Background:
This is the final novel in the Foundation Universe chronologically speaking. There are a couple short stories completed by other authors, but Foundation and Earth describes (in 494 pages) where Asimov saw his epic saga moving toward. It is a shame that he couldn’t have lived longer to continue on writing. For those that don’t know, Isaac Asimov contracted HIV from a blood transfusion during a heart operation in 1983. It later developed into AIDS, causing heart and kidney failure which led to his death in 1992. For more information on his life and death, visit Asimov Online. I wish I could remember the source, but I know I read that Asimov was not sure exactly how he would continue the series when a fan suggested he go back and write some prequels. Before his death he did fill in some gaps with the Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation.

Review:
Almost no time has passed since Golan Trevize made his decision in favor of Galaxia over a Second Galactic Empire controlled by either the First or Second Foundation. Trevize is still on Gaia along with Janov Pelorat and Bliss. Golan intends to find Earth so that he can find out why he chose felt that Galaxia was best for not only mankind, but for every living thing in the Galaxy. He will not rest until he finds Earth. Bliss insists on going on his search to act as protection through her role as part of Gaia, and Janov has his own research on Earth that he wishes to complete.

The one thing that Asimov succeeds accomplishing in this novel, as he does with the others books in this series, is creating and describing different cultures. These cultures vary from the extremes of conservatism to tribal utopias. Each new world has its own customs, mythology, and history which is described through the interactions between the protagonists and the natives encountered throughout their complex journey.

Shortly after it is agreed that all three must go together, they all depart in a gravatic ship, the Far Star. This journey hits plenty of snags along the way. Bliss maintains a connection to Gaia through hyperspace, but this effort drains her and she can only call upon the support of Gaia in extreme emergencies. Golan’s cautious nature, which at times can be somewhat annoying and repetitive, manages to save the group as much as when Bliss uses her Gaian powers. Janov acts as the guide, in that he can piece together the clues to find Earth from that various myths and legends he has been studying throughout his career as a mythologist.

As with most of the Foundation Novels, a large chunk of the content is primarily dialogue between the main characters. Asimov makes a point to speak through the characters, and in most cases he succeeds in getting his point across. Golan, Janov, and Bliss make a nice little group, but some of the conversations that go back and forth over the course of almost 500 paperback pages get a bit redundant at times.

First, there is the constant reminder that Bliss/Gaia cannot possibly tamper with Golan Trevize’s mind, because that would negate the decision he made. Gaia insists that if Trevize ever changes his mind about Galaxia, that they will support his decision and not interfere with the Second Galactic Empire. Still, Golan constantly asks Bliss if she is tampering with his mind, and she denies it. She does tamper with his mind though, but with words rather than her mental powers.
Second is the constant argument over which is better to live as, Isolates (those not part of Gaia) or Gaians. After each encounter that shows the advantages of individualism or disadvantage of participation in Gaia, Golan gloats to Bliss. She also takes every opportunity to point out why Gaia is superior, especially in instances she is able to call upon the power of Gaia to save them from whatever sort of trouble they managed to get into.

The third and most annoying repetitive conversation is when Golan knows that he should just trust the computer on the Far Star to make a calculation for a Jump, but decides to just “wait a few days more” just to be sure. They still need to travel away from the major sources of gravity to make a Jump, but the new advances in computing make calculating that jump an order of magnitude faster than before. The conversation has 3 steps: First Golan sits looking disturbed, Janov asks what is wrong, then Golan explains that he wants to put off the Jump because he doesn’t want to make (insert decision here) yet.

A subtle plot line revolves around one of the reasons behind Golan’s doubts about his decision in favor of Galaxia. To Golan, for his decision to be correct there must be some type of flaw in psychohistory. The two variables which must be true for psychohistory to work are: 1) The population must be sufficiently large as to make statistical treatment valid; and 2) The population must not be aware of psychohistory. Janov convinces Golan that the First Foundation only knows the bare minimum of the workings of psychohistory, not enough to throw it off. Golan is still disturbed, because if there is no flaw in psychohistory, why did he choose Galaxia? Only the answer to this question and the search for Earth can satisfy him.

