HBO Will Make Asimov's Foundation

[Greg Bernhardt]

It looks like HBO is teaming up with Interstellar writer and Person Of Interest showrunner Jonathan Nolan to adapt the highly revered and beloved Foundation books into a TV series. Wow.

http://io9.com/hbo-will-make-asimov...utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

 

[phinds]

UGH ... by the writer who did Intersteller? That does not bode well.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

UGH ... by the writer who did Intersteller? That does not bode well.

HBO rarely makes junk though. I am interested even though I barely made it through the first book. Love the first half, disliked the second.

 

[phinds]

I found it all enormously entertaining but I was young when I read it. Might not be as enthralled today, but I always thought Asimov was one of the best Sci Fic writers.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I liked the original foundation series though like pretty much everyone who read it I was frustrated that it didn't cover the full thousand years the foundation was meant to endure through. Because of that it felt like a story half told. The second half was a great disappointment, why on Earth Asimov decided to tie all his franchises together I have no idea. It felt cheap, like fan fic more than anything with an unsatisfying story. And it still didn't cover the whole thousand years!

 

[Algr]

It's ages since I read this. It would be a strange TV series that dumps it's entire cast and starts anew repeatedly during it's run.

 

[lpetrich]

There ought to be some way of establishing continuity through the series. The Time Vault?

It seems that a big problem may be making it dramatic on TV, since there isn't a lot of action -- no big space battles or ground battles for that matter. However, there's a non-action genre that has been popular for decades: the soap opera. This includes prime-time power-politics soap operas like Dynasty and Dallas. I think that those could make good models, especially with fleshing out the characters to give them more personality.

Something that may raise hackles with some viewers is the series's treatment of religion. Early in the original novels, the Foundation cloaks its technology in a religion that it uses to manipulate the inhabitants and the leaders of the nearby planetary systems. This includes installing a supposedly very holy "ultrawave relay" in a refurbished Imperial cruiser.

Spoiler

It is a kill switch.

 

[vemvare]

I am excited about this, sci-fi in the HBO format could be a revolutionary concept, if it is done right!

Something that may raise hackles with some viewers is the series's treatment of religion. Early in the original novels, the Foundation cloaks its technology in a religion that it uses to manipulate the inhabitants and the leaders of the nearby planetary systems. This includes installing a supposedly very holy "ultrawave relay" in a refurbished Imperial cruiser.

The long running stargate-franchise wasn't exactly religion-friendly either.

EDIT: Nolan worries me though, Hathaways "love transcends all" minispeech was perhaps the worst movie moment of 2014, perhaps even of the 2010's so far.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

In stargate using religion as a way to control an empire was something done by the bad guys. In the foundation universe it's the supposed good guys. Although that is an interesting part of the foundation series: they are arguably very imperialistic. Not just in the methods of controlling various cultures (through religion, trade, technology etc) but also in the goal of restoring an Empire.

 

[vemvare]

In Stargate, like in Star Trek but not quite so over-the-top, as opposed to in real life, a lot of moral decisions are "black and white", and the result is almost always that sticking to a few principles (honesty, etc), turns things out for the best. In other words, there is rarely any difference between doing the right thing and doing the best thing.

That is why I prefer Stargate Atlantis over Stargate SG1. The Atlantis team tends to screw up and make things worse half of the time, they're not that ridicoulosly lucky all the time and some of their plans even backfire spectacularly.

In The Foundation, at least in the beginning Terminus is a weak world, and therefore have to rely on trickery and cunning to have a chance of survival. The Empire, while not "fair" or "egalitarian" in our sense of the word, represents order while the continual dissolution of human civilization would mean chaos, starvation and wars. Sometimes there is no white and it is all about choosing the lighter shade of gray.

 

[onethatyawns]

If it makes people smarter, great.

