Foundation and Earth

By Isaac Asimov

The fifth novel in Isaac Asimov’s classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series

THE EPIC SAGA THAT INSPIRED THE APPLE TV+ SERIES FOUNDATION

Golan Trevize, former Councilman of the First Foundation, has chosen the future, and it is Gaia. A superorganism, Gaia is a holistic planet with a common consciousness so intensely united that every dewdrop, every pebble, every being, can speak for all—and feel for all. It is a realm in which privacy is not only undesirable, it is incomprehensible.

But is it the right choice for the destiny of mankind? While Trevize feels it is, that is not enough. He must know.

Trevize believes the answer lies at the site of humanity’s roots: fabled Earth . . . if it still exists. For no one is sure where the planet of Gaia’s first settlers is to be found in the immense wilderness of the Galaxy. Nor can anyone explain why no record of Earth has been preserved, no mention of it made anywhere in Gaia’s vast world-memory. It is an enigma Trevize is determined to resolve, and a quest he is determined to undertake, at any cost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9780553900941

Reviews for Foundation and Earth

[zoes_human · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is my least favorite Foundation book despite focusing on one of my favorite Foundation themes (Earth as myth and the quest to find its reality). Bliss and Trevize, however, work my last ever-loving nerve. I find both of them equally obnoxious, and the constant bickering between them annoys me into eye-rolling.

[ggoldby-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Gas de schiste thriller in alaska (deaf girl)

[enosis-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

With Foundation and Earth, Asimov concludes his Robots, Empire & Foundation novels by coming into full circle, taking us back to places where important events played out in earlier stories. Unfortunately, although the premise is interesting, the actual story and plot fail to deliver.

A man that, for some unknown reason, always makes the right judgement calls, intuitively, is called to make a choice on the fate of humanity and the galaxy. He does so, just because he's always right, and then decides to go on a hunt for earth because he knows (...) that this will help him reaffirm his original decision (why do that if he was right in the first place?).

In any case, regardless of that fallacy, the storytelling is very tiring and dull. The - uninteresting - characters engage into mundane conversations over-analyzing the same things, again and again. It gets better towards the end, but only ever so slightly.

Extremely disappointing :x

[sgsmitty · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not too bad

If you liked the foundation novels then you have to read this one. Having said that I gave it three stars because it was a little too long I thought. Oddly enough I did like the hook at the end, but I guess we will never read more about that.....

[daniel_m_oz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The last in what can be seen as the "extended" 15 book Foundation Series. This 2nd sequel to the Foundation Trilogy concludes with the influences of Earth and robots as well as some surprises in regards psychohistory. Whilst many sequels can be disappointing, Asimov has doing well here to add positively to the overall Foundation story.

[endolith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

• Oh man, Solaria is a Libertarian utopia. Or dystopia, depending on your viewpoint.
• Why in the world are Gaians modest? If they control the weather to be always pleasant, and are constantly sharing each other's thoughts, shouldn't they just run around naked? What's the point of clothes? They've all seen themselves naked before. Yet Bliss is the only demure one on a planet where everyone is topless? o_O
• The whole Gaia superorganism thing is super weak, if you ask me. The way they're written, they seem barely connected to each other, almost entirely individuals, and not even very powerful.

[john257hopper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was, chronologically, the last of Asimov's Foundation series. Golam Trevize and Janov Pelorat embark on a search for the legendary original home planet of humanity, which Trevize believes may be linked to the crucial decision he has made in Foundation's Edge that will profoundly affect the future of the galaxy. I love the quest nature of this novel which is probably my favourite Foundation novel in terms of a story. It also deals with profound issues such as personal freedom vs. collaborative action and behaviour , and the nature of myths and legends and their relationship with recorded history. A great end to the saga.

[seriousgrace · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The hunt is on for planet Earth. Former Councilman of the First Foundation Golan Revize sets out with historian Janov Pelorate and a woman named Bliss. It is centuries after the fall of the First Galactic Empire and the future of humankind lies in the ability to form a new empire. But where? Golan is convinced neither the First Foundation nor the Second are stable enough for success. Instead, he hangs his hope on using Gaia. Before that can happen he must find Earth, the planet that has been lost for thousands of years. It is not going to be easy. In some cultures of the galaxy, it is a superstition to utter the word, 'Earth." One must say 'the Oldest' instead.Interestingly enough, even though Bliss is a friend and a helper, she is without paperwork, and she is not part of the travel log. As a result, problems regarding immigration arise. She is seen as "entertainment" for the two men who are the only ones accounted for on the spaceship.Foundation and Earth is heavy with philosophical questions like, is a toe tapping in time to music part of the action, acting as an in-time accompanying drum beat or a response to the action of music being played?