Among the other Foundation Novels, this is by far my least favorite volume. The one saving grace is the last 200 pages or so, because Asimov really picks up the pace and makes a nice end to the series. He asks quite a few thought provoking questions about what our place is in the vast expanse of the Universe. I’ll leave that vision out of my review, because it is a rather large spoiler. All I can say is that it would have been very interesting to see how Asimov would have continued the series had he lived a while longer.

In the order of publishing, Foundation’s Edge represents a return by Asimov to the Foundation novels dating back to 1950. This was the novel in which he officially linked the Robot Novels, Empire Novels, and Foundation Novels together into one universe. I believe it was this choice that helped him to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1983. I liked Foundation’s Edge, but I prefer Foundation and Empire’s “The Mule” or Second Foundation’s “Search by the Foundation” to this book. Actually, while researching the Hugo Award for this novel I found out that according to Wikipedia, The Mule (1946) [part 2 of Foundation and Empire] received one of only three “Retro Hugo” awards.

As with most of the other Foundation novels, Foundation’s Edge follows the events of the Foundation (oddly not usually referred to as the First Foundation) and the Second Foundation. The Foundation plot line follows Golan Trevize, a councilman on Terminus, the capital of the Foundation Federation. A Seldon crisis has just passed involving a dispute over whether or not to move the capital of the Foundation Federation to a world closer to the center of the galaxy. Seldon appeared in the time vault and described what had taken place with eerie accuracy. How could Seldon have predicted with such accuracy almost 500 years into the future especially when The Mule had wreaked such havoc to the Plan?

Trevize believes that the Second Foundation, and isn’t afraid to bring the issue up on the day that Mayor Branno of Terminus (leader of the entire Foundation Federation) is celebrating her victory, since she had supported keeping the capitol on Terminus. Mayor Branno has Trevize arrested for treason, because his ideas could cause civil unrest. After all, the Foundation is happy to believe that the Second Foundation is defeated, and they are masters of their own destiny.

After a short deposition, Trevize is brought to a meeting with Mayor Branno. She mentions in confidence that she DOES believe that the Second Foundation is still around, but that she could not possibly publicly support the notion. Trevize is to be exiled from Terminus with the most advanced Foundation ship available under the guise of escorting a known historian, Janov Pelorat, to Trantor to help uncover Earth. Mayor Branno hopes that Trevize will flush out the Second Foundation and hopes to track them down when they make a move.

Back on Trantor, the Second Foundation has another outspoken young leader proclaiming doom. Stor Gendibal, the newest Speaker in the Second Foundation also has noticed that the Plan seems to be going too smoothly. He meets with the Quindor Shandess, First Speaker of the Second Foundation, and convinces him that there must be some outside force helping the plan along besides their own organization. The ramifications of this idea are huge, because the Second Foundation had thought them to be the masters of the upcoming Second Galactic Empire.

Speaker Gendibal is convinced that Golan Trevize is being used by this outside force to subvert the Second Foundation in some way. After all, according to their sources, he and the historian are headed to Trantor to consult the Galactic Library in order to find information on Earth. After some political struggling, Speaker Gendibal is sent out to face Trevize.

Golan Trevize decides that to search for Earth might actually help him find the Second Foundation after conversing with Janov Pelorat. He feels that the old saying that the Second Foundation is “at the other end of the Galaxy” means “the first inhabited world.” Their cover mission would actually lead them to their true goal. Instead of traveling to Trantor, Trevize intends to research this world called Gaia which could possibly actually be Earth. Unfortunately there isn’t enough information available to give them an exact location or description of the planet. They head to Sayshell, a planet with a very prominent myth involving Gaia. This is rather ironic because Trantor, their original destination, is the true location of the Second Foundation.

The rest of the novel involves the convergence of three forces; Golan Trevize and Janov Pelorat, the Foundation, and the Second Foundation. As always, Asimov links them all together at the end and as the pieces fall together you can see the big picture. The main theme in this book is the need to be master of one’s destiny. The Foundation resented being controlled by the Second Foundation. They want to believe that they are fulfilling Seldon’s Plan independently, without the tweaking help and mind control. The Second Foundation is also horrified when they find out that mathematically they could not be 100% responsible for the success of the Plan. This paranoia and aversion to outside control is prevalent throughout the novel.

