Man I'm tired

[graeco_celt]

It doesn't seem as though I should be but I am.
In fact, I've been feeling pretty exhausted for the last two or so weeks.
Not quite sure what's going on there.

Anyway...
(Yeah, bullet points again. Sorry)

* Foundation has proved to be somewhat disappointing. It feels rushed and the characters are never developed. In fact, more than anything, it

Comments

[shweta_narayan]

Foundation is a collection of thematically-linked short stories. The next two Foundation books are actual novels, but if you read them, for all that's good and kind in this world, stop there.

I've read just about all of Asimov's stuff, even the truly extra abysmal novels, and I'd say he seldom developed a character worth a damn. The groundbreaking was certainly not in the realm of character development and subtlety :)

But I'm not old enough to know why it was groundbreaking; I read Asimov's as Classic My-Dad's-SF.

[graeco_celt]

Hmmm, I grew up reading Asimov but only his short stories, for some unknown reason!
In fact, most of my sci-fi reading has always been short stories, as opposed to my fantasy consumption which has tended more (though not exclusively) towards novels and series.

Personally, I like the premise of Foundation, which just me all the more irritated by what I see as a waste of potential (bit like the new Doctor Who series but we won't go there ;D).
I really really like his short fiction and I suspect I would have quite liked any one of the sections of Foundation, if they'd been pitched to me as short stories.

I suspect the 'groundbreakingness' is due to the concepts he proposed, rather than his novel writing style. At least I hope so but who knows? After all,we live in a world where many consider Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling to be brilliantly talented...

*takes off bitter old lady hat and goes about her day*

[shweta_narayan]

In fact, most of my sci-fi reading has always been short stories, as opposed to my fantasy consumption which has tended more (though not exclusively) towards novels and series.

Hey me too, till I met the Datlow/Windling short story collections!
Now most of my short fiction reading is fantasy too :)

I do think Asimov was at his strongest in the short work, where relatively shallow characterization wasn't such an issue, and nor was his prose. So reading the short fiction is a good way to go, really.

I may be too young to know why his concepts were groundbreaking :)

[graeco_celt]

Well, I'm only a year older than you and I'm certainly no expert in the exact timeline of the proposal of concepts of human existence (in science fiction or anywhere else