[stormraven_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Late in his career, and apparently running out of ideas, Asimov returned to his greatest works and decided to expand them, and eventually merge them. The less than impressive results are the collection of Foundation sequels and prequels. Foundation and Earth seems to want to tie as many of Asimov's books into the Foundation sequence as possible.Following on after Foundation's Edge, Trevize, Palorat and Bliss all decide to find Earth. They stumble about, eventually figuring out which planets were the "Spacer" planets (from The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and Robots of Dawn) and land on several, including Solaria. On Solaria they find out that the inhabitants have seemingly redefined humanity so as to circumvent the Laws of Robotics - anyone who isn't a Solarian isn't human and can be harmed or even killed by a robot. They escape, and take with them an immature (and thus not yet "human" by Solarian standard) child named Fallon.Using clues found in a Spacer database, they find a terrformd planet around Alpha Centauri, and then finally, Earth itself. Earth is a lifeless rock, but they land on the moon and find R. Daneel Olivaw waiting for them.And this is what makes the book, and pretty much all of the subsequent Foundation books mediocre at best. Apparently, Olivaw is responsible for all human history since The Caves of Steel. Citing the Zeroeth Law Olivaw has been working to benefit humanity for millenia, causing the settlement on Alpha, the development of psychohistory, the establishment of the Foundation, the settlement of Gaia, and pretty much everything else beneficial that happened in any of the Foundation books.While I can accept that the development of Galaxia (as repugnant as the concept of a hive-mind version of humanity seems to me) might be seen by some as desirable, the introduction of a god-like shepherd of humanity in the form of a nigh-immortal robot (not completely immortal, in the climax of this novel, Olivaw binds his brain with Fallon's because his own brain is dying after millenia). Introducing the robots as a benevolent, almost omniscient force to the story, to me, robs the books of a lot of their impact. Instead of humanity struggling to survive a galactic disaster, we have humanity manipulated by a small collection of well-meaning dictators. Plunking Olivaw into the later books was, in my opinion, a huge mistake, and one that makes this, and the subsequent prequels featuring him, average books, at best.

[invisiblelizard · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've been reading the Foundation books recently, starting with Foundation through Earth—NB: I haven't gotten to the prequels, yet, and after this one I'm not sure if I will—and this is the weakest of them so far. For Asimov fans, it's worth reading just to see where he wanted to end up, but it's frankly a weaker book than the others. Which can be forgiven. Asimov was getting old when he wrote this and had already suffered the heart attack and contracted the illness which ultimately led to his death. (Check Wikipedia for more details. It's a sad story.) I'll forgive a guy facing a terminal illness if he wants to take his story off the rails a bit in the 11th hour. That said, my chief complaints (two of them) are these:1) Starting with the first book, Foundation, Asimov has kept these stories remarkably clean. Like "G" rated. He doesn't even use curse words. He'll make up expletives like “By galaxy!” or insults like “That son of two strangers!” instead of actual cursing. So I immediately assumed he was a little prudish. Nothing wrong with that. I was enjoying the books enough. The stories were solid and well thought out. But in this one, out of the blue, he has a couple of sex scenes. Not graphically drawn out, but more than hinted at. In fact, he goes on about the main character's "stamina" as if it were a source of pride. Furthermore, the fact that the main character was so good in bed becomes a key plot point and helps resolve a minor crisis. Oh Asimov... that's just disappointing. Sloppy writing aside, that's completely out of character from the previous 4 books.2) For a book in the Foundation series, this one doesn't include the Foundation at all. It should probably have been called "Galaxia and Earth" but it wouldn't have fit the motif. Also, why take the denouement of the previous book, and then write an entirely new book around the main character whining about it when he was the person who decided the fate of the universe at the end of that last book? (I'm getting off topic here.) And why spend an entire novel with Bliss griping about Trevize's sexual exploits, almost as if she were jealous, and then never explain that? (Really off topic.)Okay, perhaps I have more than a few complaints, but whatever. If you're a fan of the series, read on, just temper your expectations.

