Asimov and Classic Traveller influence

[jchurchill]

I can't remember exactly where I saw it discussed but Asimov's Foundation trilogy [which later expanded] was a strong influence on Traveller. Early classic Traveller that is. I just saw copies of the early novels in a bookstore and thumbing through them I noticed some strong similarities in tone and technology. I started Foundation years ago but never finsihed it.

For those of you who have read some or all of the books --

Is there a strong link between the two? Does any one remember where this link was discussed? [Book 1-2-3?]

 

[Malenfant]

It's very similar in the sense that there's an interstellar empire, psychohistory, and the emperor in Foundation is called Cleon.

There are no aliens in the original trilogy though. And the whole trilogy centres around a collapse into a Long Night (which makes me wonder why people complain about MT and TNE, when Traveller was only being true to one of its major influences...).

Like you, I tried reading Foundation ages ago and didn't finish it. Then I picked it up again the other year and read all three books. They're pretty good - I suggest you pick it up again.

 

[jchurchill]

"It's very similar in the sense that there's an interstellar empire, psychohistory, and the emperor in Foundation is called Cleon."

That part must be pure coincedence.

"There are no aliens in the original trilogy though."

Cool. Aliens are just humans in furry suits right?

"And the whole trilogy centres around a collapse into a Long Night (which makes me wonder why people complain about MT and TNE, when Traveller was only being true to one of its major influences...)."

Maybe those people only like a past wreckage of society and more upbeat future?

"Like you, I tried reading Foundation ages ago and didn't finish it. Then I picked it up again the other year and read all three books. They're pretty good - I suggest you pick it up again."

Like many others I know I lost interest in SF at certain point in my teens but I was thinking of taking a stab at the trilogy again.

 

[clementk]

Well worth it for the first three books. After that it tended to drift, combine with Asimov's robot books, then looped around for prequals. I especially like the Mule section of Foundation and Empire.

As Asimov himself had said it's Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in Space written from the POV of someone in the Second Galatic Empire. Asimov's writing style can be a bit dry but trudge through the first book which is really more a collection of short stories anyway.

It was one of my first SF reads and I still have my original copies. It has merchant princes (yes the exact wording), scouts, psionics of a sort, big ships, etc. . Trantor’s pretty much how I picture Capitol and it has to be an influence for Coruscant. The prequals set during the Empire seemed a bit drab to me though I never managed to finish the first one.

The books are not a major downer to me, the whole theme being saving and rekindling civilization before it collapses completely from inertia. Bringing about the second empire in a 1000 years instead of 30,000 by manipulation using psychohistory. Hum, that sounds familiar.

Casey (an idea for an alt.1248 campaign just clicked for me )

 

[jchurchill]

"It has merchant princes (yes the exact wording), scouts, psionics of a sort, big ships, etc. . Trantor’s pretty much how I picture Capitol and it has to be an influence for Coruscant."

And a form of jump space of I recall....called something else like hyperspace....

 

[clementk]

Yes. Foundation p. 4 "He had steeled himself just a little for the Jump through hyper-space".

Just came across a reference to a grav "throne of rhodium-iridium alloy" for a minor planet's king. (p. 141) And there is the Encyclopedia Galactica.

Do keep in mind, especially for the pre-Trilogy proto-Foundation stories, there are some references to atomic energy and radiation from before they were fully understood.

Casey

 

[jchurchill]

Do keep in mind, especially for the pre-Trilogy proto-Foundation stories, there are some references to atomic energy and radiation from before they were fully understood.
=================================================
No problem. Who says I undertstand atomic energy or radiation today?

Do you mean understood by the characters or understood by Asimov?!
[You can see that people actually pay me to be a troublemaker]

 

[spank]

Just avoid Foundation's Edge, and Foundation and Earth.

 

[clementk]

Originally posted by secretagent:
Do you mean understood by the characters or understood by Asimov?!

Both? Well IIRC the stories that were later combined in Foundation were written before 1945 so there are some references to people standing near open sources of radiation etc. . Nothing major but I remember Asimov mentioning it in one of the proto-Foundation books which after checking are called the Empire series. Pebble in the Sky is the one I'm thinking of. It involves the main character getting transported into the future by radiation that would in reality just kill him.

Wikipedia has a nice article on the Foundation books here though I'd recomend skimming it carefully until you've read the first three books.

Casey

 

[kafka47]

I have often used M:0 and Foundation as interchangable Milieus. As I tend to ignore that Cleon actually wanted to be crowned Emperor that was more Artemus' rewriting of history. Otherwise, if you look at there are strong parallels between the rise of the Foundation & the Third Imperium.

I am sure Marc would confirm that Asimov in all his forms was a strong inspiration for Traveller although not as much as some of the other pulp writers like Piper, Heinlein, Clarke.

 

[clementk]

I'm fairly certain there was a thread on CotI about modeling Foundation tech in Traveller.

Casey

 

[jchurchill]

"I am sure Marc would confirm that Asimov in all his forms was a strong inspiration for Traveller although not as much as some of the other pulp writers like Piper, Heinlein, Clarke."

I do recall a statement to that effect in the intros to one of the CT LLB's.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Add me to the "started but gave up" list, but that was about 20 years ago...

 

[aramis]

Me, too, andrew, me too...

Never did like to READ asimov... but his adaptations to film are quite worthy.

 

[Malenfant]

What adaptations to film? "I, Robot" is the only one I can think of, and that was hardly faithful to the book (though it was a nifty film IMO).

What other Asimov stories have been made into movies?

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
What adaptations to film? "I, Robot" is the only one I can think of, and that was hardly faithful to the book (though it was a nifty film IMO).

What other Asimov stories have been made into movies?

All I can think of is Bicentennial Man with Robin Williams. I thought it was a very good movie, 4 outta 5 Imperial Stars. Probably bombed at the box office though as it was iirc very long and totally failed to include any of the requisite car chases, gratutious sex, explosions, or gunplay. My gods they even had the temerity to actually have a plot and character development.

 

[Malenfant]

Hmm. Bicentennial Man has been on my list of things to watch for some time. Maybe I should go see it.

 

[far-trader]

Unless I badly misjudge you Malenfant I think you'll find it well worth the price of the rental.

 

[Malenfant]

Well, I liked A.I. if that's anything to go by...

 

[clementk]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
What other Asimov stories have been made into movies?

I think Nightfall's been adapated twice, once in the 80's and then in 2000. Nightfall's considered one of his better stories but I've not read it or seen these movies, which aren't rated that high on IMDB.

Casey