Welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup, fellow readers! I must admit that I am feeling quite embarrassed today, as I write the post. You see, last week I said that I hadn’t finished a book. I was reading a very long book, and still am (I will tell you about it next week), but totally forgot that I had actually completed another one. This is it:

The book was the famous Science Fiction classic by Isaac Asimov: Foundation. When I recently bought this new iPad, I got a three month subscription to AppleTV. I was intrigued when I saw that Foundation has been turned into a TV series and decided that I should watch it. I read the whole Foundation series when I was in my late teens or early twenties, and I could remember some of the fundamental themes but not the details.

So, the TV series brought me back to the original book! Here is the blurb for Foundation:

“For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire—both scientists and scholars—and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.

The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are among the most influential in the history of science fiction, celebrated for their unique blend of breathtaking action, daring ideas, and extensive worldbuilding. In Foundation, Asimov has written a timely and timeless novel of the best—and worst—that lies in humanity, and the power of even a few courageous souls to shine a light in a universe of darkness.”

I can definitely remember reading every Asimov book and short story that I could get my hands on, back when I was young. I was in awe of his imagination, strongly based in a science background, and loved the sweeping timelines of the plots.

But, this time I came to the book almost 50 years later and this is my response on Goodreads:

Foundation by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, that was disappointing! I first read this book in my early 20s and have just read it again in my 60s. I remembered it as an amazing story, full of wisdom and enlightenment. I have just finished an extremely boring, if at times ingenious, tale of men’s future actions in a galactic empire.

Where are the women?

The very few times women are mentioned, they appear in terms of domestic roles and tools. Washing machines!!! There is one female character who gets a couple of pages and that’s all.

I had thought of re reading the whole series, but I won’t bother to waste my time. So, I am left saddened by this experience.

View all my reviews

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It’s quite amusing to me that so many of the main characters in the TV version have been changed to female!

Anyway, onwards and upwards. There are so many brilliant books out there and so little time left to read them!

Happy reading to you all.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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