Foundation Trilogy Review No Spoilers

Foundation Trilogy Review No Spoilers
#Foundation #Asimov #booktube
This is a no spoiler review on the Foundation Trilogy by the father of science fiction Isaac Asimov. The Foundation Trilogy has inspired some of the grandest works in all of fiction, such as Star Wars, Dune, and many many more. I hope you enjoy my review of the Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov.
Follow me on twitter for reading updates and general book talk.
/ theflockaveli

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Have you read the Foundation? Do you think you could survive a Seldon Crisis!?

[@jakebishop7822]

I have not, so I don't know what the Seldon crisis is, but I will guess the answer is no

[@thefantasynuttwork]

We allllll gonna die 😂

[@prasoonjha1816]

@@thefantasynuttwork Sir I just want to tell a correction, Foundation was actually written in 1940's in Astounding Stories magazine. I know most sources say it was written in 1950's because in the 1950's, on Asimov's recommendation the Foundation was extracted from the magazine and published as three books by Gnome Publishers. Only one Foundation story was written at the time of publishing into books, i.e., the very first story because the publishers felt that Foundation didn't had a good beginning and Asimov should add one.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@prasoonjha1816 thanks for the info!

[@prasoonjha1816]

@@thefantasynuttwork It's my honour sir

[@peterc.michalos8126]

I am 71 now and read all of Asimov’s Foundation and I Robot books (and learned of their eventual connection) decades ago. I am so happy to see young people discovering this great body of sci-fi work.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

It's amazing the impact Asimov has had across generations. So glad you found my video and left this comment!

[@suzieirby2137]

I’m 75 and just discovered the foundation. Started it tonight.

[@jsmirnoff77]

I read the original trilogy about 13 years ago when I was in my early 30s. Now I am mid 40s and just left the hospital where I spent 4 days (I am all good, no well-wishes needed), and the only thing that kept my mind from cannibalizing itself (I don’t really do TV and phone is a distraction), I found that they had a copy of the trilogy in their library!!! I re-read the trilogy and now that I am at home I purchased the e-books of all sequels and prequels by Isaac. I am looking forward to digging deeper. I think back in those days I also read a couple of Robot series books and the reviews said the other Foundation books provide a connection to that universe as well. It’s fascinating to me. I remember now how gripped I was by it the first time because 13 years later it gripped me all over again. You rock!

[@ShipwreckedLibrary]

I've always been slightly intimidated by this series, because of it being such older SciFi, but hearing you say it feels a lot more modern then you expect is nice. Also you're right, that B&N edition is so gorgeous. Such a fantastic review tho, Jimmy!!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thanks so much for the comment! I was really surprised by the writing and while it’s not action packed, it’s definitely still intriguing

[@victordegrande1628]

This trilogy won a special Hugo award for the best all-time science fiction series. My only complaint about it was that it didn't tell the rest of the story. It seemed that many other Asimov fans felt the same, and his publisher prevailed on him (by offering lots of money) to write a sequel, some thirty years later. So I hurried to my local Barnes % Noble bookstore (there was no Amazon, or even the internet back then) grabbed a copy of Foundation's Edge, and got in line to check out. Then I turned to my right and noticed a display of AUTOGRAPHED copies of Foundation's Edge! So I got one of those instead, and I could not wait to get home and start reading it.

[@hasongraham8674]

You mention 1951 often but more impressively only psychohistorians was written in 1951. The other four chapters were published between 1942 and 1944. Foundation and Empire was originally published in 1945. Second Foundaton was originally published between 1948 and 1950. Wild to think the first chapter of the trilogy was the last written. Thanks for making this video.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Oh wow! Thanks for that information!

[@r1ddhima]

This trilogy casts a long shadow. One of my biggest gripes with sci fi novels is how dry they tend to be, so it was nice hearing you say it’s actually quite fresh. I’m definitely willing to give the first book a shot at 250 pages.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Hopefully I’m not just a dry reader and it’s actually good for most people 😅 I’d be really excited to hear your thoughts, hoodie reviewers unite!

