Asimov's "Foundation" coming to TV

[yovargas]

It seems like there are a zillion of these books so the chronology is probably a bit complicated. Glad to hear about the trilogy because that's probably all I'll read unless I'm just dying for more by the end.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I think that is wise. There are a total of seven that Asimov wrote (there are apparently others written by other writers, but I ignore that). Two of them are prequels and two are sequels, and they have quite a different feel to them then the original trilogy, which were written decades earlier.

(I'm sure I've said this before, but the water in your signature gif is mesmerizing.)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Did you continue reading, yov, at least to the end of the original trilogy? Did you continue to enjoy it?

[yovargas]

I have kept reading, but rather slowly as I started to lose interest during the second book. I'm a good way through the third and I think it's just.... okay. When the book took a turn away from it's story of the Foundation shaping the future and became about a superpowered mutant with psychic abilities, it mostly lost me. I kinda get why he did it but suddenly having an X-Men supervillain in my hard sci-fi novel didn't work for me, especially because I just didn't find him very interesting as a character.

[Frelga]

Huh. That was my favorite part of the story, except for some parts in the beginning. To the extent that I had a favorite part.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I can understand that, yov. I don't love the Mule as a character myself.

[yovargas]

Thing is, I don't think most people would disagree that Asimov isn't great with characters. The appeal of is the big cool sci-fi ideas more than anything else.

[Frelga]

This thread got me thinking about SF writers of the same vintage whom I like more than Asimov, and now I need to reread Shekley and see if I still like him as much.

[yovargas]

Just finished the trilogy. Can't say I thought it was any good in the end. The final book's weird premise that the first Foundation would fear and fight against the second foundation never made any sense to me considering they should be on the same side. I felt like I missed some explanation for that whole story which made it pretty hard to care about who won or lost. Also, boy, Asimov is such a clunky writer at times. It often feels like he doesn't know any way to move a story forward besides having some characters do a big "now it's time to explain what the story is" exposition dump. Pretty disappointing in the end.

[Túrin Turambar]

While I love the I, Robot stories I had the same reaction to Foundation. It started with an interesting premise, but I found myself losing interest as the first book went on.

[yovargas]

While I didn't ultimately think much of the books, the trailer sure looks fancy!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm sad that you didn't enjoy the books, yov. Ultimately, I think our tastes are very different, as much that you like doesn't appeal to me either.

From watching that trailer, it appears to me that either they are taking tremendous liberties, or they are adapting the later books more than the original trilogy. Or both.

[Frelga]

Did we ever establish how yov feels about Pratchett?

Foundation as books had some cool moments but as an adaptation it could do with major revamping. The trailer looks cool, at least.

This brings a question of how far it is acceptable to update a venerated author for a new generation, and is it preferable to tossing them out entirely. (Not that I think Asimov needs to be tossed but some of his shortcomings are the stuff up with which I will no longer put.

Eta: I wondered who the very pretty actor was in the trailer and then realized it was Lee Pace.

[Alatar]

Looks great to me!

[N.E. Brigand]

The original trilogy remains among my favorite works of fiction, for all that it is inescapably a work of mid-century America. I often reread chapters like "One Man, the Mule--and Another." The much later prequels and sequels, which tie the Foundation universe to that of Asimov's Caves of Steel novels, feel more routine.

The trailer for the television series suggests it is likely to disappoint me, although the casting choices are interesting. Making Gaal Dornick a female character is an easy way to start to address Bechdel concerns (though obviously we need to see who else she interacts with), and while it might have been more interesting still to also change Hari Seldon to, say, Keri Seldon, you can't do much better than Jared Harris.

Based on the description at Wikipedia, it appears the adaptation is stripping out the Byzantine references that could make for some fruitful comparisons to The Lord of the Rings.

[Alatar]

Well, the first two episodes dropped over the weekend and it looks stunning. Pacing feels just right and the changes are for the most part improvements. The concept of the cloned triumvirate of Emperors is brilliant. Nothing speaks more of decadence and decay than cloning yourself so you can rule forever.

I'm very optimistic. But this is very much an adaptation, not for purists.

[Impenitent]

Which streaming service, Alatar?

[Alatar]

Apple TV+ Impy, but its only releasing 2 eps a week so if you want to get a free trial and Binge, you'll need to wait till its all aired.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Sounds like it is just as well that I don't have access to Apple TV. That doesn't sound at all like the Foundation that I know and love.

[Alatar]

What happened to that transcendentalist we use to know