 

[Bystander]

Wiki: "As the Mule comes closer to finding it, the mysterious Second Foundation comes briefly out of hiding to face the threat directly. It is revealed to be a collection of the most intelligent humans in the galaxy, the descendants of Seldon's psychohistorians."
Okay --- I do remember it. Gonna be a lot of money for a flop.

 

[Svein]

I shudder. When the Hollywood screenwriters are finished with it, it is going to be a movie with lots of explosions and all the intelligent bits are going to be dropped. Remember what they did to "Starship Troopers"?

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
Salvor Hardin (in the first Foundation volume).

 

[Drakkith]

I shudder. When the Hollywood screenwriters are finished with it, it is going to be a movie with lots of explosions and all the intelligent bits are going to be dropped. Remember what they did to "Starship Troopers"?

I think Starship Troopers was done that way on purpose.

 

[Svein]

I think Starship Troopers was done that way on purpose.

Yes. Thud and blunder - what you would expect for Hollywood (they are making movies for the intelligence level of the producer's pet dog).

 

[phinds]

Yes. Thud and blunder - what you would expect for Hollywood (they are making movies for the intelligence level of the producer's pet dog).

No, they make it for the intelligence level of the average America, who, after all, believes in ghosts, aliens, angels and other assorted crap. They do this to make money and they MAKE money. Starship Troopers was a success, but a pretty modest one since it didn't bring back a whole lot more than its production costs (which were fairly high) and it won an Academy Award for special effects.

Intelligent movies are hard to make and often lose money. Hollywood is not in the business of losing money.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Hold on a second.
I found Starship Troopers the film much more intelligently done than the book. The book was a ham-fisted glorification of military mentality. The film is, as noted by Drakkith, intentionally subversive (look, living under a totalitarian regime is fun!).

 

[Svein]

I found Starship Troopers the film much more intelligently done than the book. The book was a ham-fisted glorification of military mentality. The film is, as noted by Drakkith, intentionally subversive (look, living under a totalitarian regime is fun!).

Oh, another one who did not understand the book. The book is about growing up and taking responsibility. Of course Heinlein introduces controversial ideas, how else do you get people to react - and if possible - think?

 

[Bandersnatch]

Oh, another one who did not understand the book. The book is about growing up and taking responsibility. Of course Heinlein introduces controversial ideas, how else do you get people to react - and if possible - think?

Oh, don't you patronise me there, mister.

Heinlein's idea of growing up is that of 'enlist in the army, they'll make a man out of you'. If that's considered profound or even smart then I'll gladly stick with the Hollywood idiots, thank you very much.

 

[HallsofIvy]

Heinlein was, a little surprisingly for a science fiction writer, very "conservative". The society in the movie was, properly I think, described as "fascist". The book was not far off that either. Heinlein was the one who, in the book, introduced the idea of having to serve in the military in order to be allowed to vote or run for office.

 

[Svein]

Heinlein's idea of growing up is that of 'enlist in the army, they'll make a man out of you'. If that's considered profound or even smart then I'll gladly stick with the Hollywood idiots, thank you very much.

OK. But check out these reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Starship-Troopers-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0441783589/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424113022&sr=1-1&keywords=starship+troopers

 

[Drakkith]

Yes. Thud and blunder - what you would expect for Hollywood (they are making movies for the intelligence level of the producer's pet dog).

That's not what I mean.I think it was purposely subverted just to counter Heinlein's portrayal of society. Not just to 'dumb it down'. The entire theme of the movie is counter to the book.

In the book Heinlein goes into detail about why things happen and why the should happen that way. For example, Rico's entire officer training in the book elaborates on what an officer is and how the chain of command works. Most importantly it explains why it works that way. The book stresses being a responsible citizen (and soldier) and being part of a larger society throughout, along with being responsible towards those under you, whether you're in the military or not. That's why Heinlein has scenes such as the execution of the murderer in Rico's basic training, his lashing for the training incident (which would have resulted in the death of a squadmate had it been real life), the incident where Rico overhears the conversation between his training CO and Sergeant, etc. Heinlein makes a point that responsibility goes both ways, and explains that the reason federal service is required to participate in the government is that those people have shown a willingness to put aside their own personal gain for the benefit of society.

