The one hundred and twenty-fifth book: #470 Foundation - Isaac Asimov
THis obviously isn't the first time I've read the Foundation series before - although, between library availability and going by titles, I believe I read the prequels before reading the original trilogy. Rereading them now, with a more critical eye, has been good, and shows off some of the great building that surround these stories.
Originally a collection of short stories, they go through the happenings of the Foundation, an organization first said to write a galactic encyclopedia, but later revealed to be focusing on the rebuilding of a second Empire in the far future. It's a great setup that allows things to go elsewhere - and their basis in the fall of the Roman empire makes it have quite a clearanalogy to how things go.
Each of the stories manages to build a strong world that evolves and shifts through the years it covers, and although the initial setup seems like it might get repetitive - there's a crisis, a solution is arrived at, Seldon appears in a projection from the past to confirm it - soon after it turns to not need that, and there being an instinctual understanding from some people on where to go next. It's an interesting take that looks at the long story of a world, and it's enticing me to go back to the series and read more of it again. I just feel safe to do do so again now.