doing it for the "right" reasons. It seems even more relevant now, living in a world entirely controlled by "big data" and algorithms.

Fantastic review, and you’ve sold me. I was already planning to read book 1, but now even more so. Especially because the trailer for the show has me hooked lol. You obviously earned every one of those 1000+ subscribers. Congratulations! Have you read Hyperion?

I just finished these along with some other Asimov books this month! So interesting as someone who hadn't read much classic scifi

Dude. You describe the writing so well. I can't decide if I should read the next two books

I just started watching the apple series based on the books (foundation) and this end up with me discovering this wonderful channel I'm going to start following your reviews for now on 😅

I read the first book and never got back to it due to the dryness of the book. Your review makes me want to go back and finish the series, especially since you said you are a character reader like myself. If you ever read indie authors you might like my series written much in the style of ASoIaF. The first book is called The Vanguards of Scion and it's free on kindle. Loved your reviews! I think your channel is gonna blow up quick!

I just checked this edition and apparently people have noticed that that edition is missing pages when compared to the standalones (this was from the comments section of the B&N product page)

The first Book in the foundation trilogy was released in 1942! pretty insane. When i started reading it i had no idea. The biggest giveaway was some english vocabulary that seemed very dated lol. Extremely impressive scope and imagination for a book written in 1942. Asimov never fails to impress me

I'm not really a science fiction or fantasy reader but i loved this series! I think It was the political aspects that kept me interested!

Imma start re-reading these soon. Haven't cracked them open since high-school

All time 👍🏻 great- a masterpiece considering the era in which it was written- simply amazing. Definitely worth a read (or two). Assured time well spent 👌🏻

Man loved ur vid, u talk with passion but please fix ur background noise from the mic

Hi! New subscriber here. I read this trilogy end of 2019 and it was my first dive into classic sci fi. I also was pleasantly surprised. I continued into the next 3 and have now moved into the Robot novels.

I really enjoy your videos

I'm reading Prelude to Foundation now.

Hey great video! I’m sure you’ve heard of the new Foundation series coming out on Apple TV+ tomorrow! I was wondering what you thought about it? Would love to see a review by you down the line.

Hey Jimmy I just stumbled onto your channel because I was interested in trying out this series. I'm a huge classics reader and wanted to check out a sci-fi classic. When about to purchase this series I saw there is a Prelude to Foundation book that Asimov himself suggested to start with. What are your thoughts on this and have you read it?

Not that it matters but it wasn’t written in 1951, and you’re correct about them being like short stories- they originally were for the journal "astounding", first published story form foundation in 1942. But anywho. He put them together in ‘51 to publish as books just as the market warmed up to sci-if.

I'm reading it now. Enjoying the ideas and concept, but not having set characters for the entire ride is a bit strange. I'm hoping the entire series isn't like this, but it probably is.

The trilogy has been a favorite of mine for decades. I don't know if I could survive a Seldon Crisis (probably would depend on my location and what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it). I'm looking, very much with high anticipation, forward to Apple's streaming series.

Good review, but I would actually name John Campbell as the grandfather of modern science fiction. He mentored many young writers including Asimov who went on to become giants in the field.

Planning on buying this book.wish it had gilded letters on the spine or something though since it will stick out from my leatherbounds. That said I remember reading the first book and how insanely impressed i was with Asimov's "psycho history". Kinda sounded like he predicted mass data

I've only read I Robot which I loved for the most part. Might give the trilogy a read after I've finished up the Dune Saga and read William Gibson's Neuromancer trilogy.

I own these and have wanted to, start so great video. I’ve pivoted to getting more through the Star Wars universe but I still consider these to throw in.

I’d love to hear your opinion on William Gibson’s ”Neuromancer”

I have been wanting to read this for some time now and i should be getting to it some time this year :))

Asimov gives an interesting explanation for the human-centric nature of the galaxy in The End of Eternity, definitely worth a read.

Oh yes, I really enjoyed characters from the second part of Foundation and Empire))

Always wanted to read it but never knew that bit about the Roman empire. Want to read it more now.

You should check out "Forever War" trilogy by Joe Haldeman (the omnibus edition "Peace and War" would be my recc) if you liked the "different characters over different time periods, all interconnected by an overrarching story" aspect of Foundation.

In a way, Asimov is a bit similar to my other sci-fi icon, Ray Bradbury. Both wrote in imaginary universes but at the end of the day dealt with basic human psychology and nature.

Seems like a collection of stories? Yes it is three collections. The sequels are novels. I have not read the second trilogy written by other authers.

Hi, I have just gotten into fantasy and I’m really loving it. I recently read the skyward books by Sanderson and I was wondering what work of his I should read next given that I’m a fantasy noob.

Thoughts on The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant?

I'm over half way through foundation (1951) and so far Im really frustrated . I think the issue is that the book wasn't a book at its start but snipet stories for a scifi magazine? In my version there's no side notes hey this is 2 years later or 50 years later until you're in the middle of the chapter makes me want to scream.Also it's almost entirely dialogue.... I want world building, explanations, character building... The first part of foundation was fascinating. I really want to learn more about hari... I wanted to know what happened to Gaal!!!! But nothing... They're dead.. gone... I think it's because when you read Sanderson you just can't let go of character development, and world building .

nuts...lol

Asimov is the GOAT. Above GRRM and Tolkien

Poob

Stop boasting