Now, none of this means Heinlein is correct of course, but the film almost goes the complete opposite. It satirizes/parodies the theme of the book, turning it around and comically portraying it as 'blind obedience' and carelessness about human life and suffering. You don't see Heinlein having anyone get a knife thrown through their hand just to make a point about 'if you take out the enemy's hand they can't push a button', or executing troopers that have been taken by the bugs. There are no news clips of people saying "I'm doing my part!" and stomping on cockroaches.

Still, I love the movie almost as much as I love the book, despite them being very different.

 

[atyy]

EDIT: Nolan worries me though, Hathaways "love transcends all" minispeech was perhaps the worst movie moment of 2014, perhaps even of the 2010's so far.

But it was meant to be the worst movie moment of 2014.

 

[itchybrain]

Wow, looking forward to this. Foundation is one of my favorite books, and I agree that HBO tends to make quality shows.

Any estimate on the release date?

 

[Pete Cortez]

UGH ... by the writer who did Intersteller? That does not bode well.

Counterpoint. It bodes extremely well.

 

[Pete Cortez]

In The Foundation, at least in the beginning Terminus is a weak world, and therefore have to rely on trickery and cunning to have a chance of survival. The Empire, while not "fair" or "egalitarian" in our sense of the word, represents order while the continual dissolution of human civilization would mean chaos, starvation and wars. Sometimes there is no white and it is all about choosing the lighter shade of gray.

A significant theme in the Foundation novels is the scale of the Galactic Empire, and even its "microcosm" on Trantor. Terms like "fair" and "egalitarian," which stretch to their limits on a planet of just 6 billion people, may be parochial to an absurd degree across a backdrop of millions of star systems, trillions of municipalities and a total population numbering 10 to the God knows what power.

 

[Pete Cortez]

Heinlein was, a little surprisingly for a science fiction writer, very "conservative". The society in the movie was, properly I think, described as "fascist". The book was not far off that either. Heinlein was the one who, in the book, introduced the idea of having to serve in the military in order to be allowed to vote or run for office.

Not sure how the political system depicted in Starship Troopers qualifies "facist." Not unless we're yet again redefining the term to mean something anathema to the left-wing that's presented uncritically.

 

[Pete Cortez]

Heinlein's idea of growing up is that of 'enlist in the army, they'll make a man out of you'. If that's considered profound or even smart then I'll gladly stick with the Hollywood idiots, thank you very much.

Counterpoint. Angsty, anti-establishment screeds were and are a dime a dozen. Enough so that Starship Troopers basically kicked off an entire subgenre all by itself.

 

[HallsofIvy]

Not sure how the political system depicted in Starship Troopers qualifies "facist." Not unless we're yet again redefining the term to mean something anathema to the left-wing that's presented uncritically.

It was a militaristic government with limited citizen participation. That's not a "redefinition".

 

[Pete Cortez]

It was a militaristic government with limited citizen participation. That's not a "redefinition".

I don't recall any scholarly definition of "fascism" that reads "a militaristic government with limited citizen participation." Also, don't agree that veteran monopoly of the franchise qualifies as "militarism." Starship Troopers fully depicts only one conflict and barely hints at another, neither of which indicates that the state is engaged in frequent, aggressive military adventure.

 

[snorkack]

A significant theme in the Foundation novels is the scale of the Galactic Empire, and even its "microcosm" on Trantor. Terms like "fair" and "egalitarian," which stretch to their limits on a planet of just 6 billion people, may be parochial to an absurd degree across a backdrop of millions of star systems, trillions of municipalities and a total population numbering 10 to the God knows what power.

