Foundation and Earth

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The good Doctor Asimov wrote this back in 1986. It's set immediately after the events related in Foundation's Edge. Golan Trevise, the Brash Young Man (aka "undiplomatic young jackass") from the Foundation, and his companion Janov Pelorat, due to their encounter with the hive-mind planet of Gaia, have made a monumental decision about the future of the entire galaxy. But was it the correct one? Trevise has doubts that can only be assuaged by finding the mythical origin of humanity that (just might) be called Earth. This is made difficult in that all historical records of Earth have been carefully expunged, by forces unknown.

Trevise and Pelorat, together with their Gaian companion Bliss (who has become Pelorat's Main Squeeze) set off for parts unknown based on flimsy clues and ancient myths. Their perilous journey takes them to a number of planets where they (pretty much uniformly) find themselves in perilous situations, followed by narrow escapes.

This book has the usual Asimovian characteristic, containing a high ratio of Stilted Dialog to Things Actually Happening. And it's shamelessly padded; Asimov mentions in the introduction that a contract his contract for for Foundation's Edge demanded that he produce 140,000 words. I would imagine something similar here, although it's at best a 100,000 word story.

But! If you've been a Faithful Reader of the previous Foundation and Robot novels, the rewards of Foundation and Earth are immense. We get to find out what happened to familiar worlds (Aurora, Solaria, and of course, Earth). And there's a satisfying big surprise at the end. Even though this is the second time I've read it, it still had me smiling.


Last Modified 2024-01-28 12:59 AM EDT