[marthajeanne · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found the ending very contrived.

[ladypembroke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had a little trouble getting into this book, but I really liked it in the end. Of course, some of my enthusiasm came from watching Asimov apply the planetary science of the time. He was off on a couple of things but pretty spot on with others. Amazing how our picture of the galaxy has changed in less than 30 years.

[dbsovereign · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Foundation series (there are seven books in all though the three originals - _Foundation_, _Foundation and Empire_, and _Second Foundation_ - are the best of the series) is classic sci-fi and some of Asimov’s best. His characters are rather flat, his plots bog down in ideas and are rather short on action. That being said, these books can still thrill you if you’ve never read them and if you’re a sci-fi fan, you will probably love them. Asimov reminds us that history repeats itself and this a _Decline and Fall_ set in the future.

[scottcholstad · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

If you’ve been reading my reviews over the past few months, you’ve seen my reviews of Asimov’s Foundation books. I finally read the hugely known and loved Foundation trilogy and was not impressed. I thought the first book was poorly written, I thought the second book was so horribly written and the characters so one dimensional and the plot lines so inane, I didn’t even finish it and gave it one star. The third book of the trilogy satisfied me and salvaged Asimov’s reputation for me. Still, I was unimpressed. Then, last month I read the fourth Foundation book written some 30 years later, Foundation’s Edge. I thought it was excellent! A definite five star book. The writing was fluid and mature. It seemed that over the previous 30 years, Asimov must have taken several graduate level creative writing classes and learned a few things, thank God. I mean, he actually used transitions! I enjoyed that fourth book so much, I sought this fifth and final Foundation book out to eagerly finish the series. Unfortunately, Foundation and Earth is again an Asimov disappointment and is so annoying, I’m not even bothering to finish it, again, after reading over 200 pages. What a waste.In the previous book, the council member of the First Foundation, Golan Trevize, accompanied by historian and companion, Janov Pelorat, go out in a world class Foundation starship in search of both the Second Foundation and Earth. Meanwhile, a Second Foundationer is traveling to intercept them, intent upon modifying Trevize’s mind to follow the Seldon Plan to its finish while the Foundation Mayor is bringing warships with her to find Trevize to attack and destroy the Second Foundationer, and if Trevize is collateral damage, oh well. They converge at a hidden planet called Gaia, which the two space explorers find and discover is inhabited and alive with a hive mind. Everyone and everything, including the animals, plants, and even the rocks, are alive and joined together in memory and feeling, capable of great power, desirous of having Trevize make a decision between the two Foundations and them, their desire to turn the universe and everything in it into Galaxia, so that ultimately all planets and everyone and everything on them all join together for the greater good, greater peace, greater happiness. Trevize chooses Gaia and that’s how the fourth book ends.In this book, we’re back on Gaia, but Trevize is grumpy as hell. He’s not sure he made the right decision and since it’s the biggest decision in the history of the universe, he has to know. And, for some unknown reason, the only possible way he can know is to find and go to the mythical first world of Earth, wherever that is, if indeed it exists at all. There he will find his answer. Why? We’re never told.Naturally, Pelorat, who wanted to find Earth in the first place, decides to accompany him and Pelorat’s new Gaian girlfriend, Bliss, who is Gaia – literally – goes too, to help “protect” them. Which creates all sorts of problems for she and Trevize. See, Trevize is seriously pissed about the hive mind and the fact that Bliss speaks for and indeed is all of Gaia. He feels that can’t be as good as having one’s individuality. Etc. Bliss feels otherwise, and attempts to explain the benefits of being connected to all beings and things on the planet to him, which he just shrugs off. And as they start traveling to planets, they start bickering. And arguing. And fighting. And it.doesn’t.ever.stop. Oh my God, all they fucking DO is fight and bicker, page after page. It’s fucking relentless and they beat a dead horse over and over, repeating the same tired crap, such as "Bliss did you control my/his mind?" and "I am Bliss but I am also I/we/Gaia.” There’s only so much of that you can see repeated on virtually every other page if not more often before you want to hurl the book at the wall and stomp all over on it. It’s damned infuriating. Why Asimov feels he has to shove this crappy dialogue down the readers’ throats relentlessly and repeatedly is beyond me, but it’s stupid. Really stupid. And, I think, the sign of a poor writer, trying to extend word count so as to make some more money by making his word count quota. I would think he would be better than that. Trevize, who was a pretty decent and shrewd explorer in Edge is simply really unappealing in this book. Indeed, he’s downright unlikable. Okay, he’s a major dick. He is rude to Pelorat, brutish and mean to Bliss, and apparently cruel to a child called Follum later in the novel. Pelorat is insipid and boring. Bliss says the same things over and over. I guess she’s limited verbally by being a damn planet. The characters, like many of Asimov’s, have no depth and simply argue with each other throughout this overly long book. There’s virtually no action and little of interest. Just bickering and fighting. Oh joy. Oh creativity. Oh brilliance. Oh yeah, for some strange reason, unlike the previous Foundation books, there’s a lot of sex in this book. A lot. I generally don’t mind that sort of stuff, but it makes it stand out from the rest and not necessarily in a good way.One thing I hadn’t stopped to realize with the fourth book that I liked so much is that the book deviated from the much celebrated Seldon Plan, although it plays a key role in the book. In this book, it’s hardly mentioned. It’s almost as though the Foundation never existed. Is this even a Foundation novel?This book, like its predecessor, is better written than the original trilogy, in terms of writing style and writing devices and grammar. But the story and characters suck. I really found myself hating each of them and dreading turning the next page as I read through it. Thus, as I said, after about 200 pages, I had had enough. I can only take so much fictional fighting. There’s too much fighting in the world going on in real life. Why use your down time to read it? I was going to give this book two stars because it’s both an Asimov and Foundation book, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I really don’t think it deserves two stars. I given better books two stars. This is a one star book. If you’re reading the Foundation series, avoid this one. You don’t need to read it and it doesn’t really add anything to the story. Definitely not recommended.

