Asimov's Foundation Series
- Thread starter Constantinople
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How about Bayta? Arkady?
But the problem is lack of women where logically relevant.
Like the first family of Foundation... consisting only of men.
Namely the Anacreon royal family.
Can you spot who are missing?
Foundation's nice, but as a story set in space it kind of falls apart in having the other planets be described at all or in having any differences from Earth (in the original series, there is apparently no alien life, not even unintelligent, worth mentioning in the entire galaxy!) Of course, Blind Alley does give somewhat of a different perspective on that issue...
I've read Pebble in the Sky, Prelude to Foundation, and Forward the Foundatin. I am currently reading Foundation. The series is very good.
I do agree that its VERY odd that there is no unintelligent human life of not. However, within the parameters of the novel, it kind of makes sense considering how long humanity has had dominion over the universe, that there are is (remaining) intelligent alien life.
Constantinople
Banned
Personally, I like the (general) lack of aliens in Foundation. It's very usual in science fiction, especially on such a scale.
Anyone hear about the (apparently likely to be made) "Foundation" HBO show, with Jonah Nolan attached?
http://www.thewrap.com/interstellar...ing-foundation-series-for-hbo-wbtv-exclusive/
I hope it happens, honestly. Best company, format and person to direct it, probably.
Anyone hear about the (apparently likely to be made) "Foundation" HBO show, with Jonah Nolan attached?
http://www.thewrap.com/interstellar...ing-foundation-series-for-hbo-wbtv-exclusive/
I hope it happens, honestly. Best company, format and person to direct it, probably.
I remember reading and enjoying a couple of the Foundation books when I was in high school, but embarrassingly enough can't remember much about them today. This was about the same time that I was reading Tolkien and Arthur Clarke, though I hadn't started reading the Dune novels yet. It helped that I had a good friend who enjoyed the same stuff and liked to talk about it. Good times, good stuff. 
There was ONE intelligent alien species in the Foundation universe. They were mentioned in one story as they were discovered in (I think) the later First Empire period. Asimov wrote one story about them and never mentioned them again. I seem to remember they were being stifled by the Empires help and fled.
I cannot remember the name of the story but I think it was in his OPUS collection, sadly I have lost my copy.
I cannot remember the name of the story but I think it was in his OPUS collection, sadly I have lost my copy.
Ah, yes; the Foundation series. Asimov is by far my favourite scifi author, and the books of the Foundation series are the best scifi novels I have ever read. Nice to know that there are other fans, I actually sometimes get the feeling as if we're getting rarer and rarer.
Incidentally, I have a bunch of Asimov's books just a metre away from me in the shelf right now.
Incidentally, I have a bunch of Asimov's books just a metre away from me in the shelf right now.
Puzzle
Donor
I liked the original trilogy but after reading Foundation's Edge the whole Galaxia hivemind thing irritated me. It was cool how the Foundations were created and run until out of nowhere a sentient planet set up by super robots comes along and esentially ended humanity as it was known. The thought that one man got to put everyone who would ever live into a group without their knowledge seemed off.
Regarding the aliens I thought that massive robotic warfleets swarmed through the galaxy and exterminated all nonhuman life to follow the laws of robotics and prevent human harm.
Regarding the aliens I thought that massive robotic warfleets swarmed through the galaxy and exterminated all nonhuman life to follow the laws of robotics and prevent human harm.
IRC there is a short story of Asimov that can be considered part of the foundation series; here an humanity that's come very lately in the building of faster than light engine is basically limited to the solar system, but humans had a big tech advantage...time travel tech.
Basically one group alter the timeline so will be the most favorable to humanity...aka wiping out all the other species before they existed.
I've read every entry in the series, but Foundation and Empire: The General remains my entry in the series. I didn't really care about The Mule, but I loved Bel Riose.
It also is the first story to reveal the size of Empire in terms of the number of planets.
End of Eternity is actually a novel. If taken as Foundation canon (with the obvious proviso that very little of it is set in the Foundation timeline), then the indication is that humanity is quite simple the first sapient species to arise in the Galaxy - there is quite explicitly no action taken specifically to exterminate other species before they exist, because the only change done by the faction that is aware of the aliens is on Earth. There would be an indirect effect, of course, since one of the points is that humanity could have been in the position of the alien coloniser of all worlds in the region instead of the other way around if it hadn't wasted century after century in time-travel induced stasis and stagnation.
My understanding is that this was stated in one of the non-Asimov written stories.
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Regarding aliens... Late in the series it's suggested that, while there are no aliens in the Galaxy, there are other galaxies... and that the Galaxy is just a geographical point, that could be reached...
As a young reader, I really enjoy the Foundation series. Though... I prefer the later ones (Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation, Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth) to the original trilogy, since they were written in the 80s and 90s and so don't feel as dated as the originals - computers rather than slide rules for hyperspace jumps, more prominent strong female characters (Dors Venabili, Bliss, Mayor Branno of Terminus). Which isn't to say I don't like the originals, just that they feel more of their time. Also, I like the later ones since they explicitly connect the Robot series with the Foundation series.
As a young reader, I really enjoy the Foundation series. Though... I prefer the later ones (Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation, Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth) to the original trilogy, since they were written in the 80s and 90s and so don't feel as dated as the originals - computers rather than slide rules for hyperspace jumps, more prominent strong female characters (Dors Venabili, Bliss, Mayor Branno of Terminus). Which isn't to say I don't like the originals, just that they feel more of their time. Also, I like the later ones since they explicitly connect the Robot series with the Foundation series.