Foundation

I’m a huge fan of science fiction. I especially like the works of Robert Heinlein and Ursula Le Guin. But in order to broaden my horizons I’m interested in familiarizing myself with books from Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov as well. Foundation is one of those classics that everybody into science fiction tells you that you definitely need to read. Over a couple of weeks in March I’ve had the ability to get into the weeds of this novel.

If you’re not familiar with the premise, it’s about the Galactic Empire which having ruled the galaxy for twelve thousand years, is now dying. Hari Seldon, creator of psychohistory, a science involving math to predict the future, can see the dark age threatening on the horizon. A dark age that will last for thirty- thousand years, unless there is a way to minimize the damages. Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire and brings them to a planet at edge of the Galaxy in order to serve as a beacon for future generations. This group of people are called the Foundation.

The scope of the story is huge. It lacks the witty characters from Heinlein’s books, or the rich details of social structures that I find with Le Guin, but the ideas presented in the book opened up my mind to the way stories can be told, over an extended period of time, with a host of different protagonists. And that was new to me.