Stars End S5E08

In this episode, we talk about Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of Foundation and Earth, “Leaving Comporellon,” “Forbidden World,” and “Facing the Pack.”

I’ve largely stopped bothering with the spoiler warnings, but I will spoiler enough in this episode description to warrant one. If you want to discover things as you read and haven’t read these chapters yet, you know what to do.

Tau Ceti is the nearest “sun-like star” to Earth that isn’t in a multiple-star system and so it’s been a frequent locale in Science Fiction over the years. It was a natural choice for Asimov to place Aurora, the first of the Spacer Worlds, in the Tau Ceti system.

Since Asimov made that decision, we’ve discovered and cataloged thousands of exoplanets, that is, planets orbiting stars other than our sun. Several of them are in the Tau Ceti system and two, Tau Ceti d and e, are super-Earths that appear to be at the outer edges of Tau Ceti’s habitable zone. That seems to fit what we learn about Aurora in this book; it was a terraformed world that, without humans to maintain it, was slipping back into uninhabitability.

There is another, proposed, exoplanet orbiting Tau Ceti, called PxP-4. That one could be smack in the middle of the habitable zone.

In any event, it’s time to return to the Tau Ceti system and take a good look around. Also, there are dogs! So Let’s go!

Stars End S5E07

We talk about chapters 4 to 6 of Foundation and Earth.

“There is a Kind of Free-Masonry Among Podcasts”

There’s almost a framing sequence for this part of Foundation and Earth, “On Comporellon,” “Struggle for the Ship,” and “The Nature of Earth.” At the outset, Trevize had bulldozed his way onto Comporellon by implying that Bliss and Pelorat are involved in illicit activities that can’t be allowed to get back to the wife Pelorat does not have. By the end, it’s Trevize who’s plied a woman for information and favors with his masculine wiles.

In the interim, we see what has become of Baleyworld, the first drop of the second wave of galactic colonization. Frigid, puritanical, authoritarian, and gray, it’s an uninviting place until we’re allowed entry into the private world of Mitza Lizalor, and we learn what we need to continue the search for Earth.

Join us as we take it all apart, and then put it back together again! Let’s go!.

Stars End S5E06

We’re diving into Foundation and Earth with Chapters 1 through 3.

“You Cannot Have a Reasonable Civilization Without Podcasts of Some Kind”

The story so far:

When last we checked in, Golan Trevize had deduced that the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of Life, The Interregnum, and Everything was “Galaxia” and not “The Seldon Plan” or “42” as we had previously been led to believe.

But still, he has his doubts. Like a proper mathematics student, he’s uncomfortable unless he can show his work. And so, he and his two ape-descended companions, Pelorat and Bliss, have begun a quest to find out what the actual question was.

Thus, they search for Earth, the biggest, most powerful computer ever built, even bigger than the Milliard Gargantubrain at Maximegalon. They will find it, learn the actual question, and all will be right with the galaxy. Unless the telephone sanitizers have anything to say about it.

Or something like that. Join us for Chapters 1 through 3 of Foundation and Earth, “The Search Begins,” Toward Comporellon” and “At The Entry Station.” We’ll be sure to get it sorted.

Stars End S5E05

It’s our final podcast on Foundation’s Edge as we discuss chapters 17 to 20!

“Once This Podcast is Attained All Sighs Become Sighs of Ecstasy”

My Mom, an unabashed fan of Joseph Campbell, frequently counseled me to “find my bliss.” I think I’ve done pretty well.

Collectively, though, we may have found our Bliss as we reach the closing chapters of our novel, “Gaia,” “Collision,” “Decision,” and “Conclusion.” Our heroes have arrived at Gaia, and all our principal characters are on the scene. Stuff is finally happening! This is as action-packed as an Asimov story can be!

And we finally, through Golan Trevize, learn the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of Life, the Interregnum, and Everything! Spoiler alert: it isn’t “42.”

Let’s GO!

Foundational Readings: On The Edge

It’s been a while since we’ve done an installment of “Foundational Readings” or of “Next Time on Stars End.” I used those two columns to share the art that originally accompanied the stories we were reading. There’s a bit of unfinished business there, but today we have a bit of a surprise.

I remember what a big deal this was: the first Foundation novel in thirty-two years! But here’s something I didn’t remember or, more likely, wasn’t aware of at the time. Unsurprisingly, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine thought it was a pretty big deal too. So much so that the centerpiece of their December 1982 issue are the first two chapters excerpted from the book.

On Saturday we’ll release Stars End, Season 5, Episode 5. It’s our last installment about Foundation’s Edge; we’ve reached Gaia and the book’s climax.

But there’s lots more! There are two additional pieces of writing by the Great and Glorious Az himself, an editorial entitled “Susan Calvin” and a short essay entitled “The Story Behind the Foundation” under the masthead “Viewpoint.” I’ve read the latter before, although maybe not all at once; it is repurposed in an abbreviated form as a foreword (with the same title) to Foundation and Earth. The editorial, though, was new to me; I’ve never seen it anywhere else.

There are also commentaries from some of the biggest names in Science Fiction lauding the advent of a new Foundation novel including Arthur C. Clarke, Harlan Ellison, and Larry Niven. Those alone were worth tracking down a copy. Here’s a sample.

But of course, the main attraction here is the artwork: like the novel, these are the first Foundation illustrations in decades. Unlike the novel, these were not all that available in the subsequent forty-one years.

There are three nice images drawn by Vincent Di Fate. The first is the opening two-page spread of the excerpt.

The other two take up an entire page of the magazine each.

Two additional images reuse elements of images 2 and 3 above. This is lovely stuff and as I’ve said on our companion site, JosephFranké.com, great art deserves to be seen.

