For all my love of sci-fi, I’m a bit wary of the ‘classics’ – and Asimov has to rank highly in that status! I was pleasantly surprised, then, to find this a great little read. Unlike today’s space epics, it’s a slim little volume, and yet gets the themes and story across well.

Clever storytelling in the form of an epic history of the future. The Foundation series deserves its reputation as the pinacle of science fiction and the opening tales of this first volume lay out a great framework. It is interesting to note just how minimal a touch needs to be added to maintain the coherence of the narrative – Asimov places the emphasis on human psychology so that the technological underpinnings don’t distract.