Foundation Books in Order
The Foundation books follow the fall of a vast Galactic Empire and the plan of the mathematician Hari Seldon, whose science of psychohistory can predict the future of whole populations, to shorten the dark age that will follow from thirty thousand years to one thousand.
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Series facts
- Books
- 7
- Published
- 1951 to 1993
- First book
- Foundation
- Latest
- Forward the Foundation (1993)
- Setting
- Set in the Galactic Empire
- Order
- Story order differs from publication order
The reading order
Every Foundation book in publication order, with the story order a switch away. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
- 1Foundation1951Hari Seldon predicts the fall of the Galactic Empire and sets up a Foundation on the remote planet Terminus to preserve knowledge.Buy on Amazon
- 2Foundation and Empire1952The Foundation faces a great general of the dying Empire, and then a far stranger threat: the Mule, a mysterious conqueror whom Seldon’s plan never predicted.Buy on Amazon
- 3Second Foundation1953The Mule searches for the hidden Second Foundation, said to have been set up by Seldon at the other end of the galaxy, and others search for it after him.Buy on Amazon
- 4Foundation's Edge1982With Golan TrevizeFive centuries after Seldon, Golan Trevize, a councilman of Terminus, is sent into exile with the historian Janov Pelorat, and sets out to discover whether the Second Foundation still exists.Buy on Amazon
- 5Foundation and Earth1986With Golan TrevizeGolan Trevize and Janov Pelorat search the galaxy for the long-forgotten planet Earth, believing it holds the answer to the future of humanity.Buy on Amazon
- 6Prelude to Foundation1988With Hari SeldonYoung mathematician Hari Seldon arrives on Trantor, capital of the Empire, and presents a paper on psychohistory.Buy on Amazon
- 7Forward the Foundation1993With Hari SeldonThe later life of Hari Seldon, as he works to develop psychohistory into a working science and sets up the Foundation.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read the original trilogy, Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation, then Foundation’s Edge and Foundation and Earth. The two prequels, Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation, can come first or last.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Hari Seldon | Golan Trevize | The Mule | Janov Pelorat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Foundation | ·Minor | |||
| 2 Foundation and Empire | MMajor | |||
| 3 Second Foundation | MMajor | |||
| 4 Foundation's Edge | LLead | MMajor | ||
| 5 Foundation and Earth | LLead | MMajor | ||
| 6 Prelude to Foundation | LLead | |||
| 7 Forward the Foundation | LLead |
Characters in the Foundation books
7 characters from Isaac Asimov’s chart, with the number of Foundation books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Hari SeldonMathematician who invents psychohistory | 3 | Foundation 1951 |
| Golan TrevizeCouncilman of Terminus | 2 | Foundation's Edge 1982 |
| The MuleMutant conqueror | 2 | Foundation and Empire 1952 |
| Janov PeloratHistorian | 2 | Foundation's Edge 1982 |
| Salvor HardinFirst mayor of Terminus | 1 | Foundation 1951 |
| Hober MallowMaster trader | 1 | Foundation 1951 |
| Arkady DarellTeenage girl of Trantor | 1 | Second Foundation 1953 |