Prelude To Foundation Asaac Asimov ISBN-13 : 978-0008117481 Although, as a child and teenager, I’ve heard an abridged audiobook many times and read Prelude to Foundation the first time more than two decades ago, I loved it more than I can describe and more than any other book I have read for a long time. It’s a good story, well told. While probably not true Space Opera, it has a wide scope. It has all the things I like: Spaceships, otherworlds, science and even some action. I also realised for the first time that Hari Seldon is both unpleasant and sexist. Maybe this is because I am viewing a book from the mid eighties through eyes from the 2020s. Maybe this was Asimov’s intention. Maybe it’s how Asimov was. Perhaps reading the other Foundation and Robot novels will help my understanding.
Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey ISBN: 978-1841499918 I was really keen to read this after Leviathan Wakes was so good and after enjoying the TV series so much. Of course there was the pull of the introduction of Chrisjen Avasarala as well, and she really did not disappoint. She was amazing. The majority of the book was a bit ploddy, especially compared to the first, but the exciting bits were super exciting. The events which resolved the climax and sustained one of the main characters were somewhat contrived and convenient, but I could live with that. In this book, the TV series diverged even more. This disappoints me, because the story and events in the book are so much better than what they changed or invented for TV. I guess I have more of this to come moving on to book 3.