Yeah, yeah, I loved the story. Daneel is Hummin and Demerzel (once I saw an art of Daneel with the title Olivaw/Demerzel and didn't think much about it until I started Prelude, now I definetly know nothing of Forward). But Hari and Dors... My man is living the dream. It should have been me, not him. IT'S NOT FAIR!

Apologies if this has been discussed before. I just finished F&E and I of course came to the conclusion that Fallom was the extragalactic life that Trevize was referencing. However, since Daneel watched Solaria grow and mature over the course of 20,000 years, what if Trevize was referring to himself as the "alien", and he had just realized it? Fallom catches on that's the reason She is staring at him.

Just a thought.

I read the original Foundation trilogy in the early eighties when I was a teenager and loved it. I've never forgotten the Mule, which is my namesake, and the concept of preparing for a downfall of society has always been an interesting for me. It drove a lot of my thinking as I wrote my own unpublished stories.

When my wife and I watched the Foundation TV series on Apple TV, I knew it was time to revisit the books. I knew it was dramatically different than the books but wanted to explore that universe again.

I listened to all seven books as audiobooks, wrapping up with the two prequels. I just finished Forward to Foundation. Perhaps it's because I listened to them as audiobooks while I walk, but I was often left frustrated about the story. I love the Foundation universe and the concepts behind it. I loved the anomaly of The Mule. The original trilogy sat with me pretty well but the two sequels and two prequels left me both interested and frustrated (sometimes angry) at the same time.

I think a lot of it has to do with character development, which overall seemed to be somewhat weak. With the original series, individual characters didn't seem to be around for a long time since there are different snapshots in time. The sequels and prequels spent much more time with individual characters, which really showed me what I think are some of the flaws in Asimov's writing. I ended up feeling like he would drive a character arc forward even at the sacrifice of a more realistic world around the character.

Two notable examples are Dors Venabili and Golan Trevize. Dors was a great character at first but as the prequels progressed, she became less and less interesting as her abilities eclipsed all reality at some point. For example, I felt like the security of the Imperial Palace was weaker than that of today's middle schools when she was just able to walk in ten years after Hari was first minister. Seriously? I feel like Asimov was saying that Dors would do anything to protect Hari, but it just got silly at some point. There was a lot beyond Dors that bothered me in that book as well like no pre-vetting of gardeners and the ability to just walk in with blasters. WTF.

I felt the same about Golan Trevize, who is one of the least likable protagonists that I've ever experienced. His "luck" and "intuition" became a joke to me after awhile. How he became the one person that could determine the future of the galaxy just caused me to cringe by the time I was done with Foundation and Earth. I liked Bliss and Janov though, so it's not always about the characters.

I really wanted to love this entire series because the original trilogy had such an impact on me when I was a teenager. I appreciate that Asimov expanded the series to include both the sequels and prequels but I felt there were just a substantial number of issues within the story. They didn't necessarily detract from the original trilogy but I just feel like they made the overall universe a bit weaker for me as a whole.

I don't know what I'm trying to say. I guess it's just that I was expecting something good or great and I didn't feel like it happened, which leaves me a little sad.

The question is ill posed. There is no clear distinction between good and bad.

It would be wonderful if it was!

At best, we may find some pros and cons and the choice will be really a matter or preference.

Gaia disturbs because it seems to limit personal freedom.

Is Gaia an extension of our senses?

Actually, we don't have only 5 senses.

We have many more than that.

Empathy is one.

We are educated to repress it, but it's there.

If I get it back, when I try to beat a child, I feel their fear and I stop.

Or maybe I don't.

But if I feel nothing, I'll go on beating.

Is it a limitation of my personal freedom this thing of having my empathy resurrected?

I'm having trouble finding Asimov material, like interviews or things he said, for example I was looking for what year "The Foundation" takes place in (with our calendar) and I only found it on one page, so I'm not sure.

I would just like to know if there is a text or something by Asimov that talks about his books, thank you all.

As the title says. Wow. I read up until Foundation's Edge, then read all the Robot books, and continued with F&E. I enjoyed the hell out of it, and the sense of what the fuck happened to Earth was a page turner for me (even tho, in Robots and Empire already explains it). And the end really freaked me out. My first thought was: is Fallom from another galaxy? Then I went straight up to the internet and for whay I've seen it is general knowledge that it's not the case, but the Solarians are the real threat. Still, sadly we'll never know for sure, for if one thing is obvious, this was just the beginning of the end, foreshadowing a conflict with Solaria and maybe the posibility of intergallactic species.

