When I was around 13 years old, I read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. Well, “read” is not exactly the right word. More like devoured.
I loved all things Asimov in that phase of my life, and I couldn’t get enough of his voluminous offerings. Nightfall, the robot stories, The Gods Themselves, The End of Eternity. Whatever it was, I read it.
I spent many joyful hours in my youth pondering the endochronic properties of resublimated thiotimoline. I would happily design experiments in my head based on that one simple impossible hypothesis.
But the Foundation trilogy was my go-to. And then I grew up, and for a while I forgot about the trilogy.
Until one day, many years later, I picked it up and read it again. This time I read with trepidation. After all, most of my adult re-readings of childhood science fiction turned out rather badly.
For example, I was horrified, as my adult self, upon rereading Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. That beloved novel from my teenage years turned out to be filled with misogyny, racist assumptions, and all sorts of attitudes that I now found unsettling.
But to my delight, Foundation was an even better read as an adult than it had been when I was a teenager. The epic sweep, the original ideas, the sheer intelligence of it all, was even more thrilling to my adult self.
So I’d just like to take a moment today to wish Isaac Asimov a very happy 102 birthday.
i was introduced to the Foundation series by my father when i was also around 13 years old. i’ll never forget devouring it while sitting on the beach during a family vacation. i think it was one of the most exciting reading experiences i’d ever had. now i’m looking forward to re-reading it one day soon. happy birthday to asimov!