[ethbr1]

Foundation the books... doesn't have good characterization. At all. But, Asimov, so that goes without saying.

It does have some clever plot reveals, but at some point the "Ha! Little did you know this was the plan all along" becomes rote.

The failure in adaptations I see is not understanding why people liked the source and leaning into that.

It's not the window dressing / surface-level stuff that's too often mimicked: it's a more core, simple... thing.

To me, Foundation was about 'epicness across time'

But, if I wanted a better written version of that, I'd read the first 3 Dune novels.