[astrohip]

As someone who doubted both the ability to bring this to screen, and the changes from the books, I've never been happier to be wrong. This was an absolutely stunning first episode.

I'm sure it helped that I'm intimately familiar with the books, so I knew the general gist, and the direction of the story. But the changes weren't disruptive, the acting is excellent, the visuals amazing.

Off to watch E2.

 

[tivoknucklehead]

I knew nothing about the books or the show . Episode 1 was the quality of a $100 million budget movie . Wow just wow

 

[rloper]

As a very heavy reader of all things Asimov I absolutely loved the first episode. A fantastic setup and I will relish seeing this version of the story told.

Production quality and special effects were stunning. Acting, especially by Jared Harris, was top notch.

A must see for any science fiction fan.

 

[kaszeta]

So far… I love it. Very interested to see where this goes.

 

[cmontyburns]

I'm encouraged to read these comments. I've never read the books, though of course am familiar with them and the reverence that some people have. I was interested in the show both as a means of ticking a cultural box and also hopefully as good spectacle viewing. The reviews have been leaning tepid, however, so I wondered if maybe I wasn't going to get either, and shouldn't bother. These posts make me think I should dive in.

 

[rloper]

Spoilers for Ep 1:

Spoiler

This is one of the first instances I can think of that not only shows a space elevator, but shows what happens when one is destroyed. However the show did not highlight the damage as much as they could have.

Assuming Trantor is approximately Earth-sized, and the Star Bridge did not use some kind of anti-gravity, then that main tether would have been approximately 35,000km high. The star port would probably been at geosynchronous orbit level.

So when the tether was broken, the entire 35k would have been wrapped around Trantor as Trantor rotated. And would have wrapped almost FIVE TIMES around the planet. Truly a cataclysmic event.

The only other instance in fiction I can think of happened in Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. This was a Mars-based space elevator that was cut and the tether wrapped multiple times around Mars. Much less loss of life because Mars was sparsely settled (in that book).

Food for thought…

 

[Rob Helmerichs]

This is an episode thread, so no spoiler tags necessary for stuff from the episode itself...

 

[john4200]

Spoilers for Ep 1:

Assuming Trantor is approximately Earth-sized, and the Star Bridge did not use some kind of anti-gravity, then that main tether would have been approximately 35,000km high. The star port would probably been at geosynchronous orbit level.

The circumference of the Earth is 40'000 km, and the height of geostationary orbit above the Earth's surface is just under 36'000 km. While a conventional space elevator design needs to extend past geostationary altitude in order to have a counterweight, it would not need to extend the same amount as the altitude if the weight is distributed into a larger shape than the tether (could use an asteroid counterweight). So a fallen Earth space elevator tether would not wrap multiple times around the Earth. It would wrap around about one time.

However, the tether would not be of constant width as shown. Unless some strange new physics were invented, the tether would taper from its thickest point at the top to its thinnest point at the bottom. The taper would likely be easily noticeable, possibly around 10 times thicker at the top than the bottom.

 

[rloper]

The circumference of the Earth is 40'000 km, and the height of geostationary orbit above the Earth's surface is just under 36'000 km. While a conventional space elevator design needs to extend past geostationary altitude in order to have a counterweight, it would not need to extend the same amount as the altitude if the weight is distributed into a larger shape than the tether (could use an asteroid counterweight). So a fallen Earth space elevator tether would not wrap multiple times around the Earth. It would wrap around about one time.

However, the tether would not be of constant width as shown. Unless some strange new physics were invented, the tether would taper from its thickest point at the top to its thinnest point at the bottom. The taper would likely be easily noticeable, possibly around 10 times thicker at the top than the bottom.

You are correct…I was using the planetary diameter in my head, not the circumference. Ah well. Still, the 'garrote around the world' is quite spectacular.