[@mrwizardalien]

I just finished these along with some other Asimov books this month! So interesting as someone who hadn't read much classic scifi

[@thefantasynuttwork]

He was truly a visionary

[@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944]

Excellent review! I started reading Asimov in the 1960s, and I've loved his books ever since. Just a note that explains the short-story feel of the first book and the first segment of the second: Except for the first chapter of "Foundation", all of these were separate short stories published in sci-fi magazines in the 40s. He pulled them together to form "Foundation", and added the first chapter to establish the context. Also, the prequel and sequel novels, which he published later, are excellent. He also connects the Robot and Empire novels to the Foundation trilogy, so they all take place in the same "universe" over a 20,000 year span.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thank you so much!

[@FallenAdam]

Bumping it up my TBR after this. The way you describe the structure of it, reminds me of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, which if you haven't read, I can't recommend highly enough. The Wachowski siblings made a movie adaptation of it some years back, but it really doesn't do it justice. The movie is constructed more like a mosaic, while the book is like a Russian matruyshka doll. There's seven stories, iirc, and each one is in a different literary genre and in a different time. Ranging the diary of an explorer on the Pacific Ocean in the 19th century, to a scifi some 200-400 years in the future. And they're all interconnected, and they really feel like you're opening a matruyshka doll, taking one out, taking a good hard look at it. But, before you finish, you open it up and start examining the next one, until you have them all in front of you, side by side. Then you start putting them back together, until you've examined every minute detail in each doll, and they're all in one again.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

My god that sounds fascinating!! Added to the TBR

[@susantownsend8397]

I grew up on the sci-fi mags of the 1950s and 60s so I jumped to Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein, the Big Three of Golden Age sci-fi. I have always loved the entire Foundation series and the robot books. Brilliant writer. Most of the sci-fi today is influenced by the Big Three or by writers who were influenced by them. And now I’ll go download the audiobooks so I can “read” them again.

[@RockmanR]

I’ve found this review very helpful. Detailed enough without spoilers. Thanks Jimmy!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Super glad to hear it. My pleasure 😁

[@DailyProg]

This review was awesome. I am going through the first book and I loved getting your opinion on this expansive work

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thank you so much 😎

[@DuckRon626]

Apparently, Asimov had read The Rise and Decline of the Roman Empire. And, he believed that he could do a similar story in his genre, science fiction. Well, also apparently, he was right. I was a teenager in the 1950s, but, hadn't yet gotten much into scifi reading. But, in my 20s and 30s, I really got into the genre. Read his trilogy even if such a thing was frowned upon by most people I knew. Then, I discovered Dune. That I read multiple times which was something very new for me. I'd never re-read a book before. More into the 1980s I read most of the rest of the Dune Chronicles. Got hung up in Chapterhouse: Dune and never finished it. But, Foundation was the beginning of all of that. Not real sure where my reading would have taken me if I'd not ever read Foundation. Probably would have still read Dune as it was recommended to my by a lot of my friends.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

That is an awesome story to hear. The impact he has had on generations of readers is next level stuff. Really glad you shared that!

[@vilstef6988]

The stories making up most of the original trilogy were published between 1942 and 1950 in Astounding Science Fiction. See the Wikipedia article on the Foundation Series for more details.

[@davidranderson1]

Great video! I'm doing a re-read of the Foundation series, just finished the original trilogy and was in the mood to hear the thoughts of others. Sci Fi is a great "what if?" genre. What if we develop this technology? See this scientific advancement? Continue along this path of social development? It's a great way of thinking about, anticipating, and maybe even preparing for the future. What I love about the Foundation books is they ask these big questions about the social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, politics, economics, etc.) rather than the physical sciences (physics, astronomy, biology, engineering, etc.). How has society developed, where are it's problems, and can it be reshaped? And what are the ethics of using the tools developed by the social sciences to reshape society, even if you're doing it for the "right" reasons. It seems even more relevant now, living in a world entirely controlled by "big data" and algorithms.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Lots of good points. Have you read Three Body Problem?

