[yongjik]

Hmm, I agree that the characters were mostly two-dimensional (esp. in book 2 and 3) and the story gets weirder and weirder, but I think it was still pretty good, especially book 1. In terms of terrible dialog and characters, the book will feel itself right at home among such luminaries as Asimov and Clarke.

[asimovfan]

I loved asimovs charachters and dialogue, what didnt you like? Dialogues in asimov are especially great, its how battles happen in the books.

[fsloth]

Early Foundation books are literally just dudes smoking and mansplaining galactic events to one another. You don’t need a CGI budget to actually film foundation - you only need a room and few good actors who can carry dialogue for hours.

From my part I find the narrative device of smoking&mansplaining a … curious … choice. But never the less the books are surprisingly good!

[zimpenfish]

> you only need a room and few good actors who can carry dialogue for hours.

cf the BBC Radio production of Foundation which was pretty good given it was largely just people talking and some Radiophonic Workshop sound effects.

(It was available on archive.org a couple of years back, may still be.)

[yongjik]

I know this is not Asimov's best, but off the top of my head (it's bean years since I read any Asimov), there was a scene in the later Foundation series where a character was about to go on a space trip for the first time and start talking about how great the space travel technology is, blah blah...

The problem is, in a society where space travel is commonplace, nobody will talk like that.

Imagine someone in our world buying an iPhone, and walking out, saying "Oh how great that we have a technology to instantly talk to anyone else in the world! I have the technology right here on my hand, isn't it mind blowing?"

[morbicer]

Perhaps controversial take but Asimov is much stronger in his short stories. I never cared too much about Foundation, too pompous.

[dleink]

I do that somewhat often but I started mainlining gratitude a few years ago so I might be an edge case.

[stavros]

I said this earlier today about my phone :(

[gmuslera]

I have to agree that most if not all all the characters by the end of the series became two-dimensional. But in this particular case I think it was a good thing.