Season 2 kicks off on July 14th.
    •  Pons_Aelius   ( @Pons_Aelius@kbin.social ) 
      11•1 year ago

      What are they ignoring in your view?

      I have read the Foundation series many times.

      The first three books are fantastic ideas but, honestly, the format of small vignettes spanning centuries with no recurring characters works in a novel but is terrible to adapt to the screen.

      When I first heard of this adaptation, my reaction was “How are they going to make an engaging story for a TV audience out of them?”

      While not perfect, after the first series I am impressed with what they have done.

      The inclusion of following the emperors was a good idea that fleshes out the story, universe and gives a good counterpoint to the foundation.

      A page perfect adaptation of the books would be visually boring to most people.

      Avid fans of the novels must also realise that the show was made to draw in people who have never read the books. If they were to only attract people who have read the books, the show would be a failure as they would never have been able to justify the budget.

      •  Jordan Lund   ( @jordanlund@lemmy.one ) 
        3•1 year ago

        The whole notion of having short stories spanning centuries with the only common thread or character being the Seldon recordings is the entire point.

        Having a revolving cast of characters isn’t a problem, Walking Dead has done it for years.

        •  Pons_Aelius   ( @Pons_Aelius@kbin.social ) 
          3•1 year ago

          is the entire point.

          And it would be uninteresting to most people.

          They did not make the show for you, me or other Asimov fans. They made it for a general audience who will only know the adaptation. A hologram that arrives at the end of each storyline with a deus ex machina to solve all the problems will not be engaging to the genera public.

          Walking Dead has done it for years.

          And the show, to me, was terrible. Slow, formulaic and boring once the first season ended. So it is not something I would use as an example.

            •  Pons_Aelius   ( @Pons_Aelius@kbin.social ) 
              2•1 year ago

              I stopped watching mid-season 2 and haven’t thought much about the show in the following decade.

              What I like is not the same for everyone.

              Now adopt that thought to what you are saying about the TV show. You don’t like that it is not word-perfect with the books. I am glad it isn’t.

              If you don’t like where the show is going, stop watching as I did with the boring dead. The books still exist, and you can reread them anytime.

      •  🦘min0nim🦘   ( @min0nim@aussie.zone ) English
        2•1 year ago

        I thought the Foundation books were conceited and trite - I know that’s not going to make me popular here. The first ATV season was pretty damn good, building on the main themes that made the books so seminal, but adding a human dimension which helps to make the story feel as epic as people make it out to be.

        •  realitista   ( @realitista@lemm.ee ) English
          2•1 year ago

          My main problem with them is how the politics just drag on and on and how long winded some of the descriptions are.

          I never made it through them reading them, it wasn’t until I went audiobook and just accepted that my brain would fall asleep for stretches of it that I made it through.

          There’s some genius in there but it really takes some wading through the mud to get there.

          The TV series is showing some promise that they will be able to wrangle this sprawling spaghetti into some sort of form that’s fit for TV. I will be very impressed if they pull it off.

      •  Qualanqui   ( @Qualanqui@lemmy.fmhy.ml ) 
        1•1 year ago

        Me too bud, I was looking forward to Jordan’s masterpiece getting an adaptation to the small screen but I couldn’t even make it through one episode. It’s like the showrunner took The Witcher’s terrible adaptation as a personal challenge to fuck over the source material in the most fuck you way possible and went at it with both boots.

  •  maegul (he/they)   ( @maegul@lemmy.ml ) OPEnglish
    4•1 year ago

    I’ve watched the trailer and I’m not convinced (even though I’ll almost cetainly watch it).

    • Not sure the broadening of the show is necessary or can work.
    • Not sure focusing on carry over characters can work with the gravity of the story, though I thought the emperor clones thing was an excellent way to work in a perennial character that fits within the story and universe.
    • I’m not even sure that slowing it down and doing it all over 8 seasons makes sense.
          •  maegul (he/they)   ( @maegul@lemmy.ml ) OPEnglish
            4•1 year ago

            Oh no … I really wouldn’t judge the books by the show … very different feels, and the books are an old classic too. There are three books, and they’re pretty episodic in their structure, so you could give the first one a shot, read the first few chapters and decide from there. Even just reading the first book will let you know what they’re like. And from memory, they’re not long at all.

          •  Steve   ( @Steve@compuverse.uk ) English
            2•1 year ago

            Everyone should read the books. As annother said the show is only inspired by the books.

            The very basic premise of the books is, the individual is unimportant in face of large systemic forces. The show clearly has the opposite viewpoint. Because those kinds of stories are easier to write, therefore more common, and what people are used to. So it’s also easier to sell.