[Book] Foundation

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent"

The first novel in the Foundation trilogy, this sci-fi classic came highly recommended to me by Robyn. I gave it a try, and it didn't disappoint, but nor did it awe me either. The writing is enjoyable, well-balanced between being sophisticated and easy to read. The idea is interesting as the whole trilogy is based on the science of "psychohistory," a science that makes it possible to map out the course of the future. The story begins when a brilliant psychistorian Hari Seldon predicts the doom of the Galactic Empire which then rules the Galaxy. To save the humanity (so to speak), Seldon manoeuvres the government into establishing a settlement called the Foundation for him and his followers on a planet at the edge of the Galaxy. This Foundation is to be the starting point of a second empire as well as the focus of the entire novel. As the story progresses, Seldon's predictions come to fruition one by one in the form of crises, and a pattern of history starts to emerge.

The novel, as it spans over many decades, has several different main characters through different stages of the crises, but the most important character of all is not any individual character but the overarching science of psychohistory. This is the reason why the book falls short of great for me. The characters are sympathetic and likable, but they are eventually all pawns in this great chess game of pyschohistory played by the chess master Seldon. He is basically a figure of God, but instead of divine intervention or fate, he uses science to determine the path of the Foundation and the people who live in it. The story is then less than appealing because, with every page, it becomes more obvious that every crisis will be solved and the second empire will eventually be established (though not yet at the end of the first book) according to Seldon's master plan. There is little suspense since Seldon is all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present (even when he is no longer around as a living human being), and whatever crisis rises, so will rise a charismatic leader who will do 'what is right' and fulfill the Seldon prophecy. It's just a bit too convenient for me, as a reader, to buy it completely. However, I do like how Asimov uses the patterns in human history to write about a sci-fi story in the future. Although I'd like the writer to have come up with a more than vague explanation of psychohistory, it is nonetheless an interesting notion to base a story on. I just hope not everything goes according to "The Plan" because I just don't know how interesting a story can be if nothing dramatic or surprising ever happens. I'm still interested enough, however, to read the next novel in the series after reading the first. Hope it only gets better.

6/10