This may be a classic and I may be a science fiction fan, but read Asimov's "The Gods Themselves" instead of this. His later work is definitely better. "Foundation and Empire" is like its predecessor ("Foundation") in that you get several stories told in different periods throughout Foundation history. Everything Asimov has come up with in these books is fundamentally good sci-fi story stuff, but the lack of character development makes you think while you're reading, "Why am I reading this?" I'll read the last in the trilogy ("Second Foundation"), but that's as far as I'm going to go with these.

For great sci-fi, read "Hyperion," "Fall of Hyperion," "Ender's Game," "Childhood's End", "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep."

For good sci-fi, read "More Than Human," "The Gods Themselves," "Slan," "The Demolished Man," "The Stars My Destination."

TOO MUCH TO LIST, MY FRIENDS!!!

Good luck and good reading.