Gaia turns out to be the force feared by the Second Foundation. I’ll leave the nature of the interference for you to find out on your own. Golan Trevize turns out to be a puppet used by Gaia much like Hari Seldon was used by Daneel. He has had a history of always making the “right” decisions, as alluded to by Daneel in Foundation’s Triumph. The caveat here is that he can make decisions based off of incomplete information,  but doesn’t always understand why; he essentially just “feels” that a certain decision is “right.” Trevize is as much a product of his environment as Seldon was. In the end, Trevize must make possibly the most important decision in the history of time. I have to applaud Asimov’s writing because during the final pages I actually felt a few tingles go down my spine. This is interesting to me because I’ve read the book before, however many years ago, and already knew what was going to happen. I think this proves that re-reading books can be rewarding.

Second Foundation is broken up into two stories, just like Foundation and Empire. The first story, Search by the Mule, takes up only about 1/3 of the book. It takes place 5 years after the events of Foundation and Empire. The second story, Search by the Foundation, takes place about 60 years later. The second story is significantly better than the first. When comparing the two, Search by the Mule seems rushed and not very interesting, while Search by the Foundation is more developed, especially when it comes to characters, plot, and action.

The first story focuses on the search for the Second Foundation by Bail Channis and Han Pritcher. The Mule recruits Bail Channis because he feels that an Unconverted mind might shed some new light on the thus far fruitless search for the Second Foundation. The Mule is perfectly satisfied that Han Pritcher is 100% loyal, but is concerned that he might not be performing as well as he could had there been no emotional control.

Each section is broken up by ‘interludes’ which are from the Second Foundation’s point of view. They plan to reveal themselves to The Mule “in a sense”, hoping to trap and defeat him. The Mule however has a few tricks up his sleeve, or so he thinks, which will hopefully ensure victory over the Second Foundation. I think that this story could have had the same effect while being much shorter. There was a lot of dancing around with witty banter that didn’t really add to the story. The final battle was interesting, but when I compare the first story to the second, it seems that Asimov simply rushed this one.

The second story focuses on the search by the Foundation for the Second Foundation. This is probably one of the best stories in the whole Trilogy. One of the main characters is 14 year old girl named Arcadia “Arakady” Darrel. Her father, Dr. Darrel, is an electroneurologist, in a rather new field of science that studies brain wave patterns. He’s also the son of Bayta Darrel, the woman that originally kept The Mule from finding the location of the Second Foundation.

The story begins as a stranger named Palleas Anthor tries to get into the house through Arcady’s window. She was in the process of dictating a research project about The Mule and the effect he had on Seldon’s Plan. This man asks to speak with her father, but Arkady is immediately suspicious and tries to get additional information. They deny this, and eventually start having meetings with other conspirators downstairs while Arcady is up in her room.

Arcady manages to befriend a boy at school and convince him to let her use a remote recording device he had been tinkering with. She plants the device and starts to listen in on the conversations of the conspirators (Dr. Darrel, Palleas Anthor and several others). Essentialy they have uncovered that the brain patterns of key officials have been tampered with, probably by the Second Foundation. These men don’t like having their fate dictated by others, so they set out to find and defeat the Second Foundation.

Eventually they plan to send Homir Munn, a noted Mule memorabilia collector, to visit Kalgan to search for clues to the location of the Second Foundation in the Mule’s Palace. The plot really picks up after Dr. Darrel’s maid discovers that Arcady is missing and has left a note saying essentially that she has stowed away on Homir Munn’s ship. Dr. Darrel knows he can’t interfere without bringing attention of the Second Foundation to the operation, so simply sends a not to Homir’s ship and hopes for the best.

As with the first story, sections are broken up by focusing on conversations between the First Speaker and his apprentice from the Second Foundation. Seldon’s Plan is on the edge of failing, and unless all of their plans go perfectly, there may be no chance to recover. The apprentice is asked to analyze a specific problem and come up with a proposed solution which can help adjust the Plan.

Asimov keeps the reader guessing throughout this story, but also provides plenty of clues. I’m fairly certain that anyone that hasn’t read any of the prequels will be surprised at the true location of the Second Foundation. As with many of Asimov’s other stories, he ties up all of the mysteries in a neat little bow toward the end. Since I read this for the second time, I was able to keep an eye out for many of these clues. Although I remembered the real location of the Second Foundation, I could easily see how well Asimov hid it in his writing. Overall, I’d say this was my second favorite volume of the Trilogy, mainly because of the weak first part.

