09-20-2021, 03:05 AM | #1 |
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Asimov's Foundation fans...
I recently finished a 45 book reading journey encompassing Isaac Asimov's Robot, Galactic and Foundation Series (Asimov Universe). Honestly it was a very rocky ride and not totally enjoyable for me.
But... the saving grace was when I discovered the Final Foundation Trilogy which beautifully tied up the loose ends and confused storylines while also making quite a few stunning revelations about the characters and the storylines. The author is self published and his books are available to download for free. He has completed the first two books - Foundation and Second Empire in 2013 and The Robots of the Interregnum in 2018. Untitled book 3 is still a WIP and a couple of years off. (I have corresponded with the author) His site can be found here... https://ibmjob.dk/ |
09-20-2021, 08:34 AM | #2 |
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I thought the Asimov estate took these down, along with a cease and desist order.
Do you have an update on this, and if it's still an issue? Last edited by Dr. Drib; 09-20-2021 at 08:38 AM. |
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09-20-2021, 08:58 AM | #3 |
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I liked the original Asimov, but not the post 1980s ones, or the post 1980s combining Robot and Foundation storyverses.
This seems to be some sort of Fan-fiction or sequel fiction and not even Asimov. The legal position is only clear on works out of copyright, like additional Jane Austin or Sherlock Holmes, few of which are worth reading. Good contemporary writers usually only write additional titles in a Storyverse when paid to by an Estate or Publisher. Even then the results are variable. There are no shortage of SF titles that are well written. |
09-20-2021, 09:04 AM | #4 |
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Thanks, Quoth.
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09-20-2021, 09:38 AM | #5 | |
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychohistorical_Crisis There was also a trilogy developing the Foundation written. The final one was by David Brin. And then there was the Caliban trilogy that continued the robot universe. Asimov wrote a lot and a lot of it is not that great. I question if reading his entire opus start to finish is advisable. There is plenty of stuff by him that I have not and will never read. But when he is good, he deserves his reputation, IMO. I presume you are also a fan of Clarke. Last edited by Pajamaman; 09-20-2021 at 09:43 AM. |
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09-20-2021, 09:39 AM | #6 |
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I'm surprised this is a legal issue. The author is not charging money.
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09-20-2021, 10:18 AM | #7 |
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09-20-2021, 10:46 AM | #8 |
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09-20-2021, 11:01 AM | #9 | |
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You can do your version of Snow White, or a sequel, but you can't use Disney's names for the Dwarves. Even if it's given away free. You can easily do a Harry Potter book where there is no magic and Harry is a Police Inspector and has no connection to J Rowling's Harry Potter. Last edited by Quoth; 09-20-2021 at 11:04 AM. |
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09-20-2021, 03:17 PM | #10 |
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In psychohitorical crisis the author changes the names. Could I have something written in an identical world with identical characters but change the names and superficial details of things
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09-20-2021, 05:30 PM | #11 | ||
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I never ended up reading Psychohistorical Crisis as I only discovered its existence when I had almost completed reading the Universe, and I did not feel like going back and reading more... I definitely agree, Asimov wrote a lot and a lot of it was not great. I would not recommend anyone to read the entire opus the way I did. I find it highly frustrating at times and it came to a point where I couldn't wait to be finished. But I persisted. My main thoughts are... 1. Most of the Robot stories are childish. It is not hard to imagine 12 year old boys, well after bedtime, hiding under their sheets with torch in hand marvelling at the talk of robots and space battles. Where quick-witted protagonists win the day with simple (and quite childish) arguments of logic, where enemies mutually respect each others efforts and graciously accept defeat and punishment. Where women are simply a petty hindrance (or entertainment) that have no capacity to understand the "workings of a mans world" and become hysterical or faint at the slightest provocation. Men are arrogantly proud and burst into anger at the minutest perceived disagreement or insult. These stories are simply 1950's society placed in a "futuristic" setting. 2. There is such an imbalance and mismatch of the level of technology in all of Asimov’s stories. How is it that scientists could invent the fabled Positronic Brain, with the billions of required nano based circuitry but computers are still at the punch-card level using vacuum tubes? This is the equivalent of inventing the combustion engine but not yet discovering the wheel. I like the concept of Foundation, but not its delivery. I do also like Arthur C. Clarke, and adore his (and supporting authors) Rama series. The author told me he was hoping that a publisher would pick him up and sort out the Asimov Estate issues and they would, among other things, update the covers. I contacted the author via his website to ask his progress on the final book. He stated it takes about 5 years to write so not to expect anything until circa 2023. We have corresponded a number of times since and he is a really nice and approachable person. (edit. fix typ-o with date) Last edited by Karellen; 09-29-2021 at 05:17 PM. |
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09-20-2021, 05:34 PM | #12 |
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And this is the reading order I put together while reading (a quick copy and paste out of one of the novels I reformatted)...
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09-20-2021, 06:46 PM | #13 |
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09-20-2021, 06:51 PM | #14 | |
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I also enjoyed the Robot City books, but gave up on Robots and Aliens. How were the Tiedemann and Reichert books? I didn't hear great things about Tiedemann, but I am still curious. |
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09-20-2021, 07:33 PM | #15 | |
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I also rated Mark W. Tiedmanns books a 4 star. They were very enjoyable and kept a lively pace. The Caliban trilogy by Roger MacBride Allen were also very enjoyable and I rated them 3 stars. As a comparison, Foundations Fear by Gregory Benford I rated a 1 star. It was heavily padded out and storylines that didn't make sense or were too far off-topic to be part of the Foundation universe. Joan of Arc... really?? Intelligent cats, talking dogs. 60+ pages devoted to a visit to a zoo. Most of Asimovs Robot books (Robot Dreams, Complete Robot, Positronic Man etc) I rated as a 1 star also. Last edited by Karellen; 09-20-2021 at 07:37 PM. |
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