3 ms·

Foundation was near-unadaptable as-is, given that it spans eras and wants the user to emotionally attach to the structure, rather than the individuals. For TV

Foundation was near-unadaptable as-is, given that it spans eras and wants the user to emotionally attach to the structure, rather than the individuals. For TV shows, audiences generally attach to characters (and the actors and actresses that play them), and the kind of story that allows a single cast to span eras would need to engage with some degree of time travel, cycles of life and/or abuse, or immortality, none of which fit in with Foundation. That said, Neuromancer is a book that's more "cool" than good; Gibson is very good at painting pictures with words, but story itself is something of a convoluted mess. Hopefully an adaptation can give the writers a chance to smooth out the elements that don't work.

theshrike79 3y ago
Exactly this. The "characters" of foundation was pretty much just men sitting around drinking alcohol, smoking and congratulating each others on how amazingly their plans worked. There's nothing for people to follow or root for, the characters are just vehicles for the story, they don't grow or have a much of a personality.
- brookst 3y ago
  Yep, re-read the series a few years ago and was disappointed. Some amazing big ideas, without much to care about.
- dagw 3y ago
  I feel that 'Civilisation' was supposed to be the main character in the book, and you should be rooting for 'Civilisation' to survive and grow. The humans that come and go are bit players that are only relevant to the extent they help or hinder this main character.
- zellyn 3y ago
  I love how you put that! As a voracious reader of Asimov/Clarke/etc. as a kid, I can confirm that your description fits a depressingly large fraction of that era of SciFi. That kind of SciFi is at its best when the ideas (which are often the only thing that really matters) are so strong, they carry it all — Nightfall, Rendezvous with Rama — and at its worst when it's a bunch of “just men sitting around drinking alcohol, smoking and congratulating each other” (God, I love that description!). Even when the rest of one of his books is good, Heinlein can't resist inserting at least one pompous character just like that, and I can never believe it's not him! The more recent deluge of female/non-binary/asexual/etc. characters and authors in SciFi is such a breath of fresh air.
demondemidi 3y ago
I don’t think any novel is un- adaptable. That’s like the statement “such and such musician defies categories” which is meaningless to anyone who studies the topic. Retroactively I could say the same thing about any popular blockbuster sci-fi like Star Wars for example. The fact that TFT takes place over centuries doesn’t disqualify it from being adaptable. It just take directorial talent.

theshrike79 3y ago

Exactly this. The "characters" of foundation was pretty much just men sitting around drinking alcohol, smoking and congratulating each others on how amazingly their plans worked. There's nothing for people to follow or root for, the characters are just vehicles for the story, they don't grow or have a much of a personality.

brookst 3y ago
Yep, re-read the series a few years ago and was disappointed. Some amazing big ideas, without much to care about.
dagw 3y ago
I feel that 'Civilisation' was supposed to be the main character in the book, and you should be rooting for 'Civilisation' to survive and grow. The humans that come and go are bit players that are only relevant to the extent they help or hinder this main character.
zellyn 3y ago
I love how you put that! As a voracious reader of Asimov/Clarke/etc. as a kid, I can confirm that your description fits a depressingly large fraction of that era of SciFi. That kind of SciFi is at its best when the ideas (which are often the only thing that really matters) are so strong, they carry it all — Nightfall, Rendezvous with Rama — and at its worst when it's a bunch of “just men sitting around drinking alcohol, smoking and congratulating each other” (God, I love that description!). Even when the rest of one of his books is good, Heinlein can't resist inserting at least one pompous character just like that, and I can never believe it's not him! The more recent deluge of female/non-binary/asexual/etc. characters and authors in SciFi is such a breath of fresh air.

demondemidi 3y ago

I don’t think any novel is un- adaptable. That’s like the statement “such and such musician defies categories” which is meaningless to anyone who studies the topic. Retroactively I could say the same thing about any popular blockbuster sci-fi like Star Wars for example. The fact that TFT takes place over centuries doesn’t disqualify it from being adaptable. It just take directorial talent.