 

[mlsnyc]

Never read the books and no idea what the story is about. I paid as close attention and tried to follow as much as I could, but I feel lost. Maybe it's because I haven't read the books or there's just too much going on for a first episode or both. The production value and acting are excellent, so I'll hang on a little more and keep watching.

 

[whoknows55]

This is a great start, they're spinning an interesting story, the visuals are amazing, and I enjoy the casting a lot. I've read the books a while ago so I know the basics of the story but I'm really curious to see where this goes. I'm trying to figure out what Demerzel's (Laura Birn) role is in the empire.

 

[wprager]

Never read the books and no idea what the story is about. I paid as close attention and tried to follow as much as I could, but I feel lost. Maybe it's because I haven't read the books or there's just too much going on for a first episode or both. The production value and acting are excellent, so I'll hang on a little more and keep watching.

I typically find online recaps are great for this:
Foundation Season 1, Episode 1 'The Emperor's Peace,' Recap & Spoilers

 

[jsmeeker]

I am not sure what to think here. I actually understood the base premise and I haven't even watched a breakdown video yet.

 

[Anubys]

Never read the books and no idea what the story is about. I paid as close attention and tried to follow as much as I could, but I feel lost. Maybe it's because I haven't read the books or there's just too much going on for a first episode or both. The production value and acting are excellent, so I'll hang on a little more and keep watching.

I'm not giving you a hard time, but what was confusing? I thought the premise was laid out in a very straight-forward fashion...

 

[mlsnyc]

I'm not giving you a hard time, but what was confusing? I thought the premise was laid out in a very straight-forward fashion...

I don't feel I'm confused so much as I don't get how all the things that were thrown at me in that first hour fit together. For example, why does such a vast and powerful empire care so much about Seldon predicting its downfall? What makes Seldon, intellectual that he may be, so influential throughout the galaxy that his findings can bear so much weight? What's causing the unrest in the outer planets that's making its way inward towards rhe center of the empire? Is it Seldon's musings or something else? Maybe these and other things that are unclear to me will become clearer as the episodes play out, but it felt like these are things I should already know.

 

[ej42137]

I don't feel I'm confused so much as I don't get how all the things that were thrown at me in that first hour fit together. For example, why does such a vast and powerful empire care so much about Seldon predicting its downfall? What makes Seldon, intellectual that he may be, so influential throughout the galaxy that his findings can bear so much weight? What's causing the unrest in the outer planets that's making its way inward towards rhe center of the empire? Is it Seldon's musings or something else? Maybe these and other things that are unclear to me will become clearer as the episodes play out, but it felt like these are things I should already know.

Asimov said the Foundation series is loosely based on Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". I think if you know this it's obvious what these things are meant to symbolize.

 

[mlsnyc]

Asimov said the Foundation series is loosely based on Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". I think if you know this it's obvious what these things are meant to symbolize.

I didn't read that either. So it's not going to be much help to me.

Maybe it's my fault for not going into this with the mindset that it should stand on its own, not having read the novels and all. It's not that I couldn't follow what I was watching, but it just felt like there's more to it I was missing.

And I don't want to give the impression I didn't like it. Like I said, production values and acting are top notch. I want to keep going. It'll hopefully come together for me eventually.

 

[mr.unnatural]

I read the trilogy of books back when I was in college almost 50 years ago so my recollection of the story is hazy at best. I seem to recall the story spans over thousands of years so Seldon's predictions will reach fruition and we'll see what happens as a result. I enjoyed the first two episodes and can't wait for the next one.

 

[Rob Helmerichs]

Maybe it's my fault for not going into this with the mindset that it should stand on its own, not having read the novels and all. It's not that I couldn't follow what I was watching, but it just felt like there's more to it I was missing.

Considering the fact that they're jumping back and forth in time, perhaps you should expect pieces of the puzzle to be missing..?

 

[mlsnyc]

Considering the fact that they're jumping back and forth in time, perhaps you should expect pieces of the puzzle to be missing..?

I agree, hence

It'll hopefully come together for me eventually.