The Foundation Trilogy

The Foundation series feels like an epic space opera that has been condensed to pulp, although it started the other way around, but the novella-sized parcels don't do the story justice. With big concepts like science as religion, psychic mind control, female heroines, and psychohistory, Asimov's sparse storytelling style doesn't match the grand scale of his ideas. The series is meant to be a galactic allegory of the fall of the Roman Empire, but it primarily toddles around on scenes with two old dudes having a smoke and arguing.

Although none of its installments were actually a Hugo Best Novel winner or nominee, the 1951 – 1953 Foundation trilogy was honored in the one-off Best All-Time Series category in 1966 (against LOTR, no less!), and "The Mule" won a Retro Hugo in 1996. It's considered to be one of the major cornerstones of science fiction.

My advice: Unless you are a completionist, skip the first book, enjoy the second book, and maybe read the third, if you're up for it. Or, read Asimov's the Robot series, which feels more dated, but is an overall more pleasurable read. Click the link below to see my full review!