Carter

I really liked the choice of exploring the other side of the spectrum of the post-robot human culture. It was fascinating and made a good hook for a murder mystery. I see now that, similar to Foundation, these are sociological novels and the robots are only a background/driving element. I enjoyed Lije’s arc of learning to embrace the possibilities of space, though I wish it was more clear that he still loved his wife.

A good, old-fashioned detective novel combined with Asimov’s sci-fi world building and with a background of a galaxy colonized by robots. As a murder mystery, it does well. It was tense and hard to put down—and the conclusion of the mystery and aligning of the clues was incredible. As a Robot novel, the robots were more a background device than a focus, and even Daneel just observed, used logic, and was feared—maybe that’s the point.

This was a very good collection! I liked all of the intermediary anecdotes or notes from Asimov. While not every story was my favorite, there were some very good ones. AL-76 was genuinely hilarious, and all of the Susan Calvin ones were just as good as I, Robot.

Quite similar to Foundation in that Asimov sets up a sort of logic puzzle/scenario, and then tests its limits and capabilities in several short stories. I, Robot had a stronger throughline that Foundation which I enjoyed, and it felt more traditional sci-fi whereas the earlier Foundation stories were more generally political stories.

I thought I’d enjoy a full-length novel from Asimov more than his collections, and I was right. It was well-paced, it kept me intrigued, it felt like quintessential space opera in Asimov’s voice, and it had a solid conclusion that also invited another novel and mystery, almost reminiscent of Herbert’s. Trevize and Pelorat were delightful. And while this is called Foundation, it was really a connecting novel to Asmimov’s other works.

Another improvement on the Foundation series, a book very similar to the previous one, but having improved on its pattern. The first story, Search by the Mule, was again the shorter but it concluded the Mule’s story well and set up the intrigue of the Second Foundation. The second part was similar to ‘The Mule’ in that it had strong characters, was quicker-paced, and had a good twist which was even foreshadowed in the previous book.

I enjoyed this novel a lot more than Foundation, though I concede that it was necessary set-up. I will say, however, The General was kind of disappointing, and would have maybe done better as an inclusion in book one. The Mule was fantastic, however. The character work was his best, the concept of the Mule being the only disruption to the Foundation was very interesting, and the twist caught me completely off-guard and was well-earned.

Unlike anything else. Definitely a shift in style and tone from the previous trilogy. So much philosophy and thought bundled into Leto’s dialogue, worthy of several reads to fully understand. The way that Herbert managed to demonstrate the proof of the Golden Path’ necessity slowly throughout the plot rather than just outright say it is incredible. And the plot was just as intriguing as the others.

Another great advancement of the story of the Atreides and Arrakis. While Messiah had a different feel to it, this book was a return to form and matched the complexity, intrigue, and mystery of the first novel incredibly well. I think I liked this one even more than the first. Leto and Ghani’s story was super interesting and just as tragic as Paul’s, Alia made an amazing villain and Abomination was very well done.

I think that this book just wasn't for me. I've never really been a huge fan of dystopia, or YA dystopia for that matter, and Parable of the Sower didn't do much to make it stand out from the others. I did like the ideas of Earthseed and the effects of religion that were discussed, but that's pretty much the majority of what the book had going for it. It started fairly slow, the plot wasn't too interesting, and the romance was creepy.

A very interesting addendum to Dune and completion of Paul’s story. While it had a narrower scope in both story and theme, it explored them both quite in depth. Paul’s character becomes even more complex and tragic, forcing questions of morality, fate, and the purpose of religion and government. The novel continues to expand the world of Dune and sets the stage for the next cast of characters.

I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Though it is the first in a trilogy, it works very well by itself as the journey of someone who is born into a world that they don’t understand and that doesn’t understand them, and finally learns the courage to escape.

Reach didn't fall until like the last 40 pages. An amazing foundation for the world of Halo. It created such a large universe and many iconic characters and ideas that have been built off of for decades.

Incredible. A fascinating, intriguing and wholly ingenious story. It’s clear that Herbert thought out and planned every aspect of the book. The complexity and detail of it is incomparable.

I don't really have a joke for this one it was just unexpectedly poignant. I was not expecting the depth I got in this book. I loved the way that the first part set up M'ken and Ussa as people with real goals and ambitions that were forced to be against each other by fate and chance, and then the second part delivered a beautiful ending where their ancestors were able to finally achieve those goals and help each other survive.