Isaac Asimov's Foundation cycle is a six-part series about the future of humanity after it has taken to the stars. The first empire established by humans, which encompasses millions of planets and billions of people, has disintegrated. To prevent an extended period of barbarity, psychohistorian Harry Seldon has initiated the Seldon Plan. It will save knowledge of human achievement and enable progress in techology and 'benign' mind control. However, since the Seldon Plan challenges all other forms of power, it must be hidden from those who would feel threatened by it. A First Foundation, in charge of technological progress, has been established on the distant planet of Terminus. A Second Foundation, in charge of progress in mind control, is at home on the old empire world of Trantor. Under the plan, ultimately, the Second Foundation will control civilization, including the First Foundation, to make sure that technological success is not squandered on wars. The two Foundations are in conflict from the time the First discovers the existence of the Second. Eventually, the First Foundation believes it has prevailed over what it sees as usurpers of its power.
One of my complaints about Asimov is the nature of his heroes — egotistical men, who seldom share credit for achievements. In Foundation's Edge, there are several know-it-all heroes. In a stretch for him, Asimov has made one of them, the mayor of Terminus, and therefore the leader of the First Foundation, a woman. Mayor Harla Branno is typical of a Asimov hero, in that she believes herself to be an authority on everything that matters and is motivated by ambition. Her fellow heroes represent the Second Foundation and a new power introduced in this book. Each hero is a copy of the other.
Foundation's Edge finds the two foundations in conflict, again. Five hundred years have passed since the founding of the First Foundation. The original empire is in decline. The Firsts have made inroads into worlds abandoned by or never included in the empire. They now hope to consolidate their power. But, the leader of the First Foundation suspects its efforts to destroy the Second Foundation more than a century ago failed. Mayor Branno is correct. The supposed elimination of the Second Foundation was stage managed by . . . the Second Foundation. Its leaders, the Speakers, sacrificed some members to make it appear the entire organization had been wiped out. That allowed the Seconds to continue to implement the Seldon Plan without interfence from the Firsts. Though the current Second Foundation is worried about the now suspicious Firsts, it has a greater concern. A third entity, capable of mind control like it, has emerged. It appears to be more of a threat to the Second Foundation than its old nemesis on Terminus. Though the Seconds will continue to try to hide their headquarters on Trantor from the Firsts, their next act of aggression is planned against the interlopers.
Article comments
1 - Mike Kole
Mac- Fascinating, since I am now reading the series after putting it off for so long.
Since I had the luxury, I began with the Prelude to Foundation. I say luxury because I could have read Foundation before the Prelude was written. Anyhow, the Prelude seemed to make a conscious effort to stress the male-centric nature of the Galaxy via the Dors Venobili character, and especially in the chapters where Dors and Seldon were struggling with the Micogenians.
I imagine 40 years of criticism similar to yours helped him to acknowledge these shortcomings.
2 - Tim Hall
I thought "Foundation's Edge" was one of Asimov's worst books; it marked the point where he began to suffer from Heinlein Syndrome (become to popular to edit) and started writing bloated books which were twice as long as they should have been.
The bloating wasn't quite as bad as "The Robots of Dawn" where he took two pages describing the hero going to the restroom (and then did it again a couple of chapters later)
3 - Mac Diva
Exactly! I get frustrated with Asimov because I know he can write better than he often did. And, that bloated ego, which is reflected in his alter ego heroes! I wonder if the last years of his life, when he had HIV and eventually succumbed to AIDS, brought him down to Earth some. A reminder of human frailty, including one's own, sometimes does that.
4 - Tim Hall
I believe that inside every 900 page airport novel there's a consise 350 novel struggling to get out.
5 - JR
WHA?!?! I never heard about Asimov having AIDS. I thought he had heart problems.
6 - Scott Pepper
Official cause of death at the time was heart and kidney failure. His wife revealed later that the actual cause was HIV, which he contracted during heart surgery.
7 - JR
Ah, so he did die of heart problems, with complications due to Reagan-era health policy.