[johnfair_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this book, dissatisfied with his decision, Trevise and Pelorat decide to continue their search through the varied worlds of the galaxy, this time joined by the Gaian Bliss. An encounter with an official on Comporallan leads to the party learing of the long forgotten Spacer worlds along with what claims to be the actual co-ordinates of three of these worlds. After a bit of jiggery pokery with his superb computer, Trevise manages to locate an area of space consistant with the Spacer worlds - systems not listed in the ship's maps taking us to the remnants of a Spacer world listed as Aurora in their ancient records but the planet is falling to pieces after being deserted by humanity. Solaria, their second stop, is in far better nick but is even more dangerous when they're located by the owner of the estate they had impinged on. Barely escaping from there with their lives they reach a third world denuded of much of it's atmosphere but home to an overly active form of moss where they find the co-ordinates of all the Spacer worlds which enables them to find the co-ordinates of Earth but there tehy find those tales of a radio-active planet are no exageration. On the large moon, they find the secret of why earth had been hidden and Trevise gets an answer as to why he made his choice.In this book we meet R Daneel Olivaw from Asimov's earlier robot novels and I have to say that in this, he was pretty ineffective (though to be fair, he was senescing as well).

[konrad.katie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have been listening to the Foundation series audiobooks, read by Larry A. McKeever, over the past few months. Considering the first Foundation novel was written in 1957 - and this particular one 1986 - I can't help but feel humility curling about my bones as I attempt to formulate a conducive analysis of this series, let alone this book.

Foundation and Earth is unique in the series as it continues the adventures of the characters from the previous book - all other Foundation novels span hundreds of years and rarely focus too long on any one particular character, let alone for the span of TWO books. So the three heroes journey onward searching for Earth. Got that. You never really understand WHY, not in the clearest sense, until the last chapter. And then you are left with a tantalizing cliffhanger in the form of a meaningful glance.

Asimov's prose is clear, succinct and dry. No fluff or excess, you read only what is necessary, not a hair more. Although I appreciate Asimov's brevity, there was much that I could have enjoyed in the form of character development, background, and explanation of action. If it weren't for the naive and selfless scientist Pellorat, the reader would be completely in the dark about much of the plot development. le sigh. I regret books and stories that abuse character thus.

