I think this is the best and most moving Asimov book till now. It literally decides the fate of the galaxy. Written thirty years after his “Second Foundation”, it leads a final and most satisfying confrontation between the First and Second Foundations established by Seldon.
It doesn’t end there. After giving us (the readers) false hopes of our beloved Earth being discovered, Asimov instead leads us to a new planet and fleshes out the awesome concept of “Gaia.” I’m not spoiling the plot by revealing that both the First and the Second Foundations look merely petty by comparison.
From the previous book, readers must have realized that the First Foundation absolutely hates the guts of the Second. For no other reason than that they want to be top dog and can’t bear the thought of anyone guiding them even for the good of the Galaxy. The new mayor in “Foundation’s Edge” wants to go down into the history books and this gives her delusions of grandeur. But no more, or I may spoil the plot.
It’s also the first indication of a merging of Asimov’s “Foundation” series and “Robot Series”. The touching of the two worlds is small, but significant and I get the feeling we’re going to see a lot more of it in the next few books.
If you’re interested as to why I skipped “The Complete Robot” which I promised to review after reading “The Naked Sun”, it’s because I couldn’t bring myself to read a lot of short stories with no cohesive bond between them. Perhaps after I finish reading the main Foundation series books, I’ll go back to The Complete Robot.
Foundation’s Edge is also a Hugo and Locus award winner as well as a Nebula award nominee. It was also Asimov’s first book to get onto the New York Times Bestseller list after having written for 44 years! So go ahead. Read this treasure and enjoy!
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