"All tell and no show" is pretty much Asimov's style in all his work. OTOH the Foundation series was pretty much the second actual science fiction work I read (after somehow reading Heinlein's Orphans of the Sky in 6th grade, during a rather interesting period when my desk got put in a corner), so a lot of the atmosphere and the science-fiction conventions that I encountered there stuck. And of course a good bit of Asimov's setting and details got re-used later by others.
This reminds me of why I disliked the novels from the first. It also reminds me of why I liked Heinlein better, of the two of them. When my brother was deeply immersed in Foundation, I was going for John Brunner and that crowd. But thanks for the shout out to the Dorsai novels. I liked those, too.
I read the books in my 20s, and I think you're onto something when you talk about the *idea* of it being so appealing to a particular type of reader. For me, it's the same thing that interests me about Moneyball or cultural analytics in general (despite its flaws). But I always thought it would be unfilmable, and having watched the first couple of episodes, I'm not sure my opinion has changed. It leans so hard (and kind of has to) into the philosophy that the psychology (and the characters) just feel thin to me--there's a limit to how long I'll stick with a show that just feels like an excuse for "concept art." It's definitely gorgeous to look at, but...
"All tell and no show" is pretty much Asimov's style in all his work. OTOH the Foundation series was pretty much the second actual science fiction work I read (after somehow reading Heinlein's Orphans of the Sky in 6th grade, during a rather interesting period when my desk got put in a corner), so a lot of the atmosphere and the science-fiction conventions that I encountered there stuck. And of course a good bit of Asimov's setting and details got re-used later by others.
This reminds me of why I disliked the novels from the first. It also reminds me of why I liked Heinlein better, of the two of them. When my brother was deeply immersed in Foundation, I was going for John Brunner and that crowd. But thanks for the shout out to the Dorsai novels. I liked those, too.
I read the books in my 20s, and I think you're onto something when you talk about the *idea* of it being so appealing to a particular type of reader. For me, it's the same thing that interests me about Moneyball or cultural analytics in general (despite its flaws). But I always thought it would be unfilmable, and having watched the first couple of episodes, I'm not sure my opinion has changed. It leans so hard (and kind of has to) into the philosophy that the psychology (and the characters) just feel thin to me--there's a limit to how long I'll stick with a show that just feels like an excuse for "concept art." It's definitely gorgeous to look at, but...