Rating: 
Summary: A pretty good ending to a fantastic series
Review: Foundation and Earth is the seventh and final installment of one of science fiction's most auspicious series. The order of the books, with titles shortened, goes like this: Prelude to F, Forward the F, Foundation, F and Empire, Second F, F's Edge, and F and Earth. F&E picks up almost immediately after where Foundation's Edge leaves off. Both make references to characters, places, and concepts discussed only in the Robot series and Empire series. Therefore, I *highly* recommend that you read those two series (seven books in all) *before* tackling the last two Foundation books. The big revelation at the end of F&E won't have much meaning to you if you haven't read the Robot series at least. Also, Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation help with the continuity.Golan Trevize, accompanied by the Gaian Bliss and mythologist Pelorat, goes on a quest to find Earth. His intuition tells him that something on Earth will allow him to clarify the reasoning behind the critical decision he made at the end of F's Edge. Golan's essential question is: what is wrong with psychohistory? So the trio go romping across space, landing on several planets, in their search for the forgotten planet Earth. Many of the reviews of F&E are negative because Asimov casually shatters nearly everything we've come to believe and hold sacred regarding psychohistory and the two Foundations. But it makes sense: the fundamental flaw in psychohistory that Golan Trevize eventually figures out is very real and cannot be ignored. I never realized this flaw while reading the previous Foundation novels, but now I wonder how Hari Seldon could have missed something so basic. In my opinion, Trevize's decision is justified (even though it sacrifices a vital aspect of humanity). Again I must stress, you'll probably be unsatisfied with this novel *unless* you've read the Robot and Empire books first! I enjoyed F&E; it brought closure to the series and tied it together satisfactorily with his other books. I don't give it five stars because although it was a fun read with a good ending, it wasn't as exciting as previous Foundation books. Trevize and Bliss argue *a lot*, like a husband and wife who are tired of living with each other! The plot moves fairly slowly for most of the novel, but the suspense does build as the trio gets closer to their goal. Overall, worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the foundations of the Foundation Series
Review: This is the last book (chronologically) in the Foundation Series, and with Prelude to Foundation, the earliest, the Foundation Series has two excellent bookends, or, perhaps, "foundations", to keep it in place. F&E is a continuation of Foundation's Edge, and is the story of Trevize, Pelorat and Bliss/Gaia's quest to find Earth, in an attempt to determine why Trevize's choice for the future of mankind is the right one. The book deviates substantially from the rest of the series, but generally in a positive way. Whereas Asimov has a habit of making his primary characters out of cardboard, presumably to avoid the people getting in the way of the ideas he wants to express, F&E fleshes out the characters with a certain amount of personality. Whereas the rest of the Foundation Series tends to concentrate on worlds which, after a while, all appear similar, the worlds of F&E are different, frightening, and yet serve Asimov's agendas well. F&E also ties together the Robot series universe with that of the Foundation series far more substantially than the other books in the Foundation Series attempted to, portraying the futures of the Spacer worlds that Robot fans will be familiar with. I'm guessing that the differences are ultimately why this has gotten a lower average review than the others in the series - it's not classic Foundation Series material, and any one expecting a collecton of stories involving a renegade Foundation leader visiting various rebelling worlds and outwitting the dimwitted monarchs that rule over them with some sort of smartarsed politics is going to be sorely disappointed. Hari Seldon makes no appearance. I don't recall even seeing the term "Seldon Crisis" in this book. If you genuinely want more of the same, you'll probably be disappointed by this book. If you've never read any of the series before, it's probably best to start at the beginning with the equally excellent Prelude to Foundation (or even the Robot series.) But if you're excited by Asimov's ability to paint new worlds, to visualise the future directions for humanity, you cannot afford to miss this. Foundation and Earth is the best yet.
Rating: 
Summary: I agree - an ending that leaves something left
Review: I picked it up to finish the Foundation series; a good ending, I will maintain. It wraps up the idea behind the foundation and settles it to face squarely with WHY things need to be held together, and the justification for arranging things. It does change the tone of the series and is very long-winded and suddenly ended (kinda like...ok...ok...ok...huh?), but it does finally add some closure to the series and a feeling of completion - a reason behind why he even started the Foundation's Edge. For those looking for a thoughtful read and are a fan of the Foundation novels, I recommend; if your looking for more of a fun read, pass this book by.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much
Review: This book has too much of everything... except action.
There isn't much of a story and it's way too long.
There's a lot of endless talk about the same subjects
and lots more sex than any other Asimov book. The
other Foundation books were fine for all ages. This one
has way too much adult content. I think that 300 pages
could easily have been cut out. In fact, to get to the
real story, just skip to the last 40 pages. Boring.
Long. It dishonors the enitre series.
