Yeah, this was the exact reason why I was so tentative about Foundation at first. After seeing how Altered Carbon S02 floated like a lead balloon, it became quite apparent that audiences, along with a sense of progression, want a sense of continuity. Audiences don’t seem to gel with TV shows that have a different lead every season, so Altered Carbon really struggled as the audience had spent a previous season connecting to an actor who then disappeared at the start of S02. Of course, anyone who’d ever read the books was well prepared for this, but the ‘average viewer’ was not and sadly it was cancelled.
I assumed the same would be true of Foundation, where in the books you’ve got a different lead in practically every chapter! So that probably also played a hand in the changes.
And hell fuckin’ YEAH Severance was incredible. Super weird. I love TV shows that create an inexplicable universe then go about slowly revealing it. Season 2 is a go, so I can’t wait to find out how Mark reacts to the knowledge he gained in the finale.
Hopefully S02 Severance will be out this year. Obviously there was a big break because of the writers strike, they’re currently filming right now and from the sounds of the statement I read, seem really keen to have it out ASAP.
And yes the Altered Carbon books are amazing! I feel like it’s almost always best to watch the TV show / film first before the books, it’s often a little disappointing the other way around as we’ve built our own internal universe of how characters look and sound. Plus the books by the nature usually have much more detail.
Have you read much by Iain M. Banks? It’s classed as ‘hard’ scifi, but I think that’s just because he refers to actual known physics quite a lot. Really really really cool worldbuilding, especially in the Culture series. The Xeelee series is also fantastic and there’s a ton of books there!
OK for the Xeelee series (by Stephen Baxter), you’re really spoiled for choice… the author designed all the books to be standalone, doesn’t really do ‘cliffhangers’. But he has a suggested reading order:
Vacuum Diagrams (collection of short stories which will set out the overal story of the universe)
Timelike Infinity / Ring (tells the story of a character integral to the series, Michael Poole)
Raft and Flux (incidents amongst the wider background)
Destiny’s Children (three-parter in the same universe, exploring different evolutions of humanity)
Then whatever else you like the sound of.
As an example of the sorts of timescales he writes over, ‘Xeelee: Redemption’ is set between the years 4060 and 5,000,000,000! Personally I prefer long books over short stories, which to me always feel like they end just as they get going. So while Vacuum Diagrams is excellent, if the same is true for you, maybe jump in with Timelike Infinity. It’s a shame all my stuff is in storage atm as I could post you some of these. Hopefully you can find them at your local library.
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Yeah, this was the exact reason why I was so tentative about Foundation at first. After seeing how Altered Carbon S02 floated like a lead balloon, it became quite apparent that audiences, along with a sense of progression, want a sense of continuity. Audiences don’t seem to gel with TV shows that have a different lead every season, so Altered Carbon really struggled as the audience had spent a previous season connecting to an actor who then disappeared at the start of S02. Of course, anyone who’d ever read the books was well prepared for this, but the ‘average viewer’ was not and sadly it was cancelled.
I assumed the same would be true of Foundation, where in the books you’ve got a different lead in practically every chapter! So that probably also played a hand in the changes.
And hell fuckin’ YEAH Severance was incredible. Super weird. I love TV shows that create an inexplicable universe then go about slowly revealing it. Season 2 is a go, so I can’t wait to find out how Mark reacts to the knowledge he gained in the finale.
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Hopefully S02 Severance will be out this year. Obviously there was a big break because of the writers strike, they’re currently filming right now and from the sounds of the statement I read, seem really keen to have it out ASAP.
And yes the Altered Carbon books are amazing! I feel like it’s almost always best to watch the TV show / film first before the books, it’s often a little disappointing the other way around as we’ve built our own internal universe of how characters look and sound. Plus the books by the nature usually have much more detail.
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Have you read much by Iain M. Banks? It’s classed as ‘hard’ scifi, but I think that’s just because he refers to actual known physics quite a lot. Really really really cool worldbuilding, especially in the Culture series. The Xeelee series is also fantastic and there’s a ton of books there!
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OK for the Xeelee series (by Stephen Baxter), you’re really spoiled for choice… the author designed all the books to be standalone, doesn’t really do ‘cliffhangers’. But he has a suggested reading order:
Vacuum Diagrams (collection of short stories which will set out the overal story of the universe)
Timelike Infinity / Ring (tells the story of a character integral to the series, Michael Poole)
Raft and Flux (incidents amongst the wider background)
Destiny’s Children (three-parter in the same universe, exploring different evolutions of humanity)
Then whatever else you like the sound of.
As an example of the sorts of timescales he writes over, ‘Xeelee: Redemption’ is set between the years 4060 and 5,000,000,000! Personally I prefer long books over short stories, which to me always feel like they end just as they get going. So while Vacuum Diagrams is excellent, if the same is true for you, maybe jump in with Timelike Infinity. It’s a shame all my stuff is in storage atm as I could post you some of these. Hopefully you can find them at your local library.
For Banks, there’s an excellent reading order here: https://www.howtoread.me/the-culture-reading-order/
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