But hey, it was one hell of a ride. Now I'll read the prequels. Damn, Asimov, what a story you've created!

I want to buy a full collection of Robots, Empire, and Foundation series. I found in this site Robot and Foundation series but I haven't found any collections of Empire series

For me country doesn't matter because there's a big change I'll use proxy services to deliver the books

I just stumbled across this short story in Robot Dreams, and I must say that I am blown away. It may have become my favorite of his short stories.

Wikipedia

What do Asimov fans generally think of the Foundation the books written by Gregory Benfold, Greg Bear and David Brin?

I’ve found so many different reading orders just wondering what I should actually read and what books to find the stories in?

Hello,

Currently collecting Asimov books and going for the vintage sci-fi copies from Del Rey and Bantam Spectra from the 80's and 90's when possible. However, when looking at the title "Nightfall and Other Stories," I saw the 2021 version from Del Rey which has a really neat cover. So now I'm torn between the 1984 version of the book or the new release. My question is this - the new version says it contains a "collection of twenty short works of fiction." Can anyone confirm that both the 1984 and 2021 versions contain the same stories? Just wondering if there are any that were added in the new release almost 40 years later or if the collection is the same and simply a modern reprint.

Thanks for any help!

I've read the Foundation, Robot and Galatic Empire books, Nightfall, End of Eternity, Nemesis, Fantastic Vogayes, The Gods Themselves, and I Robot. Short Story collections - Complete Robot, Gold, and parts of Robot Dreams and Robot Visions.

What next? Are the Foundation books by other authors good?

I am in the middle of reading Nightfall, the novel. I had the question that when Dovim is eclipsed by Kalgash Two, where the other five stars would be and was not able to visualise the arrangement. Does any body have an idea about this?

Is only half the planet in the eclipse shadow at a time and how is the other half during it?
Thank you

Please help ID an Isaac Asimov short story I read as a teen in the mid 70’s.

It’s about the horrors of future warfare, where human foot soldiers share the battlefield with robots. I distinctly remember a soldier’s skull being zapped by an “eighty thread beam.”

That part stuck with me 16-year-old me. I want to read it again.

Hi, I finished the Foundation books and I know there are books by other authors that continue the story but I don't know which ones to read and which one to start with.

Are their books good?

I would like to read your comments.

55 years ago, on 16th October 1969, Isaac Asimov published his 100th book. To mark the occasion, he decided to publish a sampling of his previous 99 books. Hence Opus 100, Asimov’s 100th book.

His first published book had been Pebble in the Sky, back in 1950. In the subsequent 19 years, he’d achieved the milestone of publishing 100 books. And, as his career progressed, his writing domain expanded. While he started out writing science fiction, he branched out into science fact in 1957. This was followed by more books on science, some mystery fiction, and also books about history, language – even a pair of tomes about the Bible.

Opus 100 samples a few of these books, across all his genres:

• Astronomy

• Robots

• Mathematics

• Physics

• Chemistry

• Biology

• Words

• History

• The Bible

• Short-shorts

• Humour

It’s a sampler of everything Asimov wrote about, in all his styles.

As a side note: It took Asimov 19 years to publish his first 100 books. It took him only 10 years (half the time) to publish his second 100 books. His pace just kept increasing over his life.

I have seen many ways to start the works of Asimov and am unsure of what to pick. I am desiding between

1. I, Robot

2. Foundation

3. Prelude to Foundation

What are the insites of reddit?

(further reasoning applies only to the main universe of Robot - Foundation, to which I also include the End of Eternity [I know this is a controversial point in our community])

I see two dark zones in Isaac Asimov's work - themes that are science fiction clichés, but in Isaac's hands they are seen as creepy, exactly because of the rules his world is subject to.

They are “machine uprising” and “alien civilizations.” What do you think of these?

When these themes are touched on by other sci-fi authors they seem trivial, but when the hints (and they are always hints) of it are found at the end of “Robot Dreams” or “Sally”, it gives these themes back the creepiness they would have been in the real world.

Im really fascinated by the story about Dua, Odeen and Tritt. For 4 month now, i come back to it again and again. Something about it really strikes me as very intimate...

