It’s been a helluva long time since I read Foundation, or tried to. I vaguely recall it being a bit… unfocussed. Or didactic. Or something.
Anyway, I don’t have fond memories of the first book, but I do recognise it earned its chops as a cultural touchstone.
So I’m totally amped for this adaptation from Apple. It looks gorgeous, of course, as you’d expect from a company with all the money in the world. But it also strikes me that the formless blobbiness of Asimov’s sprawling and epic mess (and I mean that as a complement, sort of) is an almost perfect source material if you’re looking to make the next Game of Thrones.
This thing is vast.
Hundreds of characters, thousands of years. The highest of stakes.
I'll fess up - I've got about 400 Asimov titles. Obviously love Foundation, and fascinated to see how they manage to bring it to the screen, given how much dialogue vs action there is. And whether they go into the prequel novels at any stage. Torn between re-reading again, or just waiting to watch and not being annoyed by discrepancies!
I think you're right. Happy that someone is having a crack at it anyway. As long as it has a closer resemblance to anything Asimov wrote than "I, Robot" did!
Yeah I am with you Tony. I have every Azimov book I could get my hands on. Some of the only "physical media" I still have. Read foundation series a number of time. Just love the concept of psychohistory.
I saw the trailer today and was THERE right up until the 2021 release date, and then I was sad. But at least we have something to look forward to next year 😊
A truly worthwhile investment that i’m probably going to have to make as well, even though I already have 4 streaming services (I cracked and got Disney+ for Hamilton the other day) 😭
I think this is a great choice to use the books as an inspired by, rather than a faithful adaptation, plenty of stuff in there to deploy without slavishly following every character and subplot. I remember enjoying reading it immensely as a teen but haven't gone back to reread because like much of the golden age science fiction most of the themes it tackles have been visited by later authors in a way that resonates better with a reader in a contemporary age.
Yeah. It was my first taste of scifi and adult reading; I loved the concept of a vast collapsed empire. It's been well over three decades since I read them, I wonder what I'd think if I returned to them now. I never forgot the name of one spin-off title in the series; "The Stars Like Dust." Wow, if only I could name one of my books in such a fashion that it sticks with a reader for decades.
I'll fess up - I've got about 400 Asimov titles. Obviously love Foundation, and fascinated to see how they manage to bring it to the screen, given how much dialogue vs action there is. And whether they go into the prequel novels at any stage. Torn between re-reading again, or just waiting to watch and not being annoyed by discrepancies!
I reckon you should let the TV show be its own thing. But then revisit the books.
I think you're right. Happy that someone is having a crack at it anyway. As long as it has a closer resemblance to anything Asimov wrote than "I, Robot" did!
Yeah I am with you Tony. I have every Azimov book I could get my hands on. Some of the only "physical media" I still have. Read foundation series a number of time. Just love the concept of psychohistory.
I re-read it a few weeks ago after many years. I used to like the first book the best, now I like the last two. Four decades does that.
I saw the trailer today and was THERE right up until the 2021 release date, and then I was sad. But at least we have something to look forward to next year 😊
Yeah, I totally broke down and got an Apple TV+ account for this. And Greyhound, not to forget.
A truly worthwhile investment that i’m probably going to have to make as well, even though I already have 4 streaming services (I cracked and got Disney+ for Hamilton the other day) 😭
Not as much as I am looking forward to WW3.1
M Queensberry rules?....Oh I am soo liking this
looks like David Goyer's tattoos have improved. Be cool if there is a Blade reference tucked in there somewhere.
I think this is a great choice to use the books as an inspired by, rather than a faithful adaptation, plenty of stuff in there to deploy without slavishly following every character and subplot. I remember enjoying reading it immensely as a teen but haven't gone back to reread because like much of the golden age science fiction most of the themes it tackles have been visited by later authors in a way that resonates better with a reader in a contemporary age.
Yeah, I suspect the original stories will be more of a series bible than a narrative blueprint.
I read the Foundation series as a kid, with yellowing paperbacks found in a bag at a yard sale.
How do you recall it? Fondly?
Yeah. It was my first taste of scifi and adult reading; I loved the concept of a vast collapsed empire. It's been well over three decades since I read them, I wonder what I'd think if I returned to them now. I never forgot the name of one spin-off title in the series; "The Stars Like Dust." Wow, if only I could name one of my books in such a fashion that it sticks with a reader for decades.
Me too - jewel in the skull was my first taste of this genre. Many an hour spent int the 16 yr old sulkitorium glued to azimov.