Foundation and Empire is broken up into two longer stories, rather than five shorter ones that appeared in Foundation. The first story, The General, begins almost 200 years after the Foundation was established on Terminus. The second story, The Mule, takes place just over 300 years into the Foundation Era. I think I liked this book more because the stories were longer and the character development was a bit deeper. Also, it seemed that the action picked up noticeably compared to the last book.

The first story focuses on Bel Roise, an accomplished general of the Galactic Empire, who is searching for the “magicians” of the periphery. These magicians are from the Foundation, and have met several Seldon crises already and have always come out on top. Bel Roise intends to crush the Foundation before they become too powerful. It seems that the General will succeed, surrounding the Foundation using a tactic which has never before failed, but he underestimates the capabilities of two of his Foundation prisoners.

One of the most important themes in this story revolves around “faith” in the principles of psychohistory. Ducem Barr of Siwenna (Onum Barr’s son from Foundation) is steadfast in his belief that no matter what anyone does, the Foundation will prevail. Surely the “dead hand” of Hari Seldon will guide the Foundation to victory. Bel Roise does not believe in destiny, rather will challenge psychohistory with his “living will”.

The second story focuses on a warlord that calls himself “The Mule”. He has mysteriously risen to power out of nowhere and has never lost a battle. His conquests appear to be easy despite impossible odds. His enemies surrender quickly with little or no bloodshed. The latest world to fall to The Mule is Kalgan, a resort world which had recently been conquered by another aspiring warlord.

The leader of the Foundation on Terminus, Mayor Indbur, is not worried when Captain Han Pritcher warns of this new threat at a disciplinary hearing. Pritcher has refused orders from his commander to visit a Trader world called Haven because he believes that The Mule poses a much greater threat to the Foundation. The mayor is more concerned about Haven which refuses to pay taxes to the Foundation. He orders Han Pritcher to investigate Haven, but the insubordinate captain sets out for Kalgan instead.

The Trader worlds are also interested in The Mule, sending a pair of newlyweds (Toran and Bayta) to Kalgan under the pretence of a honeymoon. Essentially they are to try and get more information about The Mule, but end up more involved than they had planned. After rescuing a pitiful looking clown, court jester and entertainer to The Mule, they escape Kalgan with the help of none other than Captain Han Pritcher. This clown was named Magnifico Gigantus by The Mule as a joke because he is small and wiry.

The Mule uses the escape of Magnifico as an excuse to attack the Foundation. While he conquers worlds he demands the return of his precious clown. Psychologist Ebling Mis, known as The Scientist, works with Magnifico to try and extract information about The Mule to help the Foundation defend themselves. It turns out The Mule has strong mental powers, something which Hari Seldon’s calculations couldn’t have accounted for. Fortunately there is a Second Foundation, but nobody seems to know where that is. At the defeat of Terminus Ebling Mis, Toran, Bayta, and Magnifico escape to head toward Trantor to search for clues in the University Libarary.

I like how Asimov likes to take a spin on cultural norms whenever he can. For example, the Traders don’t normally marry, because they hardly even stay put long enough to “qualify” for marriage. The resurgence of succession by birth of the mayor is another example of how society seems to always be changing. Women from the Foundation are treated as equals, astonishing those in the crumbling Galactic Empire. There are many other things here and there that add up to make an interesting picture.

I think that having read the prequels before the original trilogy gives me a lot more insight into what is going on behind the scenes. Obviously there is a Second Foundation with mental powers, but we don’t know yet if they can possibly match the freak mutation of The Mule. This story is the culmination of all of Hari Seldon’s fears at the end of Foundation’s Triumph. As usual, Asimov ties off just about all of the mysteries in a nice little bow in the final few pages of this book. I’m sure that there will be a few surprises for just about everyone to enjoy.

It is hard to write a review about one of the most famous science fiction novels of all time, but I will try to do it justice. Asimov originally started the Foundation saga as a series of short stories for Astounding Magazine back in the 1940s. For the novelisation Asimov added the section “The Psychohistorians” to precede the original 4 stories that were published in the magazine. For those reading along with me in chronological order, most of this first story is covered in Foundation and Chaos.

