Title: Foundation and Empire

Author: Isaac Asimov

Hi all,

It has been quite an eventful week and I will try and top it off with giving a review of another book of a series that I had started recently (see book 1 – 29-2020).

In book one I was a little confused with the timeline and the different characters because none of the characters were followed after some 8 or so chapters. Then I discovered that we were in a completely different time period, which then made some sense to the first book.

Luckily, you won’t have to worry about the same thing happening in the second book. Here, it gives a brief but very elaborate introduction/summary of what happened in the first book. So even if you hadn’t read the part 1 in a long time, the intro of this book will catch you up quick enough.

Additionally, the book mainly centers around two different time periods only, but from the perspective of two/three characters.

In this series, the remnants of the previous Empire (first time line – the third challenge the Foundation will face according to Hari Seldon) have a new captain who wishes to explore some of the planets on the periphery. The Empire hasn’t had contact with many of those planets and is barely holding what is left of its planet. The captain is ambitious and wishes to explore the periphery planets because he has read up and researched about something called a ‘Foundation’. He believes the planet would be a great addition to the old Empire once more and requests the Emperor to undertake an expedition of conquest. This is granted, but with reservation because the Emperor is skeptical of the captain’s motives. As much as the Emperor would appreciate the expansion of his empire, he is skeptical that the captain does it not for the empire, but for himself. The Emperor is very sick and a successful conquest by another could lead the people to demand a change in leadership.

The fleet arrive at the planets and host a series of attacks and succeed in many battles. It seems the Foundation is on its last knees and will become subjugated by the Empire once again. However, by some luck, the Foundation prevails as the fleet of the Empire is recalled by the Emperor due to accusations raised on the captain. The Foundation attributes this victory to Hari Seldon’s study of psychohistory.

The next timeline follows a couple, traders by profession from the planet Foundation. The old empire has finally collapsed and there is an Emperor no longer. The Foundation is a strong intermediary between multiple planets, but is not run by a proper management any longer.

The story starts off with two traders talking of a new threat of a new conqueror. A quite unusual one. He has come to power within but two years, in which he managed to capture Kalgan, one of the richest planets in the universe. The way he has conquered it is what is unsettling to these traders. He has come out of nowhere and the then within a few months taken control of a pirate ship and then taken over a rich planet, all within two years. The one suggests they should send a spy to investigate. The other notes that his nephew had recently been married, and notes that under cover as their honeymoon they could intermingle with the people and find out more about who this new mysterious leader is, only known as The Mule, and nothing else.

At the same time, one of the Foundation’s officers is at a disciplinary hearing. He pleads that there is a new threat that the Foundation will soon face. Someone yet unknown, but someone who has already taken over a whole planet. The head of the Foundation at first dismisses the claim and sends him away to attend to a different task, but then later finds his new mission to be to investigate the happenings on the planet Kalgan.

The couple make their honeymoon, and have an altercation with the local police officials. They have welcomed the clown of The Mule as their guest and into their protection. Thinking they have someone valuable in their possession they flee back to the Foundation so that this clown may assist them to obtain more information about The Mule. Shortly after, The Mule’s fleet is threatening the Foundation and initiates attack. A few weeks/months pass and the couple decide that it is no longer safe on the planet so they flee for planet New Haven. Shortly after, The Mule’s fleet comes to take over this planet as well, and they narrowly escape once again. The couple are on the run with the clown, and have another guest on board. A psychologist who tells them they need to go to the planet that was the old administrative planet for the old empire, Trantor. There they need to find out where the other Foundation is. The psychologist had revealed to them that Hari Seldon had established two Foundation planets at opposite ends of the galaxy. One held scientists, the other held psychologists. The former was now under the rule of The Mule. The latter was well hidden, barely mentioned at all that it seems more likely that it had never really been established.

On Trantor, the psychologist manages to find out where the second foundation is, and then is about to reveal it to them, when something drastic happens to him.

Now, if I have brought you to the edge of your seat, I hope I have made a convincing case that this novel series is something that you shouldn’t let slip past your fingers. It is truly fascinating, and written without much complexity.

Summary:

The series continues to intrigue as we now see that the Foundation has fallen, but that another exists which might be the only hope for psychohistory to shorten the darkening to one millennia instead of the 30. Until the very last chapter the tensions are high because you are curious whether this new threat is the end of the Foundation, or whether the Foundation might yet claim victory.

A true joy to read and follow, I rate the book as a 4.4/5.

Happy reading!