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

Get your copy of the Foundation trilogy by using my Amazon affiliate link at no added cost to you and help support the channel here: amzn.to/3tUkkGG
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

[@davidcollier2500]

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.

[@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.

[@the_writers_block]

Yeah you should check it out. I'm hope to read the Robots series soon. The man wrote more than many people read in a lifetime

[@megandarraghbooks]

@@the_writers_block You should, the short stories are great.

[@susantownsend8397]

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.)

[@sourdoughhome2571]

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.

[@the_writers_block]

Oh I like that! That may be partly why it’s so hard to adapt to the screen. But maybe someday, some great mind will crack to code for a successful adaptation.

[@wd2989]

It just takes the movie studio. That’s willing to recognize that there’s an audience for the sweeping story and that the audience isn’t necessarily caught up in character development. People want more modern audiences can understand epic sweeps of time. We don’t have to be given the same traditional format of a movie over and over and over again.

[@garyleibitzke4166]

I started watching the Apple TV show and it made me want to 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@alexnieves]

This is a great review, very well done.

[@the_writers_block]

Thank you! Hope to more of this format in the future

[@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.

[@the_writers_block]

Thanks so much! Yes, I'm more of a character reader too, so I completely sympathize. But it looks like the show will be more character driven. I did recently watch a cool video on the channel, Just Write, that talked about how Foundation is more sociological focused than character focused and I wish I had seen it before I made this review because he brought up some great points I had not considered. Oh well. Next time.

[@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 movies..... the books are more cerbral, and lack action(the violence that movie goers lust after) !

[@jaya5264]

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.

[@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

[@the_writers_block]

Thank you for your kind words. You made my day. It’s my own fault my channel is so small. I haven’t been consistent in my uploading. I think I started strong but then 3 things occurred that prevented me from being able to produce new videos for the past few months: 1. I injured my arm and it makes editing on the computer painful. 2. My full time job became extremely busy and requires me to work on the computer, which exacerbates my injury so I try to rest from computer work as much as possible. 3. My wife had a baby in June! So recovering from injury, balancing time, and adjusting to a new schedule and responsibilities. But I plan to come back this fall!

[@xxsurajbxx]

@@the_writers_block congrats on the baby! I hope you do end up getting some time to make videos; if they are anything like this one, you could make it your full time job.

[@EnglishwithTerry]

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

[@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 movies..... the books are more cerbral, and lack action(the violence that movie goers lust after) !

[@winniethepooh3138]

Yeah. After watching the series I must say it’s good, but it would be better as it’s own series. Not one based off of Foundation.

[@embattledearl2734]

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.

[@readingdunepodcast8024]

this needs more views.well done

[@david124cherrington5]

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.

[@Judethatch]

Gonna be a sub from me! Way underrated

[@jameswebb3410]

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.

[@the_writers_block]

Whole heartedly agree. Still waiting for that faithful adaptation. Might be a couple decades. Haven't seen past episode 5 when I gave up on the show. Was there Nayak bird hunting on speeders with needle guns?

[@LuisMuniz]

​@@the_writers_block Not yet, but the showrunners are threatening 8 seasons of this, so there's that. We might get a version of it.

[@wd2989]

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.

[@Noname304y2u2]

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.

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

Asimov's cleverest writing (IMHO) is a short story called _Paté de Foie Gras._ Another short story, _The Dead Past,_ is also very interesting. Both concern the relationships between individuals and the scientific establishment in the face of ground-breaking discoveries.

[@chouchoumuse2729]

I liked the two prequels. They are one single story with the same characters. Much better read then the original trilogy imo.

[@relentlessmadman]

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

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

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

[@jtinalexandria]

Asimov wrote some spiffy skiffy...

[@cristobalmarinmolina2353]

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.

[@maryzakiandourrugrats4671]

Bruh, talk me a lullaby to sleep

[@godofchaoskhorne5043]

The adaptation sucks ass. I haven't finished foundation only read like 1/3rd of the first book long ago. Will finish it someday soon though. But from what I remember some stuff is extremely dated. Like projector rooms and stuff. You have to imagine a far far future in which mobile phones aren't a thing. I mean Asimov talks about projector rooms and of rolls of film lol. Which is a problem with a lot of old sci Fi. But yeah I don't mind it. The books aren't super pulpy like Philip K Dick sometimes.

[@the_writers_block]

I gotta say I agree with you. I was hopeful based on the trailer and the visuals that the adaptation would be a good one, but alas it was yet another failure. The book has some problems and elements that haven't aged well and the structure makes it hard to adapt, but I think they could have done it effectively as an anthology story while updating some of the technological items Asimov imagined. Instead we got some strange story that barely resembled the outline of Asimov's story and characters. I'll never understand why these big studios keep spending truckloads of money to buy the rights to classic books and then they don't actually adapt the book. They take a few names and the basic premise and then tell their own story, which is almost always inferior.

[@ogieogie]

Society doesn't change appreciably after the 1950s. Very lame and unimaginative. I reread this and found it hugely disappointing.

[@Shane-zl9ry]

The Robot series was better. All the Dune books are my all time favorite.

[@w_zaciszu_biblioteki]

No, he never was a good writer.