Wish I could have given this book a solid five. I enjoyed the progression of the plot but the characters felt two dimensional and the 'point' of the whole adventure seemed obtuse. Three stars, sadness. (But I am gleefully journeying on in the Foundation series - on to McKeever and the sixth book!)

[comfypants · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The characters are tiresome. It's repetitive, and slow to get around to anything interesting that wasn't already in the previous book. It's four or five times longer than it has any reason to be. Even so, it's a fast read, and makes for a satisfying conclusion to the series.

[iamandypieters · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is set nearly 500 years after the start of the Foundation era, and continues the adventures of councilman Golan Trevize and his friend Janov Pelorat. Pelorat, having become smitten with Bliss, decides to accompany Golan once more on his quest for Earth. Golan now feels more compelled than ever to find Earth. He wants justification for his decision to convert the galaxy to Gaiism, or, Galaxia as Bliss calls it. The three of them have to visit world after world, getting out of tight spots and following the barest of breadcrumbs to unravel the mystery of the location of planet Earth.

[shofichoudhury · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Visited so many planet in this book !! The most exciting book of foundation series :)

[ideleeneer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

finally our friends discover earth and will meet an old friend, R. Daneel OlivawThe search also shows close spacer worlds, where each evolved independently of the others, and showing to which extremes this can go

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Started off and ended weak but it was a good romp in between. Planet to planet of different sorts. A core enjoyment of sci-fi fans.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

'You stressed your desire to find Earth and insisted on its importance. I do not see that importance but you have the knack of being right so I/we/Gaia must accept what you say. If the mission is crucial to your decision concerning Gaia, it is of crucial importance to Gaia, and so Gaia must go with you, if only to try to protect you.'This book picks up the story of Trevize and Pelorat's search for Earth immediately after the events of "Foundation's Edge", so I decided to read them one after the other. Galon Trevize reminds me of Nickie Haflinger in "Shockwave Rider", being extremely arrogant, convinced that he is always right, and prone to behaving as if he is constantly surrounded by fools (and even though he does have the knack of making correct decisions on insufficient data, Trevize is not always right).The search for Earth led the crew of the Far Star to some of the Spacer worlds that readers of the Robot novels will recognise, and the revelation of who is ultimately responsible for the Seldon Plan led to a satisfactory conclusion.At last, some science fiction with a proper ending!

[mohi_11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The second sequel to the Foundation trilogy. Having prevented war between the First and Second Foundations, the heroes quest to find the legendary birthplace of humanity; the mythical planet Earth. Works nicely as a trip through Asimov's earlier worlds seen thousands of years in the future.

[karlstar_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Written after the Foundation trilogy, it falls immediately after them in sequence.

[tadad_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As I said in Foundation's Edge, I don't think Asimov's Grand Unification of his various series was a great idea. This volume suffers doubly in that it leaves you hanging at the end. The story is that Asimov intended there to be one more book, but was never able to put it together.

[sgerbic · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Reviewed March 1998 This book starts exactly where "Foundation's Edge" leaves off. Bliss, Pelorat & Trevize leave Gaia to search for Earth. Trevize believes that he will find the answer to the decision he made choosing Galaxia over the Foundation. We travel though out the Universe visiting hostile worlds looking for any knowledge of Earth. Asimov's creativity when making these worlds is extremely interesting. He ties many of his other books into this story. Reading those first made this story much more interesting. They find Earth at the end, but the results are not what you thing. This book clearly is ended here and I am a bit surprised that Asimov writes a 7th book that really ends the series.

[jpsnow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Asimov's final installment resolves the series partly, though not comfortably against my own preconceptions. We are of course left with a cliffhanger; I believe Asimov's estate recently released a next installment. This was not as interesting an ending now as swift a read as the predecessors but it is intriguing still.

[ensorceled_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Really part two of Foundation's Edge rather than a separate book. Only read if you read Foundation's Edge and liked it.I thought some of the stylistic differences between the two books interesting. I also was a bit surprised that this was more "space opera" than the originals, complete with titillating scenes.

[aarondesk · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The quality of this book is far below that of other books in the foundation series. The book itself could have been condensed into 1/3 the size and the plot would not have suffered. The ending has much to be desired and invalidates much of the previous foundation books. Save yourself the time and don't read it.

[olyra_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

another excellant part of the series.