Tuesday, 5 March 2024 10:21 pm
Book Review: Second Foundation
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deckardcanineI had been misled by the back cover of this early edition, which indicated that this would be the end of the series. Arthur C. Clarke published his fourth entry nearly 30 years later. Since the third one ends less than halfway through the Foundation's projected thousand-year timeline, I'm kinda glad he didn't stop there for good.
This volume begins five years after the previous ends. The mutant who calls himself "the Mule" has used his psionic powers to take over the known Foundation and an increasing number of former imperial planets. He still does not feel secure in his dominion, because he believes in a Second Foundation, which might just be able to overthrow him with its greater focus on mental matters. The audience becomes privy to few details about the Second Foundation before others do -- just enough to confirm the rumor of its existence, not its precise location.
The Mule is not as well-intentioned as I thought. Sure, his usurpation was nearly bloodless, and he's uniting people who would otherwise be in chaotic conflict, but he's not above planetwide genocide. He wants "revenge on humanity" for the way they treated his disfigured looks. He's like Frankenstein's monster with brain manipulation.
The book is slightly more than a third finished when the Second Foundation finishes with the Mule. I'm a bit disappointed in how merciful they are to him, but perhaps I should trust them to know best which path leads to the least amount of trouble. They are following the lead of nigh-prophetic Hari Seldon, after all.
Alas, their way of handling the Mule is with pretty much the same superpowers -- only gained via training, not mutation. That puts Second Foundationers at least on par with Paul Muad'dib. Regular humans unlocking scientifically implausible abilities with sheer practice is one of my sci-fi pet peeves. Besides, emotion control is arguably a more controversial way of keeping the peace than a false religion.
So what happens for the rest of the book? Well, 60 years later, a cabal of several members of the First Foundation are so wary of the Second Foundation's stealth strength that they regard it as their enemy, regardless of Seldon's connection to both. What ensues may be more intrigue than violence, but a mundane tyrant who seeks to fill the vacuum left by the Mule attempts to annihilate the First Foundation. Where are those Second Foundationers now?
It is in this section that we get the strongest roles for women in the series yet, even if they hardly come across that way on cursory inspection. The most prominent is Arkady, teen granddaughter of the heroine Bayta and daughter of the cabal's leader. She may have quixotic notions, but her resourcefulness makes a big positive difference.
To me, the real fun of Second Foundation is in watching brainy people play off each other. It can be hard to tell who's going to have the upper hand or how. Of course, that kind of fun gets exhausting after a while, so I'm glad for a 181-page cap. I don't expect to pick up the series again; if I do, it'll be more than five years from now.
My next read is Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I've had enough short books in a row.
This volume begins five years after the previous ends. The mutant who calls himself "the Mule" has used his psionic powers to take over the known Foundation and an increasing number of former imperial planets. He still does not feel secure in his dominion, because he believes in a Second Foundation, which might just be able to overthrow him with its greater focus on mental matters. The audience becomes privy to few details about the Second Foundation before others do -- just enough to confirm the rumor of its existence, not its precise location.
The Mule is not as well-intentioned as I thought. Sure, his usurpation was nearly bloodless, and he's uniting people who would otherwise be in chaotic conflict, but he's not above planetwide genocide. He wants "revenge on humanity" for the way they treated his disfigured looks. He's like Frankenstein's monster with brain manipulation.
The book is slightly more than a third finished when the Second Foundation finishes with the Mule. I'm a bit disappointed in how merciful they are to him, but perhaps I should trust them to know best which path leads to the least amount of trouble. They are following the lead of nigh-prophetic Hari Seldon, after all.
Alas, their way of handling the Mule is with pretty much the same superpowers -- only gained via training, not mutation. That puts Second Foundationers at least on par with Paul Muad'dib. Regular humans unlocking scientifically implausible abilities with sheer practice is one of my sci-fi pet peeves. Besides, emotion control is arguably a more controversial way of keeping the peace than a false religion.
So what happens for the rest of the book? Well, 60 years later, a cabal of several members of the First Foundation are so wary of the Second Foundation's stealth strength that they regard it as their enemy, regardless of Seldon's connection to both. What ensues may be more intrigue than violence, but a mundane tyrant who seeks to fill the vacuum left by the Mule attempts to annihilate the First Foundation. Where are those Second Foundationers now?
It is in this section that we get the strongest roles for women in the series yet, even if they hardly come across that way on cursory inspection. The most prominent is Arkady, teen granddaughter of the heroine Bayta and daughter of the cabal's leader. She may have quixotic notions, but her resourcefulness makes a big positive difference.
To me, the real fun of Second Foundation is in watching brainy people play off each other. It can be hard to tell who's going to have the upper hand or how. Of course, that kind of fun gets exhausting after a while, so I'm glad for a 181-page cap. I don't expect to pick up the series again; if I do, it'll be more than five years from now.
My next read is Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I've had enough short books in a row.