Reading Asimov's Foundation Series (1 Viewer)

[jbutler]

i'm planning to read the Foundation series in the coming few weeks and was looking for others' opinions of the series. i read Foundation years ago, but never got any further and frankly remember very little of that first book.

i'm primarily curious as to whether those of you who know the series well prefer to read it in order of publication or in an order consistent with the internal chronology of the series. i understand that Asimov recommended reading it in internally chronological order, but would love to hear others' thoughts.

 

[Ben]

If you haven't read it before, I'd definitely say skip the prequels (at least until after you've read the core series) - the original trilogy + Foundations Edge are much stronger overall and if you start with the prequels you probably won't be reading for long. I'm a big fan of the Foundation series but not so much a fan of Asimov in general, and all the later books (regardless of where they fall in the chronology) connect to other parts of his universe and don't really work well without having read all the rest of his stuff (if they work well at all...)

NB: it's been quite a while since I read it last. Maybe time for a reread...

 

[Shanghai Sparky]

I never read the prequels, but I loved the Foundation series. Back in high school (early 80's) I saw Foundation's Edge at the book store and bought it on a whim because I liked the cover. When I saw that it was #4, I shelved it and bought 1, 2, & 3. Then I went for the Robot series. I like Asimov. After watching the Will Smith "I-Robot" movie, I've thought about picking up the group from the library and rereading them. I still remember the gist of the Foundation series including some of the major characters.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

I read the Foundation trilogy decades ago and loved it, but have not read it since (nor have I ever read the prequels).

 

[jbutler]

yeah looks like i'm doing as ben suggests and going through in proper publication order. gotta get through a couple things i'm in the middle of now, but i have the paperbacks waiting for me. thanks for the input, guys!

 

[Leonard]

I haven't read them in decades. They are probably worth re-reading but a lot of the science fiction of that time is seriously dated on re-reading. I did like them way back when.

L

 

[jbutler]

I haven't read them in decades. They are probably worth re-reading but a lot of the science fiction of that time is seriously dated on re-reading. I did like them way back when.

that's part of the joy in reading some "older" stuff imo. sort of like watching 70s horror films for me: it's either notable how well it holds up or intriguing how the ideas have evolved since the first publication.