You can find out about Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine online at www.asimovs.com. I scored my copy on eBay for a reasonable price.

Or, you can read the whole issue here: Asimov’s SF Magazine v06n12 1982-12.

All illustrations by Vincent Di Fate. You can learn more about his work at www.vincentdifate.com.

Simultaneously published at Comics, The Universe, and Everything.

Stars End S5E04

We talk about chapters 13 through 16 of Foundation’s Edge.

“The Podcast is a Powerful Dispenser of Odors”

We’re finally up to the episode where we reveal that Apple TV’s Foundation has been renewed for season 3! Not exactly ripped from the headlines.

Also, the Great and Glorious Az wants us to know that, like spaceships, other planets have their own distinctive odors.

⁠It’s true!⁠ Captain Kirk could have faced the Gorn on the Moon as astronauts tell us that moondust smells like gunpowder. The atmospheres of Venus and Mars contain hydrogen sulfide, which smells of rotten eggs. Ew. Lucky for you if you took off your helmet on either planet you’d be too busy suffocating or bursting into flames to notice the stench. You get the idea.

Still, I’m just happy that this olfactory dissertation doesn’t overlap with the exhaustive explorations of restrooms.

So we talk about “University,” “Forward,” “Gaia-S,” and “Convergence” from Foundations Edge. There’s a nice bit about The Five Sisters, a pentagonal constellation as seen from Sayshell, that plays an important part in the plot. It reminded Joseph of “Constant as the Northern Star” one of Asimov’s science essays from the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It was collected in Of Matters Great and Small. And we go on a bit of a lengthy, but fun. digression.

Join us!

Stars End S5 – Special Update 2024-02-24

Dateline – Terminus:

It’s sweet that you guys noticed that we hadn’t commented on the news about Apple TV’s Foundation being renewed for Season 3!

But that isn’t exactly what happened; we did, in fact, talk about it on S5E04. Unfortunately, we’ve all been super busy and the post-production train has a metaphorical Bishop’s Claw on the tracks. Believe me, you don’t want to mess with one of those. That episode will be out in a couple of days.

But when the ⁠news about David Goyer and his status as showrunner⁠ dropped, we decided to do something different. Here’s our first special bulletin!

Me, I’m hoping for huge budget cuts! Let’s strip it down until it looks like a production of Our Town and put The Great and Glorious Az‘s vision on full conversational display.

And let’s lean into it! How about a long monologue by Jared Harris, shot on location in a Shoney’s men’s room about how little plumbing has changed in 12000 years? I’d watch that!

Thanks for your dedication to Stars End and never fear! We’ll be getting caught up as quickly as we can.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7qXqJno16MB1be6KrA4mUZ?si=0d6ad473307347f6 https://starsendpodcast.com/2024/02/25/stars-end-s5-special-update-2024-02-24

Stars End S5E03

In S5E03 we talk about chapters 9 through 12 of Foundation’s Edge.

“We Are Not Children to be Frightened with Tales of Grandmother Podcast”

Thanks to Avengers: Endgame lots of people know what the end of a chess game is called. This section of Foundation’s Edge which includes the chapters “Hyperspace,” “Table,” “Sayshell,” and “Agent” is much more like the beginning of a chess game, which is called the “opening.” That’s not nearly as evocative a title. It’s mainly about shifting the pieces around in hopes that something will happen.

And that’s what’s going on here; the players are still being shuffled about the board. Even the most eventful chapter, “Table” results in Gendibal and Novi moving toward the center of the board.

But just because exciting things aren’t happening doesn’t mean these chapters are boring! There’s stuff to be figured out, decisions to be made, and things to discuss! This is where the Great and Glorious Az is at his best! Don’t miss this one!

Wait! Did somebody stop to do MATH??

Plus we think about what the Milky Way Galaxy would look like from Terminus. Let’s go!!

Stars End S5E02

In S5E02 we talk about chapters 5 through 8 of Foundation’s Edge.

“Do Nothing Unless You Must and When You Must Act – Podcast”

We’re about 40% of the way into the book now and we’re still introducing characters!

This section introduces us to the Second Foundation including Stor Gendibal, Delora Delarmi, and First Speaker Quindor Shandass, and shows us that the Speakers’ Table is a raucous affair. We also meet Sura Novi, a Trantorian farmwoman who becomes important to Gendibal.

We’re also treated to an Asenion chain of reasoning describing how Janov figured out the characteristics of Earth.

And we answer some hard-hitting questions like “Are any of the characters actually likable?”

You wouldn’t want to miss that, would you? Join us while we discuss “Speaker,” “Earth,” “Farmer,” and “Farmwoman!” When you must — listen! Let’s go!

Stars End S5E01

Welcome to our season 5 premiere in which we talk about the first four chapters of Foundation’s Edge!

“At Odd and Unpredictable Times We Cling in Fright to the Podcast”

Hello, True Believer! We’re back! Again. And we’re ready to dive into season five!

You might recall the beginning of Season 3 when we made a pronouncement like this one. “On the Stars End Podcast, Foundation canon is represented by two separate, yet equally important kinds of seasons” the odd-numbered seasons, which discuss Asimov’s writings, and the even-numbered seasons that talk about the Apple TV+ series.”

That’s been working for us so far, and we have no plans to stop now! And here we are in an odd-numbered season so, we’re starting with the first sequel, Foundation’s Edge, specifically the first four chapters, “Councilman,” “Mayor,” “Historian,” and “Space.” That’s the starting point. We’ll continue in four-chapter chunks through the entire novel. You can probably guess where we’ll go from there, but we promise there will be some treats and surprises along the way.

So join us as we enter the second interregnum between seasons 2 and 3 of the Apple TV+ series. We’ll make sure that this one won’t seem like 30,000 years either!