It’s hard to get a legitimate take on this show due to Apple fans. The consensus that I got was that it was not anything like the books, might be missing the point. But the veteran actors and Emperor plotlines are great while the new actors and Foundation plotline are weak.
I went through the book series again and was wondering if anything from the books does get adapted or is it pretty much the same as season 1?
Apple do seem to take some online criticism of their shows onboard. I assume this is why I’ve seen comments that season 2 of Invasion is remarkably different from Season 1.
For Foundation, things like Gaal’s redundant voice-overs are largely gone. There’s less of noticeable difference in quality between Trantor and Foundation (in that, for me, the outer planets stories aren’t as bad, but the empire stories aren’t as good).
I like the new, sweary, bantering, characters, and that Jared Harris is given a bit more to do. That said, I’ve not read the books, but even I can tell that the the radical things they’re doing with the Demerzel character are unlikely to be popular.
Somehow, despite being desperate for scifi to watch, Invasion passed me by… thanks for mentioning it.
Seriously. They are a breath of fresh air in a show that, while good, is not great due in part to how self-serious it can be. Bel and his husband are not “fun” exactly, but they are recognizably human as well, which makes them good POV characters.