What are your thoughts?

Also, do you know any similar stories?

I just finished reading "Risk", in "The Rest of the Robots", and while I'm almost completely sure that no one at Hyper Base claims to have INVENTED hyperspace travel, no one hearkens back to how US Robots invented it. More importantly, I remember that Powell and Donovan, despite experiencing a LOT of visions back when they made the jump in "Escape!", which were attributed to The Brain's coping mechanism, instead of actual delusions (correct me if I'm wrong), returned safe and sound, without even a hint of insanity.

So...what happened? Why are mice and chimpanzees going insane, and why does Black fear losing his mind when even the first instance of a hyperspace jump was remarkably safe (in most respects)? The preface to the story says that it's obviously intended as a sequel to "Escape!", so I don't know if Asimov completely FORGOT that Powell and Donovan returned safely, or what...

Does anyone have ideas?

I just finished the first book of the Empire series, and it was a pretty thrilling book all throughout. I just have this one thing that I’m curious about, a little detail about events that unfolded towards the end of the book.

When Byron and his companions are captured by Erataph on the barren world, Jaunty threatens to disclose the location of the rebellion world. He eventually does so, but the star system which he reveals to the commissioner ends up being a dead. Jaunty was dead set in getting revenge against Byron for all that he has done by destroying any hopes of overthrowing the Tyranni, but it seems confusing that he does so in a way that would bring no obvious consequences to him or anyone else.

So my question is that is there a reason that Jaunty chose to not disclose the true location of the rebellion world in order to get his revenge on Byron?

I’ve seen a lot about reading order for Asimov and I’m a bit confused. I’ve read I, Robot, The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn. What should I read next?

There's a fun story in there about her giving him feedback on Bicentennial Man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO9oSyR-5UM

Okaaay... so some of us aren't going to like a Foundation game which includes some combat elements, because the stories set in these brutal times kept the action off-page. So if you don't want to know about this, feel free to move on to the next post.

It has been 83 years since the first Foundation story was published, and in that time there has never been a board game, or pen-and-paper RPG, or trading card game set in the Foundation universe. The first computer game set in the Foundation universe came out only a few months ago, Journey to Foundation, which most people can't play thanks to requiring a VR setup. It was based purely on the books.

So Foundation: Galactic Frontier is only the second computer game, and the first one which is likely to be widely available to a large audience. It is set during probably the best era for a computer game- the Trader era of Hober Mallow and General Bel Riose. Yup, both those figures are living at the same time in this particular telling. The Foundation is already (just) a major power. The Empire is still (just) a major power. And there are lots of tiny kingdoms in-between, with the player character soon ending up in Korell Province.

Little concepts from other stories are in the background, too. Player champion Klara is strongly implied to be a Robot. Your ward Gray appears to be a mentalic, but it is possible she may be revealed to be a Solarian.

Quite early on you get hold of a Prime Radiant, and encounter a Hari Seldon who resembles Jared Harris. However, he makes reference to some events which only happened in the books (and couldn't have happened in the universe of the TV series), so it is clear the makers of this game have the rights to both sets of stories.

The player character is a Trader, briefly working for Bel Riose, but quickly parting ways and working in the shattered kingdoms between the Foundation and the Empire. Many of the "dialogue missions" make reference to the fact the Empire pulled out less than a century previously, leaving people with unusable technology and much more limited resources.

There is also (many will be shocked to discover) combat in this game. The character vs character combat is particularly well-implemented, requiring skill by the player to avoid being swamped and to keep your characters healed. The space combat doesn't feel ready yet- there are very few real choices and you just watch the ships shoot at each other. I imagine by the proper launch they will have sorted this out.

You eventually build up to three fleets, exploring Korell province and doing up your main flagship. This has base-building elements to it. You can also set your fleets on automated trading missions- this is good for when you will be offline for a bit, the trading mission will have completed when you return. Part of the game is also discovering all the menus and submenus to give you bonus resources.

There are no in-game ads for other games or anything else, a common scourge of mobile games. But you can, of course, buy packs of in-game goodies. As of yet, I've not actually spent any money and am still enjoying the game.

.

Now, not everyone here is going to like this- in order to make it work as a game certain liberties had to be taken. But for those who might be interested, I thought I'd bring it to your attention.