Jump to content

Asimov's Foundation series.

Vanguard3000

By Vanguard3000
in General

 Share

Recommended Posts

Vanguard3000

Vanguard3000

Posted
Posted

There's a sale on at the book store, and I'd really like to take advantage of it.  I had originally planned to get Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, thinking it was a trilogy, and a fourth book (the sale is buy 2, get %20 off, buy 3 get %30 off, or buy 4 and get %40 off).  But it turns out it's actually eight books or so.

I was wondering if the first could be bought and read as a standalone book?  That is, if I buy and read only the first of the series, will it be a complete story, so that I don't have to buy the rest to get any enjoyment out of it?  And also, is it any good?

As I'm not too sure what else to get, I'll also accept recommendations here.  So far, I'm considering:

-The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (this was recommended to me by a friend).

-The Hominids trilogy, by Robert J. Sawyer (I enjoyed Calculating God by Mr. Sawyer)

-A biography of Fidel Castro (he's something of a personal idol, so I'd like to learn more about him, but I don't know which biography I should get.  Recommendations?  Edric?  ;))

-Anything by William Gibson, or Harlan Ellison if I can find it (which I haven't yet).

ANyway, thanks for any suggestions.

Cyborg

Cyborg

Posted
Posted

(the sale is buy 2, get %20 off, buy 3 get %30 off, or buy 4 and get %40 off).  But it turns out it's actually eight books or so.

Will that give you 80% off?  :P

In that case, buy ten or more books  :)

Edric O

Edric O

Posted
Posted

I am a huge fan of Asimov's Foundation series.

There are no cliffhangers or loose ends from one book to the next, so you can just buy the first X number of books in the series.

But if you ask me, the books just keep getting better and better as you advance through the series, so you should buy them all. ;)

- A biography of Fidel Castro (he's something of a personal idol, so I'd like to learn more about him, but I don't know which biography I should get. Recommendations? Edric?  ;)

Sorry - can't help you there. :-[ I've never read anything about his life. But Fidel himself has written a number of books, so maybe there's an autobiography too...? This is only a guess, though.

bob_fox

bob_fox

Posted
Posted

All of Asimov's books can be read as stand-alone stories, since he normally repeats everything you need to know, but very few of them actually are. Nearly all of them are connected - the ones that aren't he was planning to. And he very seldom wrote in 'order'. The first Foundation novel was Foundation (obviously), but then he wrote both prequels and sequels to that story. Sometimes it can be quite fustrating to find out where all his books fit in.

At the moment, I'm reading one of his very few stand-alone novels, The Gods Themselves - it's fascinating. There's also The End of Eternity (his book on time travel) and Nemesis (which he wrote just before he died), to name some of the more popular stand-alone novels of his.

Anyway, that's enough from me - the number one Asimov fan  8) - for now.

alchemi2

alchemi2

Posted
Posted

if memory serves you can read them all as seperate books apart from 2 which are the same characters and time frame the rest are spread over thousands of years.

To really appreciate them though you should also read his robot novels and the E Bailey books.

Joe Haldeman has wrote some good books.

Vanguard3000

Vanguard3000

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well, it seems I've been had.  THe sale only applied to the crappy books they were trying to get rid of.  Bah!

But I have recently found a really nice four-storey used book store.  The prices there are amazing.  For $14:50 CAD, I got five books.  Granted, they're probably crappy books, but books nonetheless.  Here's what I got:

-Outland (based on the film of the same name) - Alan Dean Foster

-The Last Starfighter (based on the film of the same name, which I liked as a kid) - Alan Dean Foster

-The Black Hole (based on the film of the same name, which I also liked as a kid) - Alan Dean Foster

-Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye (I had an issue of the comic book for this, but never found out what happened.  For two bucks, I couldn't go wrong) - Alan Dean Foster

-Doom:  Hell on Earth (based on the game Doom 2.  I started this book when I was little, but never finished it) - By Dafydd Ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver

I also got Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle froma  nearby store.  I enjoyed Sirens of Titan, and a friend recommended this one, so I figured I'd check it out.

Anyway, I could find a few Foundation sequels, but not FOundation itself.  I think I might get Foundation from Chapters, then go to the used book place and get whatever else in the series I can find.

Mahdi

Mahdi

Posted
Posted

It's not busted up, I doubt it's 20 years old, and most people figure used is implied WHEN YOU'RE BUYING A TV FROM SOMEOE ELSE.

Vanguard3000

Vanguard3000

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Used as in used out.  I would think there wouldn't be much time for that TV anyway, before the tubes blew.

Besides, I already told you, I have a TV, and I don't watch TV all that often.  Why are you so keen on getting rid of it?  I bet it smells like pee.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.