And yet Asimov lacks sense of scale. Start with comparing the first two stories, Encyclopedists with Mayors. Can you see where the relative scale of Terminus to Anacreon, and Anacreon to Empire, is completely inconsistent with the descriptions?

 

[Uollises]

I am really interested in that. HBO creates good serials which i personal love.

 

[Pete Cortez]

And yet Asimov lacks sense of scale. Start with comparing the first two stories, Encyclopedists with Mayors. Can you see where the relative scale of Terminus to Anacreon, and Anacreon to Empire, is completely inconsistent with the descriptions?

I'm afraid not, though I may be making allowances insofar as my imagination permits. Could you be more specific? Perhaps I'm not following the analogy correctly.

 

[snorkack]

Well, first the relative scale of Anacreon to Empire.
Let´s review the characters mentioned in Foundation.
We hear of the leadership of Terminus (Pirenne and his four other Trustees, and Salvor with Yohan).
Their main antagonists are Anacreon: the unseen and unnamed King, and his personal representative the Subprefect of Pluema. And then there are the other now independent prefects of Periphery: Salvor starts saying at least 20 nearest to border, and individually mentioned nearby ones are Smyrno, Konom and Daribow - and in the original introduction, Loris.
And then there is the unseen and unnamed Emperor far away on Trantor. Who does not have forces nearby - these were taken over by the rebelling Anacreon and others - and who does not care to hold the Periphery. When the central government does react, a member of Trantor government travels to Terminus - but it is not a military commander with a navy from inner Galaxy to suppress the rebels, but Lord Chancellor Dorwin, to recognize the independence of the Kingdoms.
No other players, right?
Now see a quote from the very first chapter of Bridle and Saddle:

For thirty years now, since the breakup of communications here at the edge of the Galaxy, the whole universe of Terminus had consisted of itself and the four surrounding kingdoms.

How the mighty had fallen! Kingdoms! They were prefects in the old days, all part of the same province, which in turn had been part of a sector, which in turn had been part of a quadrant, which in turn had been part of the allembracing Galactic Empire. And now that the Empire had lost control over the farther reaches of the Galaxy, these little splinter groups of planets became kingdoms with comic-opera kings and nobles, and petty, meaningless wars, and a life that went on pathetically among the ruins.

So. If Prefect of Anacreon was rebelling, Emperor and Lord Dorwin might not have cared to lose a distant and poor prefecture if the rich interior of Galaxy was safe so far.
BUT, what the hell were the governors of the Province, the Sector and the Quadrant doing?
If Empire was giving up Periphery including Anacreon Province then the job of the governor of the province would have vanished. HE should have tried something to save his job and suppress the rebellions of his subordinate prefects. Or alternatively, it could have been opportunity for him - to turn the whole province into one independent Kingdom, of his own - in which case he also had the motive to suppress the rebellion of his subordinate Prefects.

We never hear of these middle level governors, in Foundation or later. The scale of Empire requires such levels. Where are they?

 

[Pete Cortez]

I imagine there's a lot left unsaid about what happened during the generational period prior to Dorwin's inconsequential visit to Terminus. We only have hints, for example, the conversation between Pirenne and and Hardin in the Encyclopedists:

“On us? Are you forgetting that we are under the direct control of the Emperor himself? We are not part of the Prefect of Anacreon or of any other prefect. Memorize that! We are part of the Emperor's personal domain, and no one touches us. The Empire can protect its own."

"Then why didn't it prevent the Royal Governor of Anacreon from kicking over the traces? And only Anacreon?

At least twenty of the outermost prefects of the Galaxy, the entire Periphery as a matter of fact, have begun steering things their own way. I tell you I feel damned uncertain of the Empire and its ability to protect us."

"Hokum! Royal Governors, Kings – what's the difference? The Empire is always shot through with a certain amount of politics and with different men pulling this way and that. Governors have rebelled, and, for that matter, Emperors have been deposed, or assassinated before this. But what has that to do with the Empire itself? Forget it, Hardin. It's none of our business. We are first of all and last of all-scientists. And our concern is the Encyclopedia.”

