基地

Publicado originalmente em 1951 como romance, Asimov escreve para mostrar que os avanços tecnológicos levam a sociedade para grandes conflitos, porém a busca por uma ciência racionalizada, e também mais moralista, pode nos levar a uma sociedade melhor.
Fundação é o início da sua interpretação da ascensão e queda de grandes impérios, seja ele romano ou norte americano.

“It’s a worship of the past. It’s a deterioration—a stagnation.”Political machinations reign supreme in his science fiction classic. I read this on audiobook with the magnificent Scott Brick at the helm bringing Asimov’s seminal work to life. I only wish I enjoyed this more than I actually did. The stories were compiled from a magazine, as one did in those days when it came to scifi/fantasy, and some are better than others regretfully. There are those who decry the lack of action within the pages of this book but the lack of action and the constant dialogues between characters are what make this book special and lends itself to why it is so popular. Unfortunately, the characters themselves weren’t as magnetic. The first part, Gaal and Seldon was fine at best with Gaal not being the best protagonist we follow in this 200 page romp. In many ways I wish we had followed Seldon since his actions echo throughout this book and the books that follow. The next two, that follow Salvor Hardin, were highlights for me and where I found the complaints of “no action” humorous. I will not spoil but the last chapters of his parts are easily the most exciting in the book. If it had stopped there I easily would have given this 5 stars. Alas, the other two parts do not reach the heights of part 3 and the rest of my time reading was a struggle. Does not help that part 5 is the longest of all the parts and you can feel it as it goes along. Asimov very much has workman’s prose as well which tells the tale of the Foundation incredibly dry outside of the dialogue which I found him to be a master of. It’s very much a mixed bag but, I am glad to have read it after digesting the AppleTV show of the same name who I now see as doing Hardin a grave disservice but brought depth to the Empire itself and Gaal who deeply needed it. Now, despite all my grumbling, the story of the Foundation is an interesting one and I do look forward to reading the other parts of the series and don’t regret my time with this one. ★★★.5