For all the science-fiction I've read, this was my first foray into Asimov's work. It's one of those books that everyone's mentioned, so I figured it was a safe place to start. 
 First thing to note: The timescale on this series is immense. This book alone covers 150 years of the Foundation Era. The result is that this is really much more about the Foundation and the politics than any of the individual characters within it, whose lives and actions pass quickly through the narrative. 
 The book plays heavily on the tension between established and innovative thought over the course of many cycles: between The Empire and Seldon's predictions of its imminent collapse; between reverence of old science and the need to pursue new discovery, and so on. Ironically, the Foundation puts all its faith in Hari Seldon's predictions (the contents of which are unknown), trusting roughly that 'all was foreseen, and therefore everything will be fine/according to plan.' That alone is an odd enough turn to make me curious about the rest of the series. Does no one think to question the Seldon plan? 
 While well written, it does threaten to become dull. For me, it escaped this fate by the use of Salvor Hardin, who is probably one of my favorite characters in recent years. "I find that violence is an uneconomical way of achieving an end," indeed. Hardin made me interested enough in the overall world to stick with it through the duller parts, but if you're looking for character-driven plot, you won't find it here. The scale is much greater, and the vision much longer. 
 Something that was mildly disorienting: ...This isn't a world without women, exactly. You see 'wives and children' referenced once, and later there's a throwaway line about 'duchesses,' but none of them are named or get spoken lines until nearly 75% of the way into the book. And this 'lucky' woman--the Commdora Licia--exists seemingly only to nag her husband and indulge in frippery. While not unusual in 1950s fiction, it is a bit odd to read about only half the local population at a time, the other half rendered roughly invisible.