Foundation

I've wanted to read Foundation for years. I had seen it mentioned in countless “best of” sci-fi lists, but reading it now, in 2018, I found myself just a little disappointed. I'm not sure why the reverie for this - one of Asimov's most popular works. The story is intriguing, driven forward by the ghost of Hari Seldon, a mathematician who develops a new form of prescience called “psychohistory”. Using this prescience (a kind of twist on “big data analytics”) he maps out the fall of a 12,000 year old Galactic Empire, and the rise of a new order of scientists who will reduce the 30,000 year dark ages to come down to 1,000 years of strife.

There are interesting sentiments that help propel this story. Salvor Hardin's statement that “violence is the last refuge of the incompetent,” is intriguing and fashionable in today's political atmosphere. I like the use of “Space!” as an expletive. I'm highly captivated by the concept of psychohistory to guide a civilization along a path of millenia.

...but the telling of the tale is very dull. The narrative is overbearingly cliche and the dialogue is tired and dated. Much of the book consists of two people discussing the hijinks that are transpiring on some other planet, or how to avoid them.

Great concept here. Poor to moderate execution. Sorry, Mr. Asimov.