My contact with the Foundation series began with the TV series, which has made this my favorite book so far, as it connected Prelude to Foundation’s seedlings of Hari Seldon and psychohistory with the starting point that was familiar to me. The storyline made me far more interested in continuing the book series at least through Second Foundation. As a writer, Asimov became so much more vibrant over time, without losing his gift for conciseness. Recommended if you like stories driven by ideas, characters, and the tension that can create.
The story jumps by decades, smoothly highlighting the key moments in Hari Seldon’s pursuit for developing the mathematics of psychohistory. Many times, he feels like the Project has plateaued, but just when he is beginning to despair, a person intervenes in an unexpected way to rejuvenate everything. Really, this is psychohistory—“people” moving in a steady direction until a “random” outside force changes the trajectory. So how can you create equations to create/manipulate/predict/account for/expect these intrusions? A fascinating tension between the micro and macro makes me wish that psychohistory were real; I would study it.
A central core of characters supports Hari—mostly family, which is somewhat endearing, since Hari is such a disconnected, dedicated, distracted character himself. They remain devoted to him and support the importance of his pursuits in ways that are really sweet. They serve to humanize Hari more and more as the story goes on and as he ages and appreciates more and more their role in his life.
His granddaughter, especially, proved to be a powerful contributor to Hari and to psychohistory, starting when she spotted an assassination attempt as a child and culminating when her ability to influence minds was articulated and became the missing final piece in the Prime Radiant to provide for a Second Foundation. Super compelling storyline and character.
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That Lady Who Reads A Lot 
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