[@hussey1990]

I'm sold, Thanks Jimmy, ordering the trilogy right away

[@rinnorthfell8914]

I just checked this edition and apparently people have noticed that that edition is missing pages when compared to the standalones (this was from the comments section of the B&N product page)

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Oh wow good catch, I’ll have to look into that!

[@B.LEE.DbrianleedurfeeREVIEWS]

Imma start re-reading these soon. Haven't cracked them open since high-school

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I bet that'll be a trip! It's so impressive how well Asimov's work has aged. Also, huge fan of your channel Brian!!!

[@B.LEE.DbrianleedurfeeREVIEWS]

@@thefantasynuttwork oh thanks!! Hit me up on Facebook and I will send you some signed books!!!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@B.LEE.DbrianleedurfeeREVIEWS will do! Thanks so much!!!

[@Kronk-rp3jf]

Dude. You describe the writing so well. I can't decide if I should read the next two books

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I think they're worth it if you have the time 🙂

[@hamzamahboub7333]

I just started watching the apple series based on the books (foundation) and this end up with me discovering this wonderful channel I'm going to start following your reviews for now on 😅

[@thefantasynuttwork]

So glad you found the channel 😎

[@BookishChas]

Fantastic review, and you’ve sold me. I was already planning to read book 1, but now even more so. Especially because the trailer for the show has me hooked lol. You obviously earned every one of those 1000+ subscribers. Congratulations! Have you read Hyperion?

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thanks so much Chas! I thought the trailer was even more hype after reading the books haha. I haven’t read Hyperion but it is sitting on my shelf. I think it’s the sci-fi I will read next after Dune!

[@BookishChas]

@@thefantasynuttwork you’re welcome. I’ve only read the first book of Hyperion, but I’m definitely hooked. I’m hoping to do a reread of Dune this year before the movie release.

[@99Michaelthom]

I read the first book and never got back to it due to the dryness of the book. Your review makes me want to go back and finish the series, especially since you said you are a character reader like myself. If you ever read indie authors you might like my series written much in the style of ASoIaF. The first book is called The Vanguards of Scion and it's free on kindle. Loved your reviews! I think your channel is gonna blow up quick!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I hope so haha, and thanks for the compliment. I am gonna check out that book right now!

[@99Michaelthom]

@@thefantasynuttwork Thank yoU! I'm honored to have you take a look at my work.

[@Charlotte5637]

I'm not really a science fiction or fantasy reader but i loved this series! I think It was the political aspects that kept me interested!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

It's very well done 🤘

[@10aDowningStreet]

Try The Expense if you like the political elements. Very political, very awesome sci fi.

[@timdoonan5898]

The first Book in the foundation trilogy was released in 1942! pretty insane. When i started reading it i had no idea. The biggest giveaway was some english vocabulary that seemed very dated lol. Extremely impressive scope and imagination for a book written in 1942. Asimov never fails to impress me

[@thefantasynuttwork]

He was truly a visionary

[@MisterTutor2010]

The stories in the Foundation Trilogy were originally published from 1942-1950. I read the series in when I was a junior in high school in 1993.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@MisterTutor2010 that’s awesome

[@luxomoore6711]

I'm reading it now. Enjoying the ideas and concept, but not having set characters for the entire ride is a bit strange. I'm hoping the entire series isn't like this, but it probably is.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

It is yeah

[@luxomoore6711]

@@thefantasynuttwork ah well. I'll break it up with some other titles to keep things fresh. don't think I can commit to 6 more back to back LOL

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@luxomoore6711 oh I'm sorry! I thought you just meant the trilogy, I'm not sure about the books past the first three

[@luxomoore6711]

​@@thefantasynuttwork good to know! cheers!

[@richardadcock5450]

I'm reading Prelude to Foundation now.

[@The_206]

All time 👍🏻 great- a masterpiece considering the era in which it was written- simply amazing. Definitely worth a read (or two). Assured time well spent 👌🏻

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Absolutely

[@richardadcock5450]

I really enjoy your videos

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thank you so much

[@iTurtle97]

Hey great video! I’m sure you’ve heard of the new Foundation series coming out on Apple TV+ tomorrow! I was wondering what you thought about it? Would love to see a review by you down the line.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I'm so excited for it!!!!

