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Excited. Not sure how many Asimov fans are here but this is something I've been waiting for. Hope they do it right.

Foundation the Series

I've read a bunch of Asimov non-fiction but never any of his fiction. I'd like to give this series a shot just because the trailer looks amazing and we're talking about one of the most prolific writers of all time. My fingers are crossed that they did a good job with this. From the few reviews I've read the new Dune movie doesn't quite get it right. And I was so looking forward to Dune. I guess I have to renew my Apple TV+ account. We had a subscription and loved Servant.

I just renewed my AppleTV+ subscription.

Won't be watching any time soon, but I loved the trilogy. Early review indicated odd efforts to juice up a relatively impersonal story with personal action (i.e. violence and betrayal). Somehow Game-of-Thrones-ifying "Foundation" sounds to me like the sort of popular entertainment I am usually sorry if I don't avoid.

It's called modernizing. And it had to be done because Asimov, while wonderful with ideas and exploration of themes...had a little too much 1940s cigar chomping, obnoxiously arrogant abd quippy males throughout the book. I am re-reading it now and I gotta say it's a bit different now than when I was younger. Seriously... A 12000 year old empire and Asimov really couldn't foresee the fact that cigars and tobacco would be antiquated?

His symbolism and characterization is cringe inducing today. That said, the man was a genius and in my top few writers ever.

They did a good job with the show so far...and I do not get much Game of Thrones (tho coincidentally I JUST read a review that mentioned that.) There was no way to avoid reimagining the story... But they held on to the key IDEAS well so far.

Glad to hear it hasn't been butchered, but you can sacrifice male dominance and cigars without losing the essential brilliance of the story. Maybe there was no choice about modernizing, but I have to think this is because the typical American only cares for relatable suspense and action, and would be put off by the thoughtful story arc in Asimov.

The original series was built around the idea that insightful analysts could see where historical forces were directing things, and could use first science and then "psychology" to re-direct them. A little clumsy, though an interesting take on the "inevitability" of WWII (Keynes more or less predicted it as a result of Versailles, more than a decade before the horror came to pass), but let's face it the story does not advance through the sort of human-scale action that audiences are used to. In fact (spoiler alert) until the Mule shows up individuals are of little consequence, and that is precisely the point the story is meant to rub our faces in.

I honestly do not see an action glut to begin the series... At least not as a prime driver. This interviewer kinda hits the point that it is heavy and not common fare. Perhaps that's why she gave it 3 stars. (but fuck reviewers anyway.)

"But like many so many heavyweight adaptations, Foundation is definitely not light on its feet. It takes itself very seriously indeed and evidently feels that it has Much To Say at all times. Which it undoubtedly does: about the corrupting nature of power, the inevitability of imperial decay (a favourite subject of Asimov after he read Gibbons’ History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire), and humanity’s unwillingness to face unpalatable truths even in order to mitigate them."

Lucy Mangan - The Guardian.

The story is again not a strict adaptation and couldn't be. It would get panned and not make it past an episode. But the ideas that Asimov presented in his simple way (grand in itself for those that can read deeper than the surface) are there and are so far presented well.

I read the Foundation series a long, long time ago, and it left a positive impression, though to this day I remember very little of it. I can still recall the character Hari Seldon, who predicts future events based on numbers. I may tune in to the TV series some day, but I think I would re-read Asimov's books first.

I am doing that as well. But now there are 5 or 6 I think. Asimov added to the originals in the 80s. To be honest, I never read the newer ones aside from Foundations Edge. I just finished rereading the first book. I will start the next shortly. I am debating adding in the later volumes. Fortunately there is no rush as the series will not be a mirror.

Asimov is a huge influence on me from not only a scifi perspective, but also for his non fiction and mostly because of his work to bring science understanding to the masses. I love his snark too.