Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Foundation and Earth
Book Review: Great potential, but Gaia killed this series . . .
Summary: 3 Stars
Very disappointing. Sure, it's readable, but also laughable. The story of finding Earth should have been fantastic, but instead meandered all over the place and seems to be a waste of time. There are a few good parts, mostly for those readers familiar with the Robot series, but the entire book is sadly a disappointment. This decline started with the introduction of Gaia in the previous book, when the whole series got derailed and never got back to what it was.
Spoilers ahead!
Who else was absolutely convinced that Golan Trevize would turn out to be a robot? For most of this book, that seemed to be the great 'mystery' that would be unveiled. It turned out to be false, but Trevize's ability to merge perfectly with the ship and his basic wooden personality had me willing to bet he was definitely, positively a robot. The guy was unreal. He did not respond at all to the nubile girl on board the ship, he let the old guy have her. Er, not likely, especially as he constantly referred to how horny he was and how long it had been, ect. . .
The series officially jumped shark with the introduction of the planet Gaia and never recovered. How could the search for Earth be so pointless? They spend most of the book running from one planet to another and barely escaping alive from each one - it gets a little repetitive. When they finally achieve their goal, it's very disappointing! And none of the larger issues are resolved. What happens at the end of 1000 years? Did the two Foundations achieve their purpose? Apparently, Asimov lost his way and we never find out if the Foundation was effective or not. The story of finding Earth had great potential, but the reader is left hanging at the end wondering what will happen at the 1000 year mark, the point at which the Foundation was supposed to prevent the Dark Ages extending to thirty thousand years.
This book was mostly fluff and the silly interactions between the nondescript Trevize and the silly lovers: Gaia girl and the old librarian. This part of the story seems to have been a fantasy of Mr Asimov's . . . The 'surprise' at the end was a total rip off and an excuse not to carry the ideas begun in the first book to their final conclusion. Instead we are left with Gaia on a galactic scale . . .
Book Review: Not up to standards
Summary: 2 Stars
If you're an Asimov junkie like me, you'll buy and read this book no matter what anybody says. But if you were thrilled with the first three books in the series, ecstatic over the addition of Prelude to Foundation, and slightly less than pleased with Foundation's Edge, then you'll be disappointed with this one.
I felt Isaac was preaching at me in some sort of new age galactic godspeak rather than entertaining me with a good story. Maybe that's the danger of writing so many good adventure books: eventually you want to advertise your beliefs. I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know that this book was a terrible letdown for me in an otherwise brilliant series.
The ending didn't gather together the threads of the story, but only seemed to serve as a steppingstone for books that were never to be written. The Foundation Series is a grand adventure, standing up for the most part over forty years after some of the volumes were written. Well, five out of six of them do, at least.
Book Review: Probably the least interesting Foundation book
Summary: 2 Stars
Really, this concluding novel of the Foundation series seems to belittle the original books in the series by trying to tie the Robot Universe with the Foundation.
The writing is excellent, and the book is really quite interesting when taken as a stand-alone work... but it wasn't the grand end to the "Foundation" series that I had been hoping for.
Book Review: Space Odyssey!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book, while a stand-alone adventure, also effectively links the Foundation story line with the Robot/Spacer novels. It reintroduces us to the intuitive Golan Trevize, bookish Janov Pelorat and the Gaian avatar Bliss. Trevize had been at a crossroad in the previous novel "Foundation's Edge" and chose one path for the human race to follow. Not fully convinced of the intuitive leap he had taken, he decides to take up an archaeological odyssey to find the birthplace of humanity - now shrouded in legend.
During his search aboard the "Far Star", followed by Pelorat and Bliss, Trevize finds the earliest attempts at human colonization which are either abandoned or isolated from the rest of the galaxy. Each location gives only the vaguest clues as to where Earth may be. Trevize's search is mixed with frustration and desperate hope.
When his search comes to an end, the reader is crestfallen when the ultimate fate of Earth is revealed. The search however takes a surprising turn which seals the link between the Foundation and the Spacers of antiquity.
Why Trevize becomes convinced that he must find Earth is not explained in a satisfactory manner. However, when he takes up the search the reader is swept into the drama of finding the world - the pale blue dot as Sagan once put it - that we all take for granted. The main characters are entertaining, even though they tend towards the two dimensional. There is constant, intense discussion between Trevize and Bliss concerning the merits on individuality and collective consciousness. The most frightening encounter occurs on the abandoned world of Aurora, where Trevize is ambushed by an unlikely monster. The most entertaining encounter is when the crew of the "Far Star" meet the reclusive society living on Solaria and take on a fourth crewmember.
Sexuality and gender are prominent points of discussion between the crew of the "Far Star" especially where the fourth crewmember is concerned. All in all the quest for Earth is an engrossing and entertaining read.
Book Review: The Last Book of the Foundation Series (in Foundation Timeline), 4 stars, 356 Pages, Publ 1986
Summary: 4 Stars
Golan Trevize looks for Earth. The novel picks up right after the end of Foundation's Edge. I found Foundation's Edge slightly confusing in that there was something effecting the minds of both the Foundation confederation and the minds of the Second Foundation, and wasn't completely sure if it was a Third Foundation or what. Foundation and Earth clears that up, well sort of. It is not a Hari Seldon originated organization, it is the planet Gaia, but calling it a Third Foundation could be used if you redefine The Foundation. It is hinted that there may be yet *another* group effecting events in the galaxy; the equivalent of a Fourth Foundation... or maybe a Zeroth Foundation. This is one of the slight, but exasperating aspects of this novel. In the Author's Note of Prelude to Foundation, Asimov wrote that he could and may add to the Foundation series and as for books after Foundation and Earth he could add "additional volumes - as many as I like"). In parts it feels like that, that Asimov is setting himself for additional volumes, rather than this being the definitive end to the Foundation series, as it now is. Another thing is that Asimov groups his Robot, Empire, and Foundation series in one all encompassing series. For whatever contradictions exist between the series, Asimov gives preference to his Robot series.
Foundation and Earth takes us on a tour of seven different planets and the different habitations of each. Some have gone to the dogs, some are autocratic, and there's excitement on each one. Asimov has set up the galaxy in that are no other known intelligent non-human (or human-made) species. Sort of answers the famous questions on the lack of evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence: "where is everybody?". Well, Asimov's answer is: there isn't anybody else... well kinda, sorta... If you read the book you'll understand. Actually, even though there are these ambiguities on the universe here and there, Asimov does wrap up the Foundation series somewhat nicely (although you may not like it as it differs from the original Foundation series), as well as wrapping up his grouping of all of his series into one.