Although it’s listed at the end of the Foundation series authored by Asimov, Forward the Foundation is chronologically the second book. Hari Seldon has gotten psychohistory off to a good start with his collaborators. He uses his new-found understanding of politics and human nature to defuse a bunch of political crises that come along, and is eventually appointed Chief Minister, much to his horror. The story then continues all the way up to the establishment of the two foundations and Seldon’s death.

It’s a useful book to understand what went on, but I confess I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as any of the others I’ve read so far. It seemed a bit more pedestrian, especially towards the end of the book. Oh well. One last “canonical” Foundation book to go – Prelude to Foundation, which so far seems really quite fascinating.

If you’re trying to read the series chronologically, this actually comes after Prelude to Foundation. I was confused and thought it came at the end of the series, after Foundation and Earth, and now I’m going back and reading Prelude, and I realize I was wrong.

Anyway, this is the fascinating story of how Hari Seldon fought to establish his foundation and to bring psychohistory to fruition in the face of a dying empire. It is sad but poignant, and brilliantly ties in elements from all of Asimov’s related series.

I only wish there was a book that bridged the gap between this and Foundation.

(I just found out that other authors have filled in the gap with Foundation’s Friends and then a whole Second Foundation Trilogy! I can’t imagine it being as good, but I’m going to give it a try.)