Rating:
Summary: The "last" book in the series, and a fine one at that
Review: This is the last book, chronologically, in the Robot/Empire/Foundation universe, and it's a very fitting one. The story starts immediately (i.e. days) after the end of Foundation's Edge, so we start with the same three main characters - Trevize, the exiled Foundation councilman; Pelorat, the ancient historian looking for Earth; and Bliss, member of the superorganism Gaia. Since the problems of Trevize and Bliss were solved in Foundation's Edge, we are left to solve Pelorat's in this book - where and what is the planet where all humankind originated? Of course, we already know the answer, but there's a great deal of fun to be had in the journey.
...
Thus, we set off on a search for Earth, and with only a few clues and hearsay, it's a long search. Along the way we visit a number of planets we're familiar with from other series - notably Solaria and Aurora, the two most prominent Spacer worlds in the Robot novels. We learn the fate of the Spacers (including the solution to the "hook" at the end of Robots and Empire - why the Solarians disappeared) and along the way Asimov springs a few additional surprises on us. The characters are interesting and much more enjoyable than the same characters in the previous book - I'm not sure why that is, since their personalities are perfectly consistent. The debates between Trevize representing individual freedom and Bliss representing the telepathically linked massmind of Gaia provides much of the philosophical backbone of the book. There is suffienct action and plot twists to keep you turning the pages right to the end of the book.
...
It's curious that this book is so difficult to find, yet the books published on either side of it (Robots and Empire and Prelude to Foundation) are readily available. In addition, this book spent 15 weeks on the NY Times bestseller list! It's even hard to find used (it took me about 10 used bookstores in 3 different cities to find it, and every one of the ten had Foundation's Edge). Very odd. But, it was well worth the effort to find - it's one of the best Foundation books, certainly better than Foundation's Edge. There is a hook at the end of this novel too, but the good Dr. Asimov passed on before he could write another installment (and apparently, he did not have any idea what to do with it anyways).
Rating:
Summary: A search for origins
Review: There seem to be a number of negative reviews of this book, but I think those readers missed the point. I think that most readers do not have the proper perspective to really understand it. However, I don't think this is due to any personal faults on the part of those readers. It just probably resonates more with certain people than others. This book is about the search for origins and the innate desire for personal continuity and harmony with human society. Most people never give this a second thought, but some of us are born into situations where our origins are unknown and our sense of continuity is broken. Consequently, these issues occupy very prominent places in our lives. I am adopted, and I had to do a search similar to the search described in this book in order to find my own origins. In fact, this book was one of the catalysts that spurred me to perform this search, which was ultimately successful. This is one of my top ten favorite books. I grant that my perspective is somewhat colored by my personal situation, so take that into account. At the same time, I think that the issue of connection with the past is one that affects every American, and every white person. White people were forcibly severed from their primal pasts long ago, and the issues raised by this separation were never fully resolved. They persist in our society today. There is a lot of interesting information regarding the ancient history of the white/European cultures freely available on the net; if you haven't investigated this topic, I recommend doing so, no matter what culture you come from. This book doesn't address these issues as such, but it does address the underlying human need for continuity and communication between different societies. It's not the same as other Foundation books, but if it were, there would be no reason to read it...
Rating:
Summary: This one ties it all together
Review: This was a great book. It ties together many of his other works. Starting with the robot stories through the empire novels (hard to find). Ending beatifuly with the Foundation series. A must read for any Asimov fan.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Ending... or Beginning
Review: I don't know how people can say that Asimov is slipping in this book. I thought it was great! It brings in lots of new planets, and some old ones, too. It finally explains just exactly why Golan Trevize chose Gaia over Psychohistory. It is a great way to end the series. The only thing is that it's written in a way that let's someone, maybe, write another book that could come after this one. The only bad thing about this book is the price and availability. I couldn't believe the price. Then I looked around, and couldn't believe other prices. This book sells for crazy amounts! And then I looked in my library. It had not one, not two, but three copies of this book. Lent out for free. So instead of me paying 19 bucks for a paperback book, I borrowed the hardcover for 3 weeks for free. If you want to be able to reread the book, don't worry: it doesn't get taken out of the library much. Seriously, consider saving yourself 19 bucks, and take a short trip to the library.
Rating:
Summary: Asimov is God
Review: I am an American. I am a New Yorker, like Isaac. This book, like all of Asimov's work, is wonderful. I fully appreciate it, unlike some. Go out and buy this book right now. Buy the full Foundation books, it's the greatest Sci-fi series in the history of man.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring and unscientific
Review: Unscientific? You are probably wondering how I could say such a thing. I could easily get through the heavy philosophysing via the Trevize & Bliss arguments, but when you get right down to it, Asimov just took the "Future is bliss through the oneness/Gaia/connectedness" (pick a mechanism) option. Ho-hum. Really, I expected a better ending to this grand series.
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