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I just finished "Foundation", the first book of Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy (though several more books were added on later). I hadn't read it since the first time in high school, so I wanted to see how it differed from the excellent Foundation series on Apple TV.

The first thing that stood out was Asimov's assumption of a male-dominated pan-galactic society. That was disappointing, but I recall Asimov expressing discomfort writing female characters adequately. Fortunately, the series updated the world so that a woman, a re-imagined Gaal Dornick, could be the greatest mathematician of her generation, and the greatest general of the Empire, Bel Riose, is married to a man. I don't recall skin colour being mentioned in the book, but the series is replete with people of all shapes, sizes, and colours.

The books span several centuries and are essentially anthologies of stories from the same universe, with a hologram of Seldon Harding and his psychohistory uniting them. Of course, the writers had to come up with story devices to keep the audience interested by providing continuity with the main characters rather than just Harding. So Dornick is in suspended animation between episodes, and the Emperor (who didn't play much of a role in the first book) is three clones* advised by a wise, timeless android.

Anyway, I enjoyed the show more than the book, which seemed dated. Asimov had great ideas, but his writing struck me as just okay. Though his stories do move along, and I'm never tempted to give up.

* I'm just starting Foundation and Empire, but I don't recall the emperor being so uniquely characterized.

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