Asimov's Foundation

[PeterL]

It's misleading to say that the Foundation Series is a trilogy, since is constitued by seven books written by Asimov and three more written by other authors, authorized by Asimov's heirs! I have all these books, and until now I've read the first five, that is, until the Second Foundation!
1. Prelude to Foundation; 2. Forward the Foundation; 3. Foundation; 4. Foundation and Empire; 5. Second Foundation; 6. Foundation's Edge; 7. Foundation and Earth; 8. Foundation's Fear; 9. Foundation's Chaos and 10. Foundation's Triumph! The last three are also known as Second Foundation's Trilogy!

The Foundation Trilogy was an entity for decades before the later additions were added. I would contend that the works from the 950's should be considered completely separate from the works of the '80's and '90's, which were only written to take advantage of the continuing interest in the Trilogy. You should also remember that some of the later books were written by other authors, making it a contiinuing setting, rather than a series.

[Serput]

Look above what I wrote about the right sequence of the Foundation saga ( not as they were wrote ) and try to buy it on Amazon or elsewhere online! But on Amazon you find them for sure! That's where I got some of my books of the Foundation saga!

Curly, don't make me cry... Science Fiction can be both awe inspiring and humorous. I think the only science fiction author I've ever read that could be considered pedantic is Jules Verne, and when reading his work you have to realize that the reason he was spending so much time with detail was because he was imagining things that had never been imagined before.

I cannot even comprehend why anyone would say Science Fiction is unimaginative. It is one of the most imaginative genres out there, because the purpose behind science fiction is to write about things that are not possible yet. It was no coincidence that the first interracial kiss on TV was on a science fiction show (Star Trek)... in what other genre can the controversial be something that is not only imagined, but accepted as a potential reality?

As for whimsy, there are many science fiction authors that convey a sense of whimsy! Isaac Asimov, Artur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, John Scalzi, and Alistair Reynolds are all contenders. And new science fiction writers keep coming; personally I find that new releases in other genres are often stale, while there's always something juicy in the sci fi section.

To answer the OP, I haven't read foundation yet, because for some reason I can never find the books in order when I look for them. I have, however, read his "I, Robot" short story collection, which was excellent. I'll have to seek those books out again and see if I can find them in order this time.

[Serput]

You are right about the latter books being written because of the continued interest in the Trilogy... but I consider that the quality didn't diminish. Consider for example Forward the Foundation with all the developments about psychic probing or Prelude to Foundation with the descriptions of Trantor! As I said, I've only read the first five, up until Second Foundation, and my favourites so far are Forward the Foundation and Second Foundation!

The Foundation Trilogy was an entity for decades before the later additions were added. I would contend that the works from the 950's should be considered completely separate from the works of the '80's and '90's, which were only written to take advantage of the continuing interest in the Trilogy. You should also remember that some of the later books were written by other authors, making it a contiinuing setting, rather than a series.

[PeterL]

You are right abou the latter books being written because of the continued interest in the Trilogy... but I consider that the quality didn't diminish. Consider for example Forward the Foundation with all the developments about psychic probing or Prelude to Foundation with the descriptions of Trantor! As I said, I've only read the first five, up until Second Foundation, and my favourites so far were Forward the Foundation and Second Foundation!

I didn't say that the quality of the later books was inferior, but they were different in nature. I don't remember whether I read all of the later books, but they were fundamentally different from the Trilogy.

[Serput]

I reread what you have said and you really didn't say that, you really didn't say that the quality of the later books was inferior... my mistake... I'm sorry! I think that the differences you are talking about is that the later books are more descriptive, are more detailed... I don't know if you agree with me!

I didn't say that the quality of the later books was inferior, but they were different in nature. I don't remember whether I read all of the later books, but they were fundamentally different from the Trilogy.