Note: This is the third book in a series. The first book, Foundation, is reviewed HERE. The second book, Foundation and Empire, is reviewed HERE. As Second Foundation is the third book in an ongoing series, there may be spoilers here.
Second Foundation is in two parts, reflecting the novellas each section was first published as. The first, shorter part, subtitled here “The Search By the Mule”, was first published in Astounding in January 1948 as “Now You See It…”. The second, “Search By The Foundation”, was first published in Astounding in three parts (November 1949 – January 1950) as “…And Now You Don’t.”
Despite being called Second Foundation, it is perhaps part of the book’s charm in that we initially see very little of this enigmatic group. Their location is unknown, and their very presence in the Galaxy unclear, a situation that they wish to preserve whilst continuing to manipulate events covertly. It is a sign of Asimov’s growing writing skill that for much of this first part of the novel the book maintains its interest, despite having an enemy rarely seen.
Of the villain seen more overtly, The Mule remains for me one of the series’ most memorable characters. Never particularly cruel, it is chillingly obvious he is a person who has had to do bad things to survive. Like all dictators he believes that his rule is for the greater good and that his control must be maintained. However, he is also intelligent enough to realise that his strength is also a potential weakness, and this is why he sends Converted Han Pritcher (under the influence of the Mule) and Unconverted Bail Channer out together to find the mysterious location of the Second Foundation. The ending all happens rather too quickly and conveniently for my liking, but, it must be said, rather logically, emphasising the differences between the social sciences and the physical.
The last two-thirds of the book deals with the consequence of the Mule sixty years later. The book takes a rather abrupt left turn by introducing the precocious teenager Arkady Durell. Here we see the covert grip of the Second Foundation recognised, but also the uprising of the First Foundation in retaliation for the suppression.
Arkady’s an interesting character in the fact that female characters, with perhaps the exception of Arkady’s grandmother Bayta in Foundation and Empire, are relatively less noticeable in the events of the Foundation novels. Here Arkady sees herself as a commentator/ observer of events as the encounters between the two Foundations continue, but then gets herself involved in things bigger than she should. She is bright, intelligent and rather annoying in the same way that some of Heinlein’s female characters can be (Podkayne Fries, for example.) Arkady is a character of her time and whilst her role is good to see and clearly important to the plot, the execution of the character leaves much to be desired.
Nevertheless, when Arkady goes to Kalgan by stowing away on her uncle’s spaceship, things do get more interesting and there’s an element of jeopardy that makes the reader think that things may be more complex than they realised. At the same time there’s monumental coincidences (or are they?) that would not be unusual in the most purple-prosed pulp.
The conclusion is both expected and a little hasty – there is a huge information dump as a character hastily reveals all to our heroes. I think that, for the most part, Asimov’s task was done – having had the Empire fall into disrepair and ruin, with the Visigoths picking up the pieces, so to speak, the way to the future is laid out in front of us. The attempt to create a futuristic story based on the history of the Roman Empire is complete. Like Romulus, Stettin of Kalgan is an emperor without power, a figurehead without merit, being covertly sidelined by the Second Foundation.
The last couple of chapters tie up most of the elements of the story, whilst leaving some scope for more in the future. Although Asimov has claimed that there was no intention to write sequels (until he did in the 1980’s), despite many repeated requests to do so, from the perspective of the 21st century it seems that it was always possible, whether deliberate or not.
Second Foundation is where the Original Trilogy finishes. My feeling is that that is where we should leave it, for the later books are a very different animal. It is these three that traditionally define the series, for good or ill.
At their best, the books are full of epic, whilst focusing on the events of individuals. Whilst it is true that the characters are still clichés of the Golden Age, and rather un-complex, there are still surprises that are startling in a work of its age. The feeling that the characters are part of something much bigger and grander is present throughout, whilst that sense of time marching on makes the story feel important to history. It is not a coincidence that the last scene in the novel has characters gazing out across the grandeur of the galaxy.
Why is the series so successful? I think that part of the reason is that this epicness is a predictable one. Though the novel is in ‘the future’, readers are reassured that what occurs is like what has happened in the past and there is a degree of comfort in that. In addition, whilst the reader knows that everything will turn out OK in the end, at the same time it is how the novel gets there that is important. To keep the reader engaged, Asimov sets the novels as a series of challenges that the reader then becomes determined to discover how the puzzles are solved.
At their worst they are like the worst lecture ever given – highly didactic, filled with pseudo-science and with enough talk to stun the unprepared reader into amnesia.
Together the Trilogy show that science fiction has come a long way since the 1940’s and 50’s and yet, at the same time, have a certain majestic allure that modern stories lack. Even within themselves they show the growth of Asimov as a writer, and Second Foundation is therefore the pinnacle of the three books’ success.
For all their faults they are worth a read. Or a reread!
Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
First published 1953 by Gnome Press, after fix-up from serials in Astounding Magazine 1948, 1949-50.
208 pages
Review by Mark Yon
