Sweeping… across centuries, galaxies, and species, this sci-fi challenges imperialism and institutions, expressing the cold realities of sexism and racism from positions of power, and explores the damage of greed and the twisted desire for domination that overshadows pure intentions over time. We meet a broad cast of characters to whom we only just get introduced before we are years along and removed from their presence, wondering if they’ll return to the page…

This novel was definitely the introduction to something FAR larger … 

I struggle to see the connection to the AppleTV+ series (it’s minimal so far, and I don’t mean simply about Gaal’s gender being changed), but I have a feeling the complexities are still unfolding for this tome of a story and I just haven’t arrived at its navel.

How many books did Asimov write? Like almost 500? Gosh… I’ll have to do with these seven..

Even so, this is enthralling brainy stuff, the best of sci-fi. (Well, there’s <i>Dune</i>, which is amazing, and which I’m still studying in increments, cos you don’t simply ‘read’ a novel like <i>Dune</i> in one go… but Asimov, for writing this a generation previous to space exploration, was eons ahead of anyone—a foundational father of sci-fi one might say.)