Second Foundation
Isaac Asimov
187 pages
published in 1953

Second Foundation is the third and last novel in the Foundation series, which popularised the notion of a Galaxy spanning empire in space opera. Originally published in 1951-53 and based on short stories from the forties, the series is now almost sixty years old, something to keep in mind when reading it. The series was revolutionary when it was first published, popularising not only the Galaxy spanning human empire, but also all the bagage associated with it. Asimov famously took Edward Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and transplanted it amongst the stars, with the background assumption that only an galactic empire could guarantee peace, yet it's inevitable that it will decline into decadence and ultimately fall into barbarism. This became a staple of fifties and sixties space opera, with lesser writers uncritically using this for their own stories of galactic derring-do. It's a very old fashioned concept now and its familiarity lesses the impact of the Foundation series.

The same goes for psychohistory, Asimov's other great invention in the series, the use of mass psychology to predict the future actions of a large enough group of humans, with "large enough" being an entire Galaxy worth. What with quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle and chaos theory and all the other half remembered scientific factoids we've all absorbed over the past six decades or so, the idea that a group of scholars could predict human history now sounds absurd. And yet... As Donald Kingsbury showed with his 2001 novel Psychohistorical Crisis -- which you could call Foundation fanfic -- that these ideas in themselves are still valid, can even now be used to create an interesting story. The question therefore is, if approached with an open mind, is the original foundation series still owrht reading in its own right and not just as a historical artifact?

So far, the answer has been a cautious yes for me. It depends a lot on whether you can come to grips with Asimov's rather bland writing style and how much you get irritated by seeing forties' style gender relations in a story supposedly thousands of years in the future. Of the series I found Second Foundation the weakest of the lot. It continues the story of the Mule started in Foundation and Empire, which segues into the search for the mysterious Second Foundation.

In the previous book the existence of the second foundation was suspected, based on some throwaway references Hari Seldon made back when the first foundation was established. While the first foundation was set up to safeguard the physical sciences and form the nucleus of the new empire, the second foundation was supposed to be the secret counterpart guarding psychohistory itself and safeguard Hari Seldon's great plan if it went off the rails. On this assumption the Mule, safely in control of the first foundation, now goes after the second, to end the last threat to his rule of the Galaxy. He sents one of his emotionally converted generals to track them down, together with an unconverted follower as a safeguard. They seem to find the second foundation's home, but it turns out they've lured the Mule himself into a trap...

In part II the Mule is long dead, having spent the last five years of his short life consolidating his kingdom. The foundation is once again free and the biggest power in the Galaxy, but some people are worried about the influence the psychohistorical manipulators of the Second Foundation might have on their society. Especially once it becomes clear that some people have been Manipulated. So they set out to repeat the Mule's search, but like him they end up chasing phantoms and end up thinking they've rooted out the second foundation from amongst themselves but instead have been put on a false scent...

Throughout Second Foundation the action is manipulated by the off screen chessmasters of the Second Foundation, whose psychohistorical skills have made them not only able to have conversations amongst themselves with only a nod or a hand gesture, but also able to psionically influence people -- the way the Mule did naturally they've managed to do by training. This sort of psionics is very fifties, but fits awkwardly with the rest of the series. Having the Mule be an unforeseen mutant with semi-telepathic powers is not a problem, because that would be something psychohistory could not predict, but having psychohistorical training led to psionics as well disappointed. It just turns the second foundation into smug supermen and the plot nothing but their manipulations. It's one of the first examples of Asimov's annoying habit to resolve plots this way, by revealing the man behind the curtain.

For me then the Foundation series ended on a weak note, but I found the series as a whole still interesting. It helps that I first read these books much earlier. For those who haven't read them, there may still be some enjoyment in reading these books. At the very least they're short, the three of them together totalling less pages than Kingsbury's Psychohistorical Crisis on its own...