We're also making some enormous assumptions about the state of late Imperial governance in Terminus' neck of the woods. How nominal, for example, was Imperial rule out in this backwater before Seldon's people left Trantor?

 

[cobalt124]

I hope (probably in vain) that HBO stay faithful to the trilogy as it was written in it's time and not try to update the thing. I fear they will ruin it by doing that. Haven't seen Interstellar, but have read the "reviews" on this forum and would find the scientific inaccuracies annoying. Inaccuracies in the Foundation Trilogy I could live with if in keeping with Asimovs original scientific vision in writing the series. I found the trilogy rereadable, and like others was not so impressed with the other stuff written around it.

 

[snorkack]

I hope (probably in vain) that HBO stay faithful to the trilogy as it was written in it's time and not try to update the thing. I fear they will ruin it by doing that. Haven't seen Interstellar, but have read the "reviews" on this forum and would find the scientific inaccuracies annoying. Inaccuracies in the Foundation Trilogy I could live with if in keeping with Asimovs original scientific vision in writing the series.

The original does contain things which were inaccuracies even then.
Hardin introduces Terminus in the very first chapter by directly stating that in surface rocks of Terminus, there is no trace of iron, copper or aluminum.

And then mentions the people with their farms to care about. And in the next chapter, offers a few hundred bushels of potatoes as tax to Anacreon.

Hello? Liebig´s barrel? Over 80 years old by 1941!

With no trace of iron, Terminus could not possibly have grown a trace of a green leaf, let alone one potato.

 

[Arsenic&Lace]

I still haven't read the foundation series. I was not very interested in sci fi as a kid. Would people recommend that I try it?

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I still haven't read the foundation series. I was not very interested in sci fi as a kid. Would people recommend that I try it?

It depends on what you are looking for. Are you looking to get into SF or just test it out? If so what kind of genres do you like: action, crime, romance etc. Are you looking for something modern or not? Something hard (i.e. tries to keep to realistic science and culture) or soft (doesn't try that)?

The foundation series is about a galactic empire and a new form of science known as psychohistory. Psychohistorians create models of societies to simulate what they will be like in future, the same way scientists simulate physical phenomenon. The leading psychohistorian (who created the field) uses it to discover that the galactic empire is going to collapse leaving behind a dark age. The series focuses on a society he creates, known as the Foundation, and its mission to mitigate and shorten that dark age. It's old fashioned in some ways (lots of men lighting cigars with atomic lighters) but has a simple and interesting story. The first books are also very short. If any of that sounds interesting then go ahead and try it.

 

[cobalt124]

"It's old fashioned iIt's old fashioned in some ways (lots of men lighting cigars with atomic lighters)n some ways (lots of men lighting cigars with atomic lighters)" - this is what I think HBO should keep - tell the original story and not worry about scientific accuracy.

 

[lpetrich]

The foundation series is about a galactic empire and a new form of science known as psychohistory. Psychohistorians create models of societies to simulate what they will be like in future, the same way scientists simulate physical phenomenon. The leading psychohistorian (who created the field) uses it to discover that the galactic empire is going to collapse leaving behind a dark age. The series focuses on a society he creates, known as the Foundation, and its mission to mitigate and shorten that dark age.

In part by being the start of a new Galactic Empire. In the original trilogy, you can follow the Foundation's empire grow from from a colony of exiled psychohistorians to much of the Galaxy.

It's old fashioned in some ways (lots of men lighting cigars with atomic lighters) but has a simple and interesting story. The first books are also very short. If any of that sounds interesting then go ahead and try it.

Also, it seems curiously out of date in some ways. Like Arkady Darell's dictation typewriter. Present-day computers could do direct dictation-to-print, but it's usually much more convenient to edit a file, then print it out when it's ready to go.

