The streaming platform Apple TV Plus is just defining the premiere date for season 2 of the Foundation based on the literary saga of the writer Isaac Asimov. And as there are still several months left for its debut in 2023, we review which books by Asimov to read while we await the arrival of the continuation of the series, whose full first season can be seen on Apple’s streaming service, on any device, either with iOS, macOS, Windows or Android, entering a tv.apple.com.
Which Asimov books to read?
The Foundation series is a free version of the original book and trilogy written by the American author. The proposal starring Jared Harris and Lee Pace, within a long list, and created by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman, took several liberties and combined events of the trilogy itself with those of the sequel written by Asimov many years later .
The order of books to fully understand the history of the Foundation, which Asimov later joined with the so-called Saga of the Robots, is as follows.
1. I, Robot (1950)
It is a collection of new short stories about robots, based on the three Laws of Robotics which Asimov created, and which are the basis of the rest of the novels and short stories linked to the theme. It is interesting to know the Laws of Robotics since in the series The Foundation appears a humanoid robot called Eto Demerzel, who violates one of these laws (also breaking what happens in the books).
2. Steel Vaults (1954)
It is the first novel of humanoid robots, which takes place on Earth in the 47th century, when Humanity had begun to colonize the galaxy, but had stalled in its expansion. Detective Elijah Baley must solve a murder, aided by the robot R. Daneel Olivaw, who we later discover is Eto Demerzel (or Chetter Hummin) in the Foundation prequels.
3. The Naked Sun (1957)
It is the second robot novel and a continuation of the previous one. The protagonist is again Elijah Baley together with Daneel Olivaw, who is sent to the planet Solaria to solve the first murder that occurs on the site and that seems to have been committed by a robot, something that would be impossible due to the Three Laws of robotics
4. The Robots of the Dawn (1983)
With this novel, Asimov begins to send the first sketches to unify with the Foundation Series. Again with Elijah Baley as the protagonist, he has to go to the planet Aurora to solve another crime, in this case of a robot identical to R. Daneel Olivaw, who is locked down and has as the main suspect the engineer Han Fastolfe , its creator.
5. Robots and Empire (1985)
It is Asimov’s fourth novel based on robots, although in this one we will not have Elijah Baley who died several years ago. Earth returns to its wave of planetary conquest, but the so-called “Spacers” are not ready to let Earth advance, leaving a tragic outcome for the planet, which will change history forever.
6. Prelude to the Foundation (1988)
First prequel of the Foundation series in which the mathematician Hari Seldon sketches the first bases of the so-called “psychohistory”, a science that allows determining the future behavior of society and preventing it from a crisis that would last more than 30 thousand years , if not for the Seldon Plan.
7. Towards the Foundation (1993)
Second prequel to the Foundation. Again Hari Seldon continues to develop the psychohistory, although he will lose in the end his best friend, who is nothing more and nothing less than the robot Eto Demerzel. In the series Eto is represented by a woman, although in the books it had the form of a man.
8. Foundation (1951)
The basis of all prequels and sequels. It tells the beginnings of the Foundation’s journey towards the creation of the Second Galactic Empire. You can buy the digital book by clicking here.
9. Foundation and Empire (1952)
It tells the clash of the Galactic Empire with the Foundation and its subsequent fall. Sand you can buy the digital book by clicking here.
10. Second Foundation (1953)
The Foundation faces the “Mule”, a being that psychohistory could not predict. It is here that the Second Foundation must appear to re-guess the course of history that Seldon had written and organized, although by making him reveal his existence, something will not be well received by the First Foundation. Click here to buy the digital book.
11. The Limits of the Foundation (1982)
What originally begins as the search for planet Earth, which disappears from any galactic map, leads to an unexpected discovery. Click here to read the book digitally.
12. Foundation and Earth (1986)
It ends where it all began: Earth, although it is not the planet that everyone expected to find. And, in the end, the best “friend” of Humanity appears again. None other than Eto Demerzel or, in this case, R. Daneel Olivaw. Click here to read the digital format.
These Asimov books can be purchased online to read in Apple Books (click on each title), giving you a more engaging scope for understanding the Foundation series and how it changed the story originally told.
While the series is a mega-production that only Apple TV Plus can make (and pay for), the liberties the writers will take were unnecessary both for the plot and action of the Foundation itself and for the legacy left by Asimov.
While you wait for season 2, you can watch season 1 in full, for free, because Apple TV Plus offers a 7-day free trial for new subscribers (click here).