The main plot of this novel revolves around Hari Seldon’s prediction that the Galactic Empire, which has ruled the galaxy for 12,000 years, will fall apart within 500 years. The chaos and civil war which will follow will last 30,000 years unless he is allowed to establish his Foundation to create the Encyclopedia Galactica. The project will store and protect all of the important human knowledge in order to help reduce the time until the rise of the Second Galactic Empire to 1,000 years. For a complete (spoiler filled) summary of the individual stories, refer to the Wikipedia article . I highly recommend reading the books for yourself first though.

The experience of reading Foundation in its chronological order is quite different that reading this book as the first in a series. With no other information available, Hari Seldon is portrayed more like a prophet or god-like figure. This must have been even more pronounced when “The Encyclopedists” was originally published as “Foundation” in 1942. Without the background listed in “The Psychohistorians”, there was no way to see Hari Seldon as a man interacting with others. He is referred to as a prophet of the Galactic Spirit, the founder of the religion of technology which takes place in “The Mayors”. Priests are trained to help operate the nuclear technologies to help the other worlds in the Periphery accept the ‘new’ technology easier. This made me think of the following quote…

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

-Arthur C. Clarke, “Profiles of The Future”, 1961 (Clarke’s third law)

In many ways the mathematical equations which make Psychohistory work are magic. The Foundation members have no idea why they are successful, except that it has been mathematically proven to happen with a high degree of certainty in the short term. In the long term it is possible for the “Seldon Plan” to deviate. This is where the Second Foundation comes in which is located at “Star’s End” across the galaxy. They were given the task to smooth out the bumps which would probably occur as the time went on.

Most of the stories end with what is called a Seldon crisis. This is a point where there Foundation gets into a situation where only one solution is essentially possible. I think the way that Asimov arranges these problems is intriguing because the solutions usually come from angles I’d never have suspected. He also develops strong characters such as Salvor Hardin and Hober Mallow, which become as beloved as Hari Seldon to those of the Foundation.

I’ve read quite a few reviews of this novel and many people are disappointed because it does not tie up the questions left unanswered at the end of Foundation and Earth. Much of this disappointment comes from the fact that Forward the Foundation is the last book in the series written by Asimov just before his death. I think that the disappointed fans were looking for answers in the wrong places. This novel simply gives us a closer look at Hari Seldon and the progress of the psychohistory project at Streeling University.

If you just plan on learning more about Hari and his family while he works out the details of psychohistory, you won’t be disappointed. In many ways this book makes more sense read in chronological order rather than by publication date. There are some pretty big spoilers for the later Foundation books, but as I said in my review for Prelude, it just gives me a different perspective. What this novel does not do is give a real sense of closure to the series. I don’t think that Asimov had those intentions for this novel anyway. Instead, he shows the reader how psychohistory was developed.

Forward the Foundation is broken up into four novellas and an epilogue. The novel starts out about eight years after the end of Prelude to Foundation. In part 1, ‘Eto Dermzel’, Hari Seldon must deal with a charismatic leader named Jo-Jo Joranum which is attempting to disrupt Emperor Cleon’s rule. Cleon is convinced that Hari can now make predictions using psychohistory, so commands Hari to resolve the problem. Unfortunately, psychohistory is nowhere near this level of progress, so Hari must find another way. I was amused by Hari’s solution, and will leave that up to you readers to discover. The subsequent parts focus on Cleon I, Dors Venabili, and Wanda Seldon (Hari’s Granddaughter).

The novella format reminded me a bit of The Currents of Space. Each part starts roughly 10 years after the previous one ends, but shortly after starting a new part, Hari Seldon reminisces about the past through flashbacks. After some exposition the story shifts back to present time. This approach is more straightforward than in The Currents of Space, so figuring out which time frame the story is in doesn’t get confusing. I normally just read a few chapters of a book at a time, but I found myself plowing through each section within the same day.

Throughout this book we see the various signs of decay Hari has predicted as they become more prominent. Political instability, crime, mechanical failures, lost technology, and a troubled economy are just a few problems that the Empire is facing. Unfortunately since Hari Seldon is known to have predicted the decline, his popularity has gone down. He loses government funding and must find other ways to keep the psychohistory from hitting a dead end. Aside from searching for funds, Hari must select his successors to keep the project going after his death.

This book isn’t only about the decline of the Empire, but also of Hari Seldon. Since the book covers bout 30 years, starting out with Hari at the age of 40, we see his physical and emotional deterioration. Some of his physical problems could be attributed to the decline in heath care technology, but much of his emotional problems come from stress of the psychohistory project and family issues. The ending is a bit depressing, but at least there is a hope yet for psychohistory and the future of the humanity.