Here's how some of it might go:

Spoiler

Here is my favorite part. It is where Foundation priest / technician Theo Aporat curses the refurbished Imperial cruiser Wienis, which had been on a mission to conquer the Foundation:

"In the name of the Galactic Spirit and of his prophet, Hari Seldon, and of his interpreters, the holy men of the Foundation, I curse this ship. Let the televisors of this ship, which are its eyes, become blind. Let its grapples, which are its arms, be paralyzed. Let the nuclear blasts, which are its fists, lose their function. Let the motors, which are its heart, cease to beat. Let the communications, which are its voice, become dumb. Let its ventilations, which are its breath, fade. Let its lights, which are its soul, shrivel into nothing. In the name of the Galactic Spirit, I so curse this ship."

And with his last word, at the stroke of midnight, a hand, light-years distant in the Argolid Temple, opened an ultrawave relay, which at the instantaneous speed of the ultrawave, opened another on the flagship Wienis.

And the ship died!

For it is the chief characteristic of the religion of science that it works, and that such curses as that of Aporat's are really deadly.

Seems like an analog-hardware sort of design. Here's how it might work with present-day and near-future sorts of embeddable systems. The Foundation's engineers installed some software in the control computers of the Wienis and other Anarcreonian warships, some software that they described as super holy, just like that ultrawave relay.

But that software is a Trojan horse for a kill switch, what that ultrawave relay had been. The Wienis heads out under Prince Wienis's son Prince Lefkin, but on Terminus, in a secret bunker near the Foundation's main spaceport, a team of hackers watches. The software radioes back by subether what's going on in the ships, and the hackers watch. When Theo Aporat pronounces his curse on the Wienis, the hackers go into action. They run a script for disabling the ship, and watch as the software radioes back the crippled state of the ship. It is stalled in interstellar space, with only cabin systems operating. Its engines are so successfully sabotaged by bad control instructions that a space tug will be needed to get the ship home. Prince Lefkin calls off the attack on the Foundation, and the hackers are relieved that they don't have to do much more.

 

[Arsenic&Lace]

Well I've tried Alistair Reynolds and Iain M. Banks, and quite liked both, so I've recently delved into sci fi.

 

[snorkack]

Here's how some of it might go:

Spoiler

Seems like an analog-hardware sort of design. Here's how it might work with present-day and near-future sorts of embeddable systems. The Foundation's engineers installed some software in the control computers of the Wienis and other Anarcreonian warships, some software that they described as super holy, just like that ultrawave relay.

They had free hands at hardware anyway.

Note how thoroughly Anacreon was lacking any backups of any kind, that the interdict worked!

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Well I've tried Alistair Reynolds and Iain M. Banks, and quite liked both, so I've recently delved into sci fi.

Ok, both of those are good choices for modern SF, particularly space opera. They're quite different to Asimov but you might still enjoy that too.

 

[Dr Wu]

On a personal note, and drawing on decades of reading and reflecting upon the original Foundation series, I consider the trilogy's finest sections to be: (a) the first half of Foundation: (b) virtually all of Foundation & Empire: and (c) the first third of Second Foundation. I also consider the Mule to be one of SF's greatest characters - a wonderfully realized and satisfyingly complex creation, evoking both fear and pity, at least in this reader's mind. I just hope the film-makers don't turn him into a brainless super-villain.

On an end note, clearly lung cancer is something of a medical dead-letter in Asimov's 1940s-slanted vision of the future, judging by all the tobacco-smoking that takes place in the three novels.

 

[lpetrich]

Here's a plot summary:

Spoiler

I. Foundation

1. The Psychohistorians -- Hari Seldon is tried for treason by the Committee of Public Safety, and he gets exiled to Terminus to help write the Encyclopedia Galactica.

2. The Encyclopedists -- Terminus is initially ruled by the Encyclopedia Galactica Foundation, but some nearby planets go independent of the Empire, forming the Four Kingdoms. Terminus City Mayor Salvor Hardin thinks that the Foundation is now dangerously weak, and he takes over in an office coup.

