Good, but Not As Good As the Original Trilogy
Asimov's plot devices are getting to be somewhat predictable, but this is nevertheless a good book, and recommended for anyone who enjoyed the original trilogy. There is one unexpected aspect to it: I don't want to give away too much, but the Seldon Plan ends up going way off course. I can't help but think that this is rather akin to Aurthur Conan Doyle offiing Sherlock Holmes because he wanted to write something else for a change. Foundation's Edge was written mainly because Asimov's publisher persistently badgered him for another Foundation novel, and he eventually gave in; it therefore seems reasonable to assume that Asimov deliberately derailed the Plan in order to avoid having to chronicle the rest of the thousand years of barabarism. Regardless of whether or not that assumption is correct, Asimov managed to make the twist work pretty well. I rather like the way the book ended. Also regardless of whether or not that assumption is correct, Foundation's Edge was, in fact, not the last Foundation novel to be written. The Foundation series, it seems, was just too popular to be laid to rest so easily. It didn't work for Doyle, either.