Foundation by Isaac Asimov

The books that I've most been looking forward to reading on our list are the science fiction books. Unfortunately there aren't that many sci-fi books on the list so I've decided to also read (or re-read) the top 25 or so science fiction books of all time. The problem is that I can't decide on which list to use. NPR published a nice list at http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books but that list contains a bunch of series titles. Another good list is at http://scifilists.sffjazz.com/lists_books_rank1.html.  And yet another one is at http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/12325.S_L_Top_100_Science_Fiction_Fantasy_Titles. Either way, near the top of each of these lists is Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. I had found a used copy that contained all three books at a library book sale shortly before we started this project, so it has been staring at me from the bookshelf for the last year just waiting to be picked up. I was looking forward to it because I really had no clue what it was about since this is one of the few classic science fiction books that haven't been made into a movie.

This first book is really a set of five short stories set in the far future, so far in fact that mankind is spread out across the galaxy and they don't even remember that Earth was the birthplace of humans. The first story sets the foundation for what the series is about. A scientist, Hari Seldon, creates a new science 'psychohistory' which basically allows him to predict the future of society in very general terms. He comes to the conclusion that the current Empire will fall in a few hundred years and this will be followed by thirty thousand years of unrest, destruction and chaos. He believes it is already too late to save the Empire from collapse, but he sets in motion a plan that will help society make it through the collapse in only one thousand years. One the outside it appears this plan is to create a giant type of encyclopedia and library that will contain all knowledge and keep it safe through any type of destruction. Each of the next four short stories jump ahead generations at a time to see how this plan progresses and the obstacles it faces.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. The set up is really good and I enjoyed the jumping ahead in time in each new story. I'll have to read the second book in the trilogy pretty soon because the first book doesn't really offer much of a conclusion. The only difficulty in reading it was that there were so many characters with weird names, and once you learn them all they get replaced with another set of new characters. I also found it funny that in the far future people still read print newspapers and rely on microfilm. I'll give Foundation an A.