I’ve seen many reviews refer to this book as sort of a hidden autobiography, since Asimov was aware that his days were numbered when he wrote this. Supposedly there are a lot of qualities of himself that Asimov inserted into Hari Seldon’s character development. I can’t really compare Isaac Asimov to Hari Seldon because I shamefully haven’t ready any of his autobiographies yet. I plan on doing so after this project and will jump back to do some comparison using my reading notes.

Roughly twelve thousand years have passed since the founding of the Galactic Empire. Almost the whole galaxy has been explored and populated accounting for 25 million inhabited worlds, most of which have at least 1 billion people each. Trantor is the ruling world of the Galactic Empire. It is covered completely with domed cities that go far under ground except for just 250 square kilometers which made up the Imperial palace grounds. Hari Seldon, a mathematician from Helicon, has traveled Trantor to give a presentation on his new theory called psychohistory. While psychohistory could ‘theoretically’ help predict future events, Hari is interested in it only as a theory and feels that it could never become practical.

Emperor Cleon I learns of this new theory and invites, rather forces, Hari to meet with him to discuss how it could be used to help the Imperial throne. Cleon wants Hari to use his psychohistory to ensure his success as a ruler. Hari is adamant that the theory is purely theoretical and could never be practical. After some discussion Cleon eventually lets Hari go. Somewhere after Hari leaves the palace he runs into a man named Chetter Hummin.

Hummin mentions he heard the Imperial Guard had picked Hari up and brought him to the palace and asks if there was a meeting with the Emperor. Hari admits he met with the Emperor to discuss psychohistory and how it could help the throne. Hummin gets suspicious and asks if Eto Demerzel, the Emperor’s evil right hand man, was there also. Hummin warns that the Emperor, and especially Demerzel, wouldn’t just let Hari go if he was thought to be useful. Eto Demerzel would probably be keeping a very close eye on Hari. Almost right after this a couple of thugs approach Hari and give him a hard time and say they are going to kick him off the planet immediately, although Hari was scheduled to leave the next day back to his home world of Helicon. Hari refuses and the thugs attack them but Hari and Hummin are able to fight them off and get away safely.

At this point Hummin convinces Hari to run with him and not even return to his room to gather his belongings. Hummin is convinced that the Empire is in a state of decay and will eventually fall apart. He gives several examples and eventually convinces Hari to at least try to find a practical way to make psychohistory work so it can be used to help humanity. Hummin arranges for Hari to begin his research at Streeling University. Universities on Trantor enjoy freedom from any type of Imperial interference, so that seems to be the safest place for Hari.

Hari’s contact at the university is Dors Venabili, another outworlder which is teaching history at the University. Hummin has given her the task to keep an eye on Hari and help him with is research. An incident almost claims Hari’s life and Hummin arranges for Hari and Dors to flee the University. The majority of the novel an account of Hari and Dors passing through various sections of Trantor trying to evade Eto Demerzel’s grasp.

This book comes across to me as more of an exploration of cultures than a science fiction novel. There is a lot of technology that is futuristic and explained to a certain degree, but that didn’t seem to be the main focus. Hari is attempting to track down the history of humanity and in the process encounters many ‘laws’ which seem to rule our actions. Cultural taboos are very strong and vary from culture to culture (or sector to sector in Trantor). Customs relating to appearance are also important, and vary widely. The transformation of historical events into myth is analyzed closely. The myth of the “original world” we see from the Empire Novels is still alive and strong. Hari throws himself into one dangerous situation after another in order to research these to find some way of making psychohistory practical, which in most cases Dors has to get him out of.

At about 430 pages this book is quite a bit longer than any of the Empire Novels. It didn’t seem twice as long because most of the sections are broken up rather well and the pacing is pretty quick in most places. I spent a bit more time taking notes of things I noticed which I probably wouldn’t have if this was my first reading, and had read it after Foundation and Earth according to publication date. I’ve read another review of this book that recommended reading AFTER the rest of the Foundation series because of possible spoilers. I don’t think it this novel will ruin any of the future novels, but will give you a different perspective. This is the main reason I’m reading in chronological order, having already read the series in order of publication, because I want to experience it in a different way.