First Time Reading Foundation—Book Review: Asimov's Foundation

In preparation for the upcoming Apple TV+ adaptation releasing this coming week, I finally got around to reading Isaac Asimov's science fiction classic, Foundation. It's been on my reading list for years now and is still acclaimed almost 70 years after it was written. The story spans the galaxy and generations of time, making it famously difficult to adapt. Some have even said it is impossible to adapt. But it looks like it's really happening—and the visual effects and cinematography look absolutely incredible.

I really enjoyed this book and was surprised that it still felt fresh, relevant, and visionary more than half a century it was published. The story is structured unconventionally, focusing more on sociological issues than individual characters and their development. But it definitely deserves its status as a literary classic and is a must-read for any sci-fi fans.

I plan on returning to review the show and talk about how it was adapted to the screen. The first two episodes of Foundation come out on Apple TV+ on September 24th, 2021. Finger's crossed David Goyer can pull off another win here.

#Foundation #IsaacAsimov #BookReview #Booktube #SmallBooktuber #SFF #thewritersblock #fortheloveofbooks #ScienceFiction #Asimov #AppleTV+ #Apple

[davidcollier]

Something I really loved about the books was how the Seldon plan wasn't some magic, infallible prophecy but rather an exercise in statistics. Asimov did an amazing job of striking the right ballance between accurate predictions and fallibility. It made very accurate predictions for the first few hundred years but eventually, even the best made predictions are vulnerable to black swan events like the Mule. I don't think I've ever seen an author handle century long plans quite so believably.

[sourdoughhome]

Nice review. I think that the relative unimportance of the characters in the book (except for Hari Seldon, who is metaphysically present) is an echo of Psychohistory. The individual isn't important, it's the grand sweep of history that matters. You can understand the flows of a stream by watching the leaves caught in the currents, but they don't really change the currents. Of course, there are always exceptions, as The Mule shows. I wonder how the tv show will handle that, but I probably won't see it as the first 5 episodes have left me cold.

[megandarraghbooks]

It's amazing how many books Asimov wrote. I'll be happy if I write a hundred books, nearly finished my fourth. So far, I've much preferred Asimov's short stories, so I'd probably like the Foundation books. I'll get round to reading them at some point.

[susantownsend]

I’ve reread the trilogy and later the rest of the series off and on ever since first discovering sci-fi when I was around 10, 60 years ago. I still enjoy it. It cracks me up when people complain that the Golden Age books have too many cliches. Dude, who do they think everyone else was emulating!

(My favorite character is the Mule.)

[jaya]

The character development gets better as the books go on from about book #3 onwards. There are a lot of time gaps in the first two books.

[alexnieves]

This is a great review, very well done.

[embattledearl]

I agree that the characters are not very interesting and detailed in the Foundation series. However, that is the point of the idea of psychohistory. The characters might understand the "Seldon crisis" they face, yet the solution of the crises does not depend on the individual. I think that the Apple TV show's biggest flaw is to place more emphasis on the individual. I understand that it serves the marketability to the audience but it departs from the core meaning of the book series. The series is very brainy and some may find it almost dry. Some have claimed that it has not aged well. Perhaps they are right. However, I think that this conclusion is premature. I read these books first at the age of 14 and I found them very entertaining. Asimov was so prolific in part because he was a formulaic author (like most bestseller writers). His style and storytelling may warrant an overall 4-star rating, but some of his ideas were visionary and he was indeed a genius.

[jessicadoneganreads]

Great review. Dunno if I'm interesting in picking up Foundation myself since I usually prefer character driven narratives, but it's always nice to get a new review on a classic.

Also I didn't know they're about to make a tv show based on it, and I'll be curious to see this new addition to scifi onscreen--especially how they deal with the sitting around and talking.

[stevenhughes]

Gonna be a sub from me! Way underrated

[relentlessmadman]

DOnot expect the Apple Adaptation to follow the script, Asimav wrote!!! Isaasac him self accknowadge that his books were not really good to adapt in to the books are more cerbral, and lack action(the violence that movie goers lust after) !

[xxsurajbxx]

Somebody give me a clear explanation as to why this channel has only 100ish subs. This is the first video ive seen and it has great prod quality, a good script and great editing. I personally agree with most of what was said but thats subjective

[davidcherrington]

You need to make yourself more aware of the influence John W. Campbell had in shaping Science Fiction. For example, Asimov was mentored by Campbell editor of Astounding Science Fiction while writing the Foundation Series.

[EnglishwithTerry]

Cool video dude, I just finished the first book of the foundation series

[jameswebb]

Although i understand why this book is considered a classic, it didn't manage to hook me or make me feel engaged at all.
I know that the book is deliberately non character driven but i got to the point that i kept reading just to finish it.

[LuisMuniz]

Looking at this book review after a lot of the adaptation is out the door, it feels sad that you were right that they were going to have to modify the story substantially to fit it into the current TV show canons. If this were the only thing they did, I would kind of accept it, but they are completely altering the core of the novel.

SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW AND BOOKS AHEAD:

Salvor Hardin is an "outlier", with psychic powers, so is Gaal Dornick. This difference, besides betraying a sense of accpetance that every Scifi show needs to be a super heroes show, corrodes the core of the first part of foundation, which posits that individuals are not important. I loved this trip that Asimov takes us on, making us buy into psychohistory for acouple of books, to then reel us back in, making us admit that this was a naïve approach, and introducing thr second foundation, do nudge the process back into its rails from time to time, to handle outliers.

I honestly don't know how this can still be called foundation, because, as you say, it is not about the characters, but about psychohistory itself, and the fall of an empire, and the way they have modified the narrative just collapsxes this whole structure. I feel so sad.

[relentlessmadman]

Asimov's short stories are expose' of human socitity's short commings of human nature and magical thinking!

[wd]

Maybe someday a production studio will learn how to present a TV show that has an anthology format.

Catering to the traditional audience expectations of following one set/cast of characters from beginning to end is getting tiresome.

Modern audiences can accept more than a traditional format. Time jumps, and changing of characters is not unusual anymore. Time to start, depicting it on television or cinema.

[ColonelFredPuntridge]

The Asimov book I find most pertinent today is _The Gods Themselves._

[cristobalmarinmolina]

Good night. Hari Seldon, The Mule, Arkady Darrell, R. Daneel Olivaw (or before Foundation, Susan Calvin or Elijah Baley) are not memorable characters? Nevertheless, the main intention of Asimov was write about all History of the Universe, from the beggining to the end. In my humble opinion, only Dune Saga by Frank Herbert is comparable to this. The main character is the time of Universe itself. People are a minimum part of this... but that does not mean Asimov created extraordinary characters. In Science Fiction history, Hari Seldon is and will be better than characters of Sagas like Star Wars. Best regards and good luck.

[Nonameyu]

I just read the first book and I have no problem believing Asimov wrote 100+ books. Most of the book is two random characters talking and smoking and I got kind of annoyed when I noticed there weren't enough pages left to get any fulfilling story. The encyclopedia Galactica was cool though.