Foundation's Edge (Book Five, Foundation Series)

It has been hundreds of years since Second Foundation. Now, 498 years since its founding, the Foundation seems to be following the Seldon Plan 'perfectly'. However, Golan Trevize, Councilman of the First Foundation, was certain the new galactic powerhouse was following the plan, too perfectly. Trevize believed that the supposedly destroyed Second Foundation was actually controlling the First Foundation's every action. Exiled into space with charges of treason, Trevize is sent to find this supposed 'threat' or to die trying. Paired with an aging historian, Janov Pelorat, Trevize leaves Terminus and his home. However, after visiting numerous planets, yet finding nothing, the duo's plan take a drastic change. Whether it is for better or for worse is unknown. Pelorat decides that they are meant to find something else, something greater, Earth.

The last book in the 'actual' Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, Foundation's Edge is full of action, suspense, and mystery. It is, in my opinion, an optional read and not intrinsic to appreciating the series. Similarly, Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation are prequels.

Second Foundation (Book Four, Foundation Series)

The Mule has expanded the twisting tendrils of his power to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Having turned the First Foundation to rubble, the ruling despot now sets his sights on a far greater opponent, the Second Foundation! The one problem is, no one actually knows where to find this elusive enemy. Being the ''mighty conqueror'' that he is, The Mule, guided by one phrase, The Second Foundation is at ''Star's End'', sets out to find the remaining superpower. He realizes that this other Foundation will be his greatest challenge and threat. He orders his men to destroy the Second Foundation before it destroys them.  However, rising from the rubble of the First Foundation are the remnants and survivors who have only one  thought on their mind: If The Mule fails to stop the Second Foundation, who will?

Second Foundation is full of adventure and suspense. This book, the fourth in the series by Isaac Asimov, is the first in the series to mention, as well as show, the hidden Second Foundation.

Foundation and Empire (Book Three, Foundation Series)

Many years after the Empire began to crumble, the Foundation has managed to defeat and conquer the numerous barbarian nations that sprang up in the Empire's wake. But, the Empire has not yet fallen. Soon, an ambitious general will set his sights on the fledgling Foundation, with only one thing on his mind, domination. However, at a different place at a different time, rising from the ashes of the Empire is a new force, one man with a special power and a special vision. One man with the power to destroy the Foundation forever, The Mule.

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov is a great read for those of you who have ideas of what the world could, and might, look like in thousands of years and for people that live book that take place over large expanses of time.

Foundation (Book Two, Foundation Series)

When the Galactic Empire began to fall in Prelude, the Psychohistorian Hari Seldon gathered all the the brightest minds in the Empire. Now, he has brought them to a small planet at the edge of the galaxy. He has created the Foundation. Its goal, using the Seldon Plan, is to reduce the projected 30,000 years of barbarism to  come into a mere millennium and to bring about a Second Empire. At first the Foundation seems to be following the Seldon Plan perfectly. That is, until powerful warlords begin to rise in the wake of the Empire's slow fall. Faced with threats from all directions, the Foundation seems doomed after all.

Foundation is filled with action, adventure, suspense, and a projection of what the world might be like in 10,000 years. Asimov perfectly envisions  long sweeps of future history, and crafts the idea that no matter how bleak the situation, human ingenuity can, and will, prevail. 

Prelude to Foundation (Book One, Foundation Series)

It is the year 12,020. The mathematician Hari Seldon has just arrived on the overflowing Galactic Capital, Trantor, the seat of the Galactic Empire, to give the Emperor Cleon I his report on what he calls Psychohistory, the science of predicting the future. When Cleon declares Seldon and his Psychohistory 'dangerous,' Hari, along with his newfound friend, Chetter Hummin, must escape the Emperor's grasp while, at the same time, staying alive. Having second thoughts that Psychohistory could be a failure, Hari rejects his convictions. That is, until Hummin shared with him a bleak, yet actual, dilemma that the Galactic Empire is falling. After 12,000 years, according to Hummin, the Empire has grown too large and too neglectful to continue on its current path. Realizing his destiny, Hari sets out to perfect and implement Psychohistory before it is too late. But, will Seldon escape Trantor with his life or leave lifeless?

Prelude to Foundation is filled with action, adventure, suspence, romance, and, of course, future technology. Prelude is a great read for anyone who likes Sci-Fi and the great master Isaac Asimov. For any of the Asimov fanatics out there, like me, I encourage you to share your thoughts and favorite parts of Prelude.