Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Drib
I thought the Asimov estate took these down, along with a cease and desist order.
Do you have an update on this, and if it's still an issue?
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They were taken down from Amazon back circa 2013/2014. My understanding is that The Azimov estate said that no financial gain could be derived from the works, but had no problems with the works if they were free, which is why any donations are limited to that trivial amount of a couple of dollars.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pajamaman
Thanks, Karellen. I glimpsed the start and they well written. There is a book, originally short story that develops the Foundation universe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychohistorical_Crisis
There was also a trilogy developing the Foundation written. The final one was by David Brin.
And then there was the Caliban trilogy that continued the robot universe.
Asimov wrote a lot and a lot of it is not that great. I question if reading his entire opus start to finish is advisable. There is plenty of stuff by him that I have not and will never read. But when he is good, he deserves his reputation, IMO.
I presume you are also a fan of Clarke. |
These final Foundation books are very well written, and quite complex which required me to take notes as there were a number of characters that the story followed. So all those Caliban, Prospero, No-law robots, modified law robots, original law robots are all covered in the novels, as well as Harry Seldon, Wanda, and the usual characters from the stories.
I never ended up reading Psychohistorical Crisis as I only discovered its existence when I had almost completed reading the Universe, and I did not feel like going back and reading
more...
I definitely agree, Asimov wrote a lot and a lot of it was not great. I would not recommend anyone to read the entire opus the way I did. I find it highly frustrating at times and it came to a point where I couldn't wait to be finished. But I persisted.
My main thoughts are...
1. Most of the Robot stories are childish. It is not hard to imagine 12 year old boys, well after bedtime, hiding under their sheets with torch in hand marvelling at the talk of robots and space battles. Where quick-witted protagonists win the day with simple (and quite childish) arguments of logic, where enemies mutually respect each others efforts and graciously accept defeat and punishment. Where women are simply a petty hindrance (or entertainment) that have no capacity to understand the "workings of a mans world" and become hysterical or faint at the slightest provocation. Men are arrogantly proud and burst into anger at the minutest perceived disagreement or insult. These stories are simply 1950's society placed in a "futuristic" setting.
2. There is such an imbalance and mismatch of the level of technology in all of Asimov’s stories. How is it that scientists could invent the fabled Positronic Brain, with the billions of required nano based circuitry but computers are still at the punch-card level using vacuum tubes? This is the equivalent of inventing the combustion engine but not yet discovering the wheel.
I like the
concept of Foundation, but not its delivery.
I do also like Arthur C. Clarke, and adore his (and supporting authors) Rama series.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Drib
(However, those two covers are horrible - in my opinion.)  |
The author told me he was hoping that a publisher would pick him up and sort out the Asimov Estate issues and they would, among other things, update the covers.
I contacted the author via his website to ask his progress on the final book. He stated it takes about 5 years to write so not to expect anything until circa 2023. We have corresponded a number of times since and he is a really nice and approachable person.
(edit. fix typ-o with date)