Foundation and Earth (Foundation Series, Book 5)

by Isaac Asimov
Foundation and Earth (Foundation Series, Book 5)  
published 2004 by Spectra
first published 1986
binding Mass Market Paperback
isbn 0553587579   (isbn13: 9780553587579)
pages 528
description The fifth novel in Asimov's popular Foundation series opens with second thoughts. Councilman Golan Trevize is wondering if he was right to choose a co...more
date added
01-05-07



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1693)



Chris
Chris rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
03/06/08

Read in March, 2008
recommended to Chris by: Chad
recommends it for: Anyone who likes great literature
Asimov is a freaking *master*. Though the course of this book seems tedious and winding, and though the "but I'm Bliss / but I'm Gaia" bantering gets really old, though the pacing of the search for Earth gets excruciatingly slow at times, the final chapter of this book is so remarkably insightful, masterful, and ingenius that it simply boggles my mind to know how he could ever have written the first books in the series without this one already in his head, or how so much time could ha...more
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Ryan
Ryan rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
05/02/08

bookshelves: read-scifi
Read in April, 2008
recommends it for: Anyone that likes a good scifi read
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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trygve
trygve rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
04/17/08

A lot of my criticisms of the Foundation series diminish with this book. It was a marked improvement in most regards, in large part because this book finally moves on from the enforced ignorance of the Foundation (regarding Psychohistory), and is about a quest for the truth about some of the mysterious things that have been going on, what forces have really been maneuvering everyone, how they did it, and why.

The only complaint I really had was the tedious and predictable repetition of the ...more
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Joe
Joe rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
04/21/08

bookshelves: science-fiction
God, why the fuck did I read these in high school? Because I was insane and couldn't stop myself. They really don't deserve the acclaim they've gotten. But back then I had to read every part of a series if I started it. Gah. I think this one had a little kid hermaphrodite as one of the characters and that totally wound up freaking me out. Also, as much as everyone touts Asimov the father of hard sf, he couldn't come up with interesting characters to save his fucking life. I must have read...more
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-uht!
-uht! rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
06/11/07

bookshelves: sci-fi
I was hoping Asimov would move the Foundation story forward with this one, but he ended up writing the longest novel of the series that spanned only a few months of the 1,000 year period. The story is about people searching for the legendary birthplace of humans and it was fun to see them try to unwrap the myths and actually find earth, but the story was ultimately unsatisfying and a bit boring.
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Jim
Jim rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
08/30/07

Read in January, 1995
This is the final book of the foundation series that is like a "pre-qual" II.

It was written the year before he passed away. This book is more of a "vignette" that fits between the previous book and the true first book in the series.

I liked it. It wasn't awesome but I enjoyed it and as the end of the full series, seemed worthy.
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Justin
Justin rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
12/21/07

Read in January, 1987
I picked this to represent the entire Robot, Empire, and Foundation universe, this and Robots and Empire being the two books that tied them all together. Asimov just had a whole lot of ideas going on, and he expresses them very well. It's easy to see lots of his work as out of date, but the ideas he brings up still make them good reads.
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Abhilash
Read in July, 2007
To tell u the truth expected a lot from this one. The conclusion to the saga does not live upto atleast my expectations. But as a consolation my favourite character is back. Although he has grown terribly old and makes only a brief appearance but i still love him.
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Peter
Peter rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
06/18/07

Much like Foundation's Edge, all I remember about this novel was that it was another solid piece of Foundation goodness and belongs in that group of novels he published in the 1980s that extended his two major series without an offensive drop in quality.
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Mikebull
Mikebull rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
02/27/08

I found this series best read in the order that they were written and not in cronological order. I had to do this because Asimov hadn't finished writing them when I was reading them. Make sure you read the Robot books first. It makes a difference.
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Kristy
Kristy rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
03/02/08

bookshelves: science-fiction
Read in January, 2007
This book almost seemed like a cop-out...the ending is an "explanation" of everything that's happened in the previous Foundation books, and they don't NEED an explanation. Suddenly making everything so orchestrated was way too contrived for me.
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Kelley
Kelley rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
04/16/08

This book was totally out of print when i wanted to read it, and i couldn't find it. turned out, my friend's mother found it for me in a used book store. isn't that super. i was so excited, i had to know what happened when they found earth.
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Evan
Evan rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
07/09/07

After an otherwise very interesting, reasonable and rational series of books, Asimov decided to chuck it all away with a "cooperation makes us stronger" message. Utter trite, I'm bored with this series, type of writing.
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meghan
meghan rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
02/23/07

bookshelves: scifi, youhavetoreadthis
Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2007
If you only read one book from Asimov's classic Foundation series... pick this one.

Set far in the future, "earth" is legend, mythology... and these characters go on a quest to find the birthplace of humanity
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Kagan
Kagan rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
02/09/08

Read in January, 1980
recommends it for: anyone
I found this book as a teenager by accident and it started my fascination in science fiction in general and with Asimov and psychohistory specifically.
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Simone
Simone rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
09/24/07

bookshelves: sciencefiction
Long time since I read it, but these are classic science fiction books. I've read them several times so they must have been good...
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Kyle
Kyle rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
03/26/08

Read in March, 2008
Like Indiana Jones in space. Some of the crises seem a little contrived, but the mysteries just kept coming.
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Mike
Mike rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
02/13/08

I didn't like the end of the series very much...it didn't seem to fit with the entire theme...
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Bob(by)
Bob(by) rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
01/09/08

God I don't even remember what happens in this one. I think they find Earth, maybe?
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Michael
Michael rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
01/16/08

Read in January, 1986
A worthy add-on to the ultimate classic series of the old-school science fiction.
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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.74 (1526 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.74 (1458 ratings)
number of reviews: 24






other editions

Foundation and Earth (Foundation Series #5)
Foundation and Earth (Foundation Series, Book 5)
Foundation and Earth (The Isaac Asimov Collection Edition)