Foundation and Earth

Great Conclusion
Asimov managed to write a book that is like a pout-pourry of almost all spaceship-mission plots one could imagine, as Trevize, Pelorat, Bliss (and later on, Fallom) travel throughout the space seeking out “new life and new civilizations”: a seductive lady in power, furious wild animals, a genetically-engineered eccentric sort of John Fowles’ ‘The Collector’, fast-growing biohazard microorganisms, idyllic but dangerous natives… and then a great great conclusion that ties up everything together and definitively unites the Foundation Series with the Robot Series. It was really rewarding to hear of Elijah Baley and Daneel Olivaw in this book, after having enjoyed ‘The Naked Sun’ so much in my youth, and that more than offset the fact that the Seldon Plan is sort of left behind without a major conclusion. In any event, it is a very entertaining book, with Trevize now resembling a kind of Han Solo here, or should I say Jim Hopper from ‘Stranger Things’ (maybe because Fallom all of sudden started sounding like Eleven to me!). While very different from the other Foundation books, genre-wise, and with a much more linear, less-complex plot than ‘Foundation’s Edge’, this is still one of my favorite Foundation books so far (I’m still to read the two prequel books), which speaks of Asimov’s progression as a writer. However, I have one major regret: Novi does not appear in this book, which means I was right about her ‘curse’ at the end of ‘Foundation’s Edge’ (too sad)!

Wish this hadn’t ended on a cliffhanger
I just went through a re-read of all of Asinov’s books in published order, starting from his earliest short stories (which were conveniently collected for me, thanks to his biographies published in the 1970’s) through his major novels related to The Foundation, The Robot stories and novels, and the Empire books. I have yet to read the 3 supposed continuations of The Foundation from the three B’s, as I like to call them (Benford, Bear, and Brin). Hopefully, they’ll cover what happened after the book ended.

I Did Finish The Book
While I very much enjoyed the first three books of the series, I was somewhat disappointed in the ending of Book 4 and drove myself to finish Book 5. What detracted most from enjoying Book 5 was the interplay between the three main characters.There was simply too much arguing between Bliss and Trevise. So much so that I often considered putting the book down. The constant back and forth between them took up chapter after chapter. Trevise’s attempt at justifying or questioning his reason(s) for having chosen Galaxia was CONSTANTLY being played with Bliss as his antagonist.I grew so tired of it that I began skimming through their tit-for-tats until the story reached points that got back to the adventure. Most of the arguments and analogies were unnecessary. As the reader, I was well aware of the tension and the reasons for the tension between the two of them from their time in Gaia and at the start of their flight. It was unnecessary to be reminded of it in nearly every chapter.Even after Trevise and Bliss decided to “be friends” – and after their escape from Solaria – we still have to deal with their arguing, with Bliss always explaining that she is Gaia; Trevise always attempting to explain free will; she arguing that Gaia’s ways are better. When Trevise kills an invasive spore Bliss has to argue about the value of the spore’s life. It’s very tiring, very agitating, and very boring. 70% into the book and I found myself saying, “Shut up!” whenever Bliss and Trevise started conversing / arguing.The interaction between Trevise and Bliss is redundant – they argue about every person, every animal, every bite of food, every reaction… One argument after another with little storyline interspersed between long, back-and-forth arguments. They are monotonous, tedious, irritating, and detract from one’s enjoyment. (So tedious that my review must be monotonous since so much of the interplay between the three main characters consists of continual questioning and arguing.)I advise readers to skim through the parts of unnecessary discussion if they find themselves getting irritated at this interaction. Instead, while skimming try to pick up facts that are important to the storyline, and move on to the actual adventure in order to get to the true story and hopefully some satisfying conclusion.The character of Pelorat also becomes irritating. He always apologies for not having full mastery of the ancient Galactic language. He always states that he might not be able to do what Trevise asks him to do. He continually questions Trevise’s decisions. When Trevise decides to confirm the lack of atmosphere on a planet, Pelorat has to question Trevise’s reasoning. Why?In Book 4 of the series it is Pelorat who would turn over every stone to find Earth. But in Book 5 he continually attempts to dissuade Trevise from continuing the quest, saying, “Surely it is useless to go on.”In Book 5 the search for Earth is Trevise’s quest. It is stated over and over that this is Trevise’s mission, that he is in charge of the ship, that he communicates with the on-board computer, that Trevise is the one who is able to draw correct conclusions and make decisions though little evidence is available. The search for Earth is Trevise’s.Pelorat agrees (many times in this book) to continue with Trevise and his mission to find Earth and yet every decision Trevise makes is questioned by Pelorat. Is this simply to give Pelorat some lines for the story, or to increase the number of pages one has to read?Again, the conversations between Pelorat and Trevise are excruciatingly long and do not add to the storyline, except sometimes to provide some “science-teaching” in the form of physics, biology, botany, astro-physics, or “planetology”. Is the point of their conversations to give the reader understanding into the various sciences? That seems to be the only reason. We do learn some of the science, however, I am attempting to read this for the purpose of enjoyment and to find out what will happen to the First and Second Foundationers and to Seldon’s Plan.Beware of Pelorat’s constant questioning and anytime Bliss and Trevise engage in one-on-one arguments (which is often).

Ao final da leitura dos cinco livros canônicos de Fundação, é possível avaliar as mudanças que ocorreram no estilo de Asimov ao longo de décadas. Essa série resume, de certa forma, o autor, é como se cada personagem fosse, na realidade, uma parte dele ou uma mensagem que ele deixa. Asimov acaba escolhendo enfim uma utopia panpsiquista e vagamente socialista, mas será que ele realmente desejava algo assim para a humanidade? Ou ele achava que será um dos prováveis desenvolvimentos possíveis dos seres humanos? Além disso, o último livro da série soa incrivelmente moderno, apesar de suas idiossincrasias sociais herdadas da sociedade dos anos 50 a 80 (o último livro da série foi publicado a quase 40 anos!). Hoje, em 2023, se fala tanto sobre o “paradoxo” de Fermi, e Asimov parecia antever isso e muito daquilo que se descobriu recentemente (guardados os descontos pela absoluta falta de conhecimento sobre isso naquela época). Asimov parece ter sido um defensor, ao menos nessa sua obra, da hipótese de uma Terra rara, porém possivelmente não única. E, no final de tudo, outro início. Nada termina, realmente.

Having read a lot of science fiction over 40 years The Foundation Series is clearly still the best imo and this last concluding novel is a fitting and satisfying finale.This last novel is not without flaws, however. Chief of which are 2 main characters becoming a touch annoying at times. Azimoz turns Bliss into an impractical and naive dummy at times and Trevise is a touch argumentative to begin with. Both characters come good in the end of course.Azimov takes his time moving to the finale but people can easy flip through some slower parts if they wish. The diversions to 3 other Spacer planets turn out to be essential to the narrative. Foundation and Earth should only be read after people have read all the preceding books in this series.