3. The Mayors -- The Foundation spreads its technology as a religion. But Salvor Hardin is challenged by an Actionist faction that wants direct action against the Four Kingdoms. Prince Regent Wienis of Anacreon sends an invasion fleet to conquer the Foundation under his son Prince Lefkin's command. But the Foundation deploys the Holy Kill Switch, and Lefkin calls it off and orders Wienis's arrest. Wienis eventually commits suicide, and Salvor Hardin's popularity gets a big boost.

4. The Traders -- The Foundation expands its influence with trade. The leaders of Askone are suspicious of that, but a Foundation trader wins the support of an Askonian politician with a machine that makes gold, and opens trade relations.

5. The Merchant Princes -- The Foundation now rules the Four Kingdoms, and its influence continues to spread. But the leaders of Korell get suspicious, and there is an interesting tangle of action. The Foundation discovers that it's using Galactic-Empire technology, meaning that that empire is still going. Korell eventually declares war on the Foundation, but the Foundation effectively embargoes it, and the effort collapses.

II. Foundation and Empire

1. The General -- That's Bel Riose. He prepares to attack the Foundation with the Empire's superior fleet. However, Nathan Devers and Ducem Barr pick up what he is doing, and they go to Emperor Cleon II about it. Though they end up having to flee, the Emperor recalls the general and orders him executed. If Bel Riose had succeeded, he would have become much more popular than the Emperor, and he might have decided to take over. Imagine Bel Riose crossing an outer-space version of the Rubicon river.

2. The Mule -- The Empire has collapsed, and the Galaxy is divided between the Foundation and several barbarian kingdoms. The Foundation has become dictatorial and incompetent, and some of the Trader-dominated outer regions were talking about rebellion. Then the Mule emerges, and conquers much of the Galaxy. At Terminus, the Foundation's leaders feel sure that the Seldon Plan means that they will win, but the Mule demonstrates otherwise, making Hari Seldon's most recent prercorded message grossly wrong. Having conquered the Foundation, the Mule stars to search for the mysterious Second Foundation.

III. Second Foundation

1. Search by the Mule -- Off to Tazenda and Rossem, but it's a false clue planted by the Second Foundation itself, and the Mule's empire collapses.

2. Search by the Foundation -- The Foundation's leaders are convinced that the Second Foundation is covertly present on Terminus, and hunts down some telepaths. But those are decoys sent there by the Second Foundation, which continues to run in the ruins of Trantor, in the center of the Galaxy.

Dr Wu, which parts did you like? I'm guess I: 1, 2, 3, II: 1,2, III: 1

Paul Krugman: Asimov's Foundation novels grounded my economics | Books | The Guardian

My Book – the one that has stayed with me for four-and-a-half decades – is Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, written when Asimov was barely out of his teens himself. I didn't grow up wanting to be a square-jawed individualist or join a heroic quest; I grew up wanting to be Hari Seldon, using my understanding of the mathematics of human behaviour to save civilisation.

Referring to Atlas Shrugged and Lord of the Rings.

OK, economics is a pretty poor substitute; I don't expect to be making recorded appearances in the Time Vault a century or two from now. But I tried.

He conceded that he had had a teenage crush on Arkady Darell. She appears in the last half of the trilogy.

He then compares the Foundation Trilogy to prophetic fantasy like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.

Yet if the Foundation books are a tale of prophecy fulfilled, it's a very bourgeois version of prophecy. This is no tale of the secret heir coming into his heritage, of the invincible swordsman winning the day with his prowess. Asimov clearly despises both aristocracy and militarism; his heroes, such as they are, are unpretentious and a bit uncouth, with nothing martial about them. "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent," declares Mayor Salvor Hardin.

 

[RaulTheUCSCSlug]

This seems right up HBO's alley! Read the first one, and never got around to reading the rest when college started (not an excuse though)!