[@iTurtle97]

@@thefantasynuttwork same!! Hopefully it lives up to everybody’s expectations

[@tammynovo5989]

Hi! New subscriber here. I read this trilogy end of 2019 and it was my first dive into classic sci fi. I also was pleasantly surprised. I continued into the next 3 and have now moved into the Robot novels.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thanks for stopping by, I’m glad to have you here! That’s great to hear, have you enjoyed the Robots series?

[@MonkheyBoy]

I’d love to hear your opinion on William Gibson’s ”Neuromancer”

[@thefantasynuttwork]

It's definitely one I'd like to read

[@MonkheyBoy]

@@thefantasynuttwork speaking of sci-fi, what’s your opinion on the Dune movie? ☺️ (I haven’t watched your review of the book as of yet though).

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@MonkheyBoy I loved the Dune movie, one of my favorite movies in the last decade

[@godofchaoskhorne5043]

Planning on buying this book.wish it had gilded letters on the spine or something though since it will stick out from my leatherbounds. That said I remember reading the first book and how insanely impressed i was with Asimov's "psycho history". Kinda sounded like he predicted mass data

[@thefantasynuttwork]

The next two are even better imo

[@lowman621]

Hey Jimmy I just stumbled onto your channel because I was interested in trying out this series. I'm a huge classics reader and wanted to check out a sci-fi classic. When about to purchase this series I saw there is a Prelude to Foundation book that Asimov himself suggested to start with. What are your thoughts on this and have you read it?

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I haven’t read it but if the man himself suggests it then I’d say go for it. Happy reading 😁

[@thomascook8541]

You should check out "Forever War" trilogy by Joe Haldeman (the omnibus edition "Peace and War" would be my recc) if you liked the "different characters over different time periods, all interconnected by an overrarching story" aspect of Foundation.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Yep I'm definitely interested in that!

[@thomascook8541]

@@thefantasynuttwork It does super cool stuff with relativity as well. Without spoiling it, one of the high level themes of the series is the impact of relativity at an interpersonal level "what if you came home from an inter galactic war, and you'd been in the field 10 years, but 100s of years had passed back on Earth upon your return"

[@thomascook8541]

@@thefantasynuttwork Oh yea, Xelee sequence also pretty dope, and has similar aspects of cosmic scale, different characters in different eras. recc the Omnibus edition. Raft was particularly interesting.

[@joecourtney8552]

I own these and have wanted to, start so great video. I’ve pivoted to getting more through the Star Wars universe but I still consider these to throw in.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I wanna read the new Thrawn books

[@joecourtney8552]

@@thefantasynuttwork just finished the first trilogy but going backwards and picking up Revan with a buddy. Own the other thrawn books though.

[@thatsci-firogue]

I've only read I Robot which I loved for the most part. Might give the trilogy a read after I've finished up the Dune Saga and read William Gibson's Neuromancer trilogy.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I think you'll like it a lot!

[@atanaskostadinov8540]

Man loved ur vid, u talk with passion but please fix ur background noise from the mic

[@thefantasynuttwork]

This is from like 4 years ago lol

[@cpmf2112]

Good review, but I would actually name John Campbell as the grandfather of modern science fiction. He mentored many young writers including Asimov who went on to become giants in the field.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I learned something new, I appreciate the info!

[@o_o-lj1ym]

Hi, I have just gotten into fantasy and I’m really loving it. I recently read the skyward books by Sanderson and I was wondering what work of his I should read next given that I’m a fantasy noob.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

If you really enjoyed skyward I’d recommend Mistborn. If you’re looking for a large sprawling epic I recommend Malice by John Gwynne

[@o_o-lj1ym]

@@thefantasynuttwork Okay, thanks so much

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@o_o-lj1ym anytime, thanks for stopping by!

[@cpmf2112]

Asimov gives an interesting explanation for the human-centric nature of the galaxy in The End of Eternity, definitely worth a read.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Awesome, I'll check it out. Thanks!

