Lorayger

(The cover design still irrelevant! Why?! WHY?)

GREAT GALAXY!

I DID IT! I FINALLY READ THE MAIN TRILOGY! SIZZLING SATURN! (2 more books still left of the greater series of the Robot-Foundation!)

I'm not very good at guessing mysteries because of my trust issues and that I expect anything from anyone. I learned it the hard way, and through this great series (with this book being the 15th one), to unlearn guessing mysteries of a story that its focus isn't necessarily a detective story but a sociological story. I let the mysteries get unraveled before me. Of course some of the mysteries of the main trilogy were known to me by reading the 2 prequels (chronological order) but that didn't take the fun of it, partly due to the 15 years yearning to find these books and partly because of the passion I've always had for space and sci-fi.

I haven't read many mystery books but have watched a great deal of movies and series focused on mystery and crime. With all that, the mysteries of the great series of Robot-Foundation are still unique to me.

I gotta take 0.5 star because of the primitive technology on Terminus. I expected Terminus to be way more than this in year 377!

And wait, what happened to the Time Vault? Was it destroyed by The Mule???

Man! I wish there were more stories like this! Just because the Second Foundation took over and there will be times of peace and the new empire, it doesn't mean there aren't any stories to tell! I know I know, I'm being desperate and needy haha. He stopped at the right stop.

I do hope the 2 sequels are as good as the prequels! Let's gooooooo! Foundation's Edge!

Why was the cover design so irrelevant?!

The influence of WWII nuclear weapons are all over the Foundation trilogy.

These people just don't stop smoking even if the world is going to fall around them!!

Finally, a female character who actually makes a difference in the course of the story and isn't sexualized on every page but merely 5 times at max!!

Man, I guessed right who the antagonist is at the very first moment but Asimov misled me successfully. Shame :)))))

It's interesting how Asimov introduces something new that one might think it's fixed and always true, and then he himself introduces an exception. He's done this in the short stories with Susan Calvin.

Very much liked the idea of influencing emotions and so the reasoning and actions of people are influenced by the new layer of emotions. So cool!

This rollercoaster was fun. Jumping to the next, the promised one! Second Foundation!

This was an emotional read... huh... T~T (As I'm writing this, I am listening to "Oxygene, Pt. 18" by Jean-Michel Jaare.)

I read a bit of Foundation novel before finishing this. So, it was a good thing. Now I know the chronological order better: Read all chapters of Forward the Foundation, then read the first chapter of Foundation, then come back to read Epilogue of Forward the Foundation. If you're interested in reading this epic in chronological order, this is my list: https://hardcover.app/@AtlaSSS/lists/robot-foundation-world-chronological-order

I understand why many dislike this book (and its prequel Prelude to Foundation) because they read these two after reading the Foundation trilogy. Not just that. The book was messy. I know. The main reason is Asimov's health status; he was still working on it when he passed away. So, I rather not be too strict.

I didn't like how Dors was entraped. As if she was only loosely made with The Laws of Robotics. It wasn't explained, when and by whom she was built, and how Dani found her and put her on Trantor, or if Dani was involved with her being built, which is more likely. It was definitely worth exploring, maybe even more than those parts when the story goes off-road from sci-fi to fantasy and into telepathy. I didn't like telepathy. I genuinely expected to see a futuristic-made-up-scientifically reason for Wanda's brain working that way when her dna was examined. I would have accepted it way easier than... than... this... . Now with several mentions of Second Foundation, I know what that book is gonna be about now and honestly, I'm not looking forward to it if it's gonna be like this. It is a spoiler but even without it, I still don't enjoy space fantasy.

It's a shame he didn't explain when and where Yugo introduced the ideas of Foundation to Hari.

The rest was quite interesting and I enjoyed reading it a lot.

