Isaac Asimov - Empire /Foundation

 


Isaac Asimov – Foundation / Galactic Empire / Robot Series

Any serious Sci/Fi reader will have cut their teeth on Isaac Asimov who stands alone (in my opinion) as the greatest writer of that genre of the twentieth century. Starting with the Foundation Series, which he started writing in 1942, then on to the Galactic Empire Series and finally to his Robot Series, he continued to build an ever unfolding story until his death in 1992. 

He invented the terms robotics, positronics and psychohistory, along with the Three Laws of Robotics.

His wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov) is perhaps the most comprehensive I have ever read. His prolific outpourings in many fields (history, Sci/Fi, popular science, etc) show his amazing creativity.

I can now confirm that I have read every one of the books mentioned below. It was not actually a chore, as the story enthralled me from the start. The stories slowly unfold - it does not pay to be a hurry when reading Asimov. But I am never in a hurry when reading a book.


First a bit of an explanation.


The Foundation Series was published as a series of short stories in 1942–50, and subsequently expanded into a complete set of 7 novels.

Prelude to Foundation (1988)
Forward the Foundation (1993)
Foundation (1951)
Foundation and Empire (1952)
Second Foundation (1953)
Foundation's Edge (1982)
Foundation and Earth (1986)

In parallel, Asimov wrote a number of stories which now form the Robot Series, which reads as follows in chronological order

The Caves of Steel (1954) - first Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel
The Naked Sun (1957) - second Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel
Mirror Image (1972) - short story about R. Daneel Olivaw and detective Elijah Baley
The Robots of Dawn (1983) - third Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel
Robots and Empire (1985) - fourth Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel

The link between the Robot and Foundation universes was tightened by letting the robot R. Daneel Olivaw - originally introduced in The Caves of Steel - live on for tens of thousands of years and play a major role behind the scenes in both the Galactic Empire in its heyday and in the rise of the two Foundations to take its place.

He also wrote a lot of other material on robots, including

I, Robot (1950)
The Bicentennial Man (1976)
The Complete Robot (1982)
Robot Dreams (1986)
Robot Visions (1990)
Gold (1995).


Here is a recommended reading list, based on chronological order:

I, Robot (1950) - a standalone fixup novel of 9 short stories about robots

The Positronic Man (1992) - a standalone robot novel, co-written with Robert Silverberg, based on Asimov's 1976 novelette "The Bicentennial Man"

Nemesis (1989) - a standalone novel, loosely connected to the Robot/Empire/Foundation series, set in the early days of interstellar travel

The Caves of Steel (1954) - first Robot Series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel

The Naked Sun (1957) - second Robot Series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel

The Robots of Dawn (1983) - third Robot Series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel

Robots and Empire (1985) - fourth Robot Series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel

The Stars, Like Dust (1951) - first Empire Series novel

The Currents of Space (1952) - second Empire Series novel

Pebble in the Sky (1950) - third Empire Series novel

Prelude to Foundation (1988) - first Foundation Series novel

Forward the Foundation (1993) - second Foundation Series novel

Foundation (1951) - third Foundation Series novel

Foundation and Empire (1952) - fourth Foundation Series novel

Second Foundation (1953) - fifth Foundation Series novel

Foundation's Edge (1982) - sixth Foundation Series novel

Foundation and Earth (1986) - seventh Foundation Series novel

The End of Eternity (1955) - a standalone novel, loosely connected to the Robot/Empire/Foundation series, about a time-altering organization


After Asimov's death and at the request of Janet Asimov and the Asimov estate's representative, Ralph Vicinanza approached Gregory Benford, and asked him to write another Foundation story. He eventually agreed, and formed a plan for a trilogy with SF writers Greg Bear and David Brin.

Foundation's Fear (1997) takes place chronologically between part one and part two of Asimov's second prequel novel, Forward the Foundation; 

Foundation and Chaos (1998) is set at the same time as the first chapter of Foundation, filling in background; 

Foundation's Triumph (1999) covers ground following the recording of the holographic messages to the Foundation, and ties together a number of loose ends. 

These books are now claimed by some to collectively be a "Second Foundation trilogy", although they are inserts into pre-existing prequels and some of the earlier Foundation storylines and not generally recognized as a new Trilogy.

I give Asimov 5 stars for his Sci/Fi legacy which has inspired so many writers over the years.


Interestingly, tbe first season of Apple + streaming TV series Foundation has just been released in September 2021, with a second season now bankrolled and soon to start filming. It will be interesting to see how truly it follows the books. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_(TV_series



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