Foundation (Isaac Asimov)

Foundation, written in 1951, is part of the epic seven volume "Foundation" sci-fi series by Isaac Asimov. The premise of the series is that mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory which can predict the future. Using the laws of mass action, where a large number of people behave in a similar way but individually without coordination, he foresees the fall of the Galactic Empire and the coming of a dark age. To shorten this period of barbarism, he creates two Foundations, small secluded havens of all human knowledge, on opposite ends of the galaxy. The focus of this book is on one Foundation on the planet Terminus.

Asimov has been criticized for his very direct prose which leaves little to be interpreted, but I found it quite relaxing. Most of the dialogue centers unambiguously around what the main characters are doing and why, which allows me to wonder about the repercussions of said actions rather than trying to second-guess everything. Another aspect of the book I very much enjoyed is how it focuses on relations between people and the cultural implications of living in a futuristic society, rather than on arbitrary "techy" details. This is probably a good thing seeing as how the writing is over half a century old and a lot of the science is quite dated. Fortunately, I'm not one to be bothered by that sort of thing, and actually find it a bit charming.

In conclusion, this was a fun and exciting book which left me smiling at the end of many of it's chapters, thinking "wow that was pretty cool".