About why it struck me on a deeply emotional level:

First, in the first chapter of Foundation, that is about Hari, there is no sign of the two prequel characters who were close to him. I could guess that Dors dies here. It was inevitable in my opinion but I couldn't believe it when Asimov even killed Raych and Manella and the little Bellis. What the hell man? Couldn't they just go live in peace? Hari already had a tragedy losing Dors. Or do you think that is emotionally not enough because she was a robot?! Uh... Tragedy after tragedy, and totally out of nowhere the song "In my remains" by Linkin Park was replaying in my head... T_T

Second, knowing this book was published a year after Asimov passed away, I couldn't help but think of Asimov himself when I was reading the epilogue; Hari's reflection on his life, his regrets, his desire to show Daneel what he has achieved, his last moments, his funeral, and Dani being there... As if Hari's death wasn’t just an ending for the character, but also for Asimov’s own life and the epic sci-fi series of the century. I can't help but to think that Asimov may have seen Daneel in his final moments. It makes my heart ache so much. I kept remembering "What Goes Up" by "The Alan Parsons Project". I held my tears back and then burst after finishing the book.

P.S.: Alan Parsons made a full album being inspired by Asimov's works called "I Robot" and even contacted Asimov about it. Unfortunately, he had to remove the comma symbol from the album title because Asimov had sold his rights to his books and Parsons wasn't allowed to just use the title I, Robot.

After reading several novels from Asimov right after another, I now have no doubt that writing characters with depth was never something he mastered, or wanted to master. When there are good enough female characters, they are either not pretty enough, or a robot...

Some parts of this plot felt quite disturbing like that hand-on-thigh that made no sense and was only a sexual fan-service to himself, I believe. It's like he has little improved from The Stars Like Dust (1951) to this (1988)...

I was felt similar to Hari while following the hints and cues and failing to guess what is what over and over. But well, he is the main character and if he is not clever enough to guess the plot twist at the end, who will?

But I can't be like those who keep guessing from the first page. I want to go along with the story, I want to enjoy the journey rather than occupying my mind with questions all the time. I merely comment on something and move on.

I understand many dislike this book because they have already read the main trilogy of the Foundation. But I am reading the whole series chronologically, so, I did enjoy this book and its big reveal. I was kinda spoiled that Asimov tied the whole series through a character and making a greater series with about 18 books and stories but the "how" was not spoiled. And I very much enjoyed the "how" in this and the book Robots and Empire.

An important point before reading: This is an independent novel. But if you are interested in reading Robots series and Foundation series, definitely start with this one because its ending is the prologue (Check out the list on my profile for more info.)

Asimov wrote his stories mostly in dialogues. The process of his stories often feel like sitting on the edge of your seat in case of brilliant ideas and getting disturbed while reading about characteristics of men, descriptions of women and the whole relationships among characters. But also, when you tolerate and bite through to the end, the big relveals come flooding your way and sweep you off your feet. Maybe he thought that this kind of writing would make the modern reader give him a discount and ignore the fact that he had very weak characters, especially female ones.

In this novel, the story is not like a third person point of view, instead, we see everything through the eyes of Harlan, the main protagonist, who is separated from his time when he was 15, when was supposed to have puberty and learn about relationships and maybe even have sex. In Eternity, he only meets men because women are not allowed to work there. He is a virgin and as a Technician, he must conceal his emotions. Therefore, we get a typical male protagonist: sexist, arrogant, reactive, not handsome or charming at all. Just like how most of the audiences/readers were at the time. Those times were not the times where change for men was demanded. So, Asimov just did not try to complain about Harlan's behaviors and characteristics in the narrative or interrogate it. I think his way was very subtle and not for the average male reader who would worship him. Harlan gets told he has misunderstood many things, and he refuses to accept. Well, we don't expect him to change in the moment because he is a tool in this great plot, but I expected him to show some humane change at the end. What makes it worse is that a competent and beautiful woman like Noys, one of the very active roles of women in Asimov's stories, STILL falls in love with this Harlan. I know I am looking at this from a person's pov living in 2026 and has complains on this matter and women's roles. I am aware that most of male authors of that time wrote in this way and thus attracted the majority of people having similar point of views. I know many read his novels because of the science fiction parts but I don't believe that his sucking-at-writing-proper-human-relationships has not affected those readers' pov and/or worse, resonated with them. The ending is giving those virgin incels the hope and the fantasy, that no matter how not-handsome, unlikeable, unchangeable, aggressive and shitty they are, there will be a woman who is so perfect and is ready to leave everything from her time and home and be with them.

That aside, I love every bit about the sci-fi plot: Eternity, Reality, Reality possibilies, future possibilities and its knot to the greater Robot/Foundation series.