Product Description

The epic story of the Foundation is one of the great classics of science fiction by the Grand Master of the genre. Isaac Asimov's legendary saga, winner of the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Novel Series, has enthralled generations of readers - and continues to amaze. All records of Earth have been removed systematically from the libraries of Foundation worlds. Now Councilman Golan Trevize and Professor Janov Pelorat traverse the galaxy in search of humanity's ancestral planet. On worlds beyond the Foundation's influence, superstition and taboo shroud the subject of their quest. To name Earth is to utter an obscenity. Fortunately, the space travellers find allies - and Pelorat finds a lover named Bliss - among the telepaths of the planet Gaia. As they near their destination, Bliss picks up thought waves of intelligent beings. What she cannot tell is whether or not those beings are human.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13511 in Books
• Published on: 1994-08-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 512 pages

About the Author
Isaac Asimov was the Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America, the founder of robot ethics, the world's most prolific author of fiction and non-fiction. The Good Doctor's fiction has been enjoyed by millions for more than half a century.

Customer Reviews

Foundation and Earth
Written after the original trilogy and foundation's edge but before "prelude" and "forward the foundation" this novel gives us the conclusion to the foundation series. In foundation's edge the ever mystic foundation and second foundation were reduced to triviality by newcomers on the planet Gaia who have had a superior grip on things all along. For me this somewhat spoils the mystique of the first three books, however in "foundation and earth" this storyline is used quite effectively to strengthen the link with the robot series as the search for earth continues.
Readers of the original series may be disappointed in the lack of twist and turns in the plot as this book only really concerns itself with one storyline which plods rather lethargically to its conclusion. You almost get the feeling someone is behind asimov with a cattle prod trying to get as many words out him as possible for what is essentially a short story forced out into a novel. Nevertheless it is asimov and as such there is no predictability and while no two characters are really that different from one another there's a great intellectual weight behind the dialogue and narrative.

Great Ideas But Too Much Filler
Asimov's Mysteries was the first book I read, over 30 years ago now. I grew up on Asimov and he will always be my favourite SF author. That being said, when I first bought Foundation And Earth, I was very disappointed. This week, I re-read it to see if my opinion had changed in a decade.

The thing is, there are some great ideas here and some Asimov magic up there with anything in the original Foundation trilogy. The encounters with the feral dogs and with Bander are classic Asimov - tightly written and flowing.

On the other hand, there are pages of repetitious argument between Trevize, Pelorat and Bliss, none of which advances the narrative. Nor does it bring any new insights to Gaia / Isolates. It truly feels like Asimov is padding out the book. It's certainly not as gripping as Foundation's Edge.

BUT if you're an Asimov fan as I am, this book is an essential read. And when the trio meet the final new character it did bring a lump to my throat. The way Asimov weaves together his stories into the one timeline is a joy.

If You Like Foundation...
I love stories of vogages amongst the stars, and I've loved the Foundation Trilogy since 1976. Had this not been a Foundation novel I doubt that I could have kept up my interest. I found the relationship between the lead characters to be unbelievable and the pages are peppered with some truly awful dialog.

Did they find Earth? I didn't care by the end. The only Foundation book (I've read them all, including Benford and Bear) which I never went back to.