[@AkevittApekatt]

Not that it matters but it wasn’t written in 1951, and you’re correct about them being like short stories- they originally were for the journal "astounding", first published story form foundation in 1942. But anywho. He put them together in ‘51 to publish as books just as the market warmed up to sci-if.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thanks for the info!!

[@JamesI88]

Always wanted to read it but never knew that bit about the Roman empire. Want to read it more now.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

That’s great to hear. Drawing those parallels from history was a big win for me

[@jsmirnoff77]

In a way, Asimov is a bit similar to my other sci-fi icon, Ray Bradbury. Both wrote in imaginary universes but at the end of the day dealt with basic human psychology and nature.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Absolutely

[@berentook]

I have been wanting to read this for some time now and i should be getting to it some time this year :))

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :-)

[@ИннаКотаева]

Oh yes, I really enjoyed characters from the second part of Foundation and Empire))

[@thefantasynuttwork]

They were great

[@benjaminmolina3456]

Thoughts on The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant?

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I have never read them but I’ll add them to my TBR!

[@benjaminmolina3456]

@@thefantasynuttwork I had the same reaction, It was sold to me as the grandfather of the grim dark genre. I know there were others that can be called that but It just grabs me when you can point to a work that started a subgenre.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@benjaminmolina3456 oh wow grandfather of grim dark!? You know I’m all in on that!

[@benjaminmolina3456]

@@thefantasynuttwork It´s ten books in total, written at different times. The first trilogy is about Thomas Covenant who lives in our world and has leprosy(the one where one can´t feel, not the one where one`s skin falls off). He gets transported to a magical world and he rapes a woman. Realizing he can feel there he has to grappel with his actions and the evil in the new world he is in.

[@mikell5087]

I like the Chronicles, but sometimes I wanted to shoot myself in the head if I read another simile or metaphor. They are kind of repetitive. I wish his concluding series was three books instead of four, they are not as good as the first two series. He wrote some deeply disturbing foreboding stuff, if that is your thing. He wrote a two book series, The Mirror of Her Dreams, which is my favorite work by Donaldson, it is an excellent story, with a satisfying conclusion, something he struggled with in Covenant.

[@rabemolon]

The trilogy has been a favorite of mine for decades. I don't know if I could survive a Seldon Crisis (probably would depend on my location and what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it). I'm looking, very much with high anticipation, forward to Apple's streaming series.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Yes, I really hope the show is good!

[@loralubimaia2783]

I'm over half way through foundation (1951) and so far Im really frustrated . I think the issue is that the book wasn't a book at its start but snipet stories for a scifi magazine? In my version there's no side notes hey this is 2 years later or 50 years later until you're in the middle of the chapter makes me want to scream.Also it's almost entirely dialogue.... I want world building, explanations, character building... The first part of foundation was fascinating. I really want to learn more about hari... I wanted to know what happened to Gaal!!!! But nothing... They're dead.. gone... I think it's because when you read Sanderson you just can't let go of character development, and world building .

[@loralubimaia2783]

Do I hang on and go to prelude now???

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@loralubimaia2783 so yes it's a very very different type of story. The jumping ahead and it feeling like micro stories is all going to keep continuing for the most part. I think based on what you've said above you may not enjoy the rest unfortunately.

[@loralubimaia2783]

@@thefantasynuttwork for Sheldon's sake... Bummer Thanks for the advice

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@loralubimaia2783 I hope your next read is better and you enjoy it! Cheers

[@paganphil100]

@@loralubimaia2783 : In "Prelude" there are a lot of references to things that happen in the later books......this can be confusing and so many reviewers suggest reading "Foundation" first and then "Prelude".

[@vilstef6988]

Seems like a collection of stories? Yes it is three collections. The sequels are novels. I have not read the second trilogy written by other authers.

[@darksephirothi]

nuts...lol

[@YvesDarbouze]

Asimov is the GOAT. Above GRRM and Tolkien

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Nice! I really enjoy his work

[@legoyoda6565]

Poob

[@bimalgarg95]

Stop boasting

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I'll do my best haha