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Foundation series by Isaac Asimov

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TWT
Post subject: Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
Posted: Wed 08 Aug , 2007 4:47 am
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I'm close to finishing the first in the series: Foundation.

So far I am impressed, very impressed. This is the first Asimov book I've read since I read I, Robot many years ago.

The detail and the ingenuity and astounding. This man can think with his tongue!

Anyone else read Foundation?


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Posted: Wed 08 Aug , 2007 9:41 am
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Yeah, I read the first three I think. Well, thats all there was when I read it. More came out later.

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Berhael
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Posted: Wed 08 Aug , 2007 11:31 am
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Funnily enough I've just re-read the whole series (up to Foundation and Earth) - they're my favourite SF series together with Dune. :)

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Posted: Wed 08 Aug , 2007 12:53 pm
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I loved the movie Dune and have always meant to read the series. I expect to read Dune afer Foundation and Wheeeeeel of Time (which praise Uru is finally finishing).

What surprised me the most is how amazingly easy it is to read Foundation. There's no excesive descriptions and there it a lot of dialogue.


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Berhael
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Posted: Wed 08 Aug , 2007 1:48 pm
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Yes, Asimov builds most of his stories on character dialogue. :)

Did you know that most of the plot developments in Foundation (at least the first three books) are inspired by the history of the Roman Empire?

I need to get hold of Forward the Foundation and the other one.

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eborr
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Posted: Wed 08 Aug , 2007 2:32 pm
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I read foundation series a zillion years ago, (the three originals) they appealed to my then adolescent mind, I read the other couple subsequently, they appealed less to my still adolescent mind


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Dave_LF
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Posted: Wed 08 Aug , 2007 4:54 pm
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I read the first one a long time ago, and all I remember is being confused by frequent character and setting changes (as in a century or two would go by between chapters).


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BrianIsSmilingAtYou
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Posted: Fri 21 Sep , 2007 5:50 am
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Love Foundation.

The first three books are great, and they just get better as you get deeper in.

The later books do not have the same charm as the first three, but they still have some solid plotting and ideas.

As Berhael noted, many of the ideas came from Asimov's reading of Gibson's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", and some ideas about history from Toynbee (if I remember correctly) and others.

Asimov was an accomplished popular historian, incidentally, and wrote a number of acclaimed history books.

I remember reading several of them many years ago.

e.g.

The Roman Republic
The Dark Ages
The Greeks: A Great Adventure
Constantinople: The Forgotten Empire

as well as many others.

He used his knowledge of history to inform his work as a fiction writer, but he was also knowledgeable on the subject for its own sake.

There are plot elements in Book II of Foundation (if I remember correctly) that come almost directly from the account of the reign of Justinian I and his great general Belisarius and the Eunuch Narses, that Asimov recounts in the Constantinople book.

(Belisarius appears as Bel Riose in Foundation. The other connections can be put together after you know the tale, which I will not give away.)

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Posted: Fri 21 Sep , 2007 10:17 am
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Must dig these out and read again...

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Cenedril_Gildinaur
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Posted: Fri 21 Sep , 2007 4:13 pm
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Loved it.

Advice - only read the first three foundation books. Don't read books four and five, and don't read the two pre-quels.

It's not because they are bad - they are very good.

The reason is you want to read the Robot trilogy and the Stars Like Dust trilogy before you read the four additional Foundation books and the additional Robot books.

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BrianIsSmilingAtYou
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Posted: Sat 22 Sep , 2007 3:51 am
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Cenedril_Gildinaur wrote:
Loved it.

Advice - only read the first three foundation books. Don't read books four and five, and don't read the two pre-quels.

It's not because they are bad - they are very good.

The reason is you want to read the Robot trilogy and the Stars Like Dust trilogy before you read the four additional Foundation books and the additional Robot books.
"The End of Eternity" is also referenced somewhat obliquely, and certain events in "Nemesis" can be seen as prefiguring things in Foundations Edge (Book IV). Neither "Nemesis" or "The End of Eternity" are critical to the chronology, but while Eternity is a strong work, (some see it as one of Asimov's best in terms of plot), Nemesis is a weaker work.

In addition, the continuation of the Robot Series with "Robots and Empire" is a great tying up of plot threads from the Robot novels and the Galactic Empire novels, particularly "Pebble in the Sky".

"Robots and Empire" should certainly be read before the Foundation prequels, and before "Foundation and Earth", which completes the circle from Robot Novels-->"Pebble in the Sky" (etc)-->"Robots and Empire"-->"Foundation and Earth". You shouldn't have to wait to read "Foundation's Edge" before "Robots and Empire", however.

"Pebble in the Sky" was written before "Robots and Empire", but it follows it in the internal chronology.

It is still preferable to read Pebble earlier, since "Robots and Empire" does a brilliant twist on the events in that book, that is better if read in the order that they were originally written.

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Posted: Sat 22 Sep , 2007 9:26 am
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Erm. Could you provide a suggested reading order? I'm having trouble deciphering it from that last post.

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BrianIsSmilingAtYou
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Posted: Mon 24 Sep , 2007 5:33 am
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You can leave out "End of Eternity" and "Nemesis" altogether, if you are concerned about a chronology involving Foundation/Galactic Empire/Robots.

I think there is one brief reference in "Foundation's Edge" that refers obliquely to the book "The End of Eternity". Asimov allegedly stated that he intended to make a more explicit connection but never did.

"Nemesis" is not important, and the events in "Nemesis" occur very much prior to the chronology of all the other books (hyper drive did not yet exist, humanity was still confined largely to the Solar System, interstellar travel is only on the verge of being birthed, etc). Nevertheless, there are some minor connections to "Foundation's Edge" that are not worth worrying over.

Both books may be worth reading on their own at some point, particularly "The End of Eternity"

"Robots and Empire", however, is very important to the overall chronology as Asimov reimagined things in his later years.

Therefore:

Read the original 3 Foundation Books.

Read the Robot Novels.

The Caves of Steel
The Naked Sun
Robots of Dawn

Read the Galactic Empire Novels:

The Stars Like Dust
The Currents of Space
Pebble in the Sky (most important for the later connections)

Foundation's Edge

Robots and Empire

Foundation and Earth

The Prequels:

Prelude to Foundation
Forward the Foundation

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Posted: Mon 24 Sep , 2007 10:21 am
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Ooh. Thanks muchly.

Now I just need an extra 5 hours in every day...

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