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A review by cellardoor10
Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
4.0
If you enjoyed the early episodes of Battlestar Galactica (who's a Cylon, how do we tell, maybe you're a Cylon, maybe she is! Etc.), then this will probably appeal to you. Seldon's plan is based on the probability of massive, planet-level or greater behaviors and actions, but that means that individuals do have the ability to warp it. In this case, we pick up with The Mule, just such an individual - his mutant abilities for emotional manipulation and his ambition make him an incredible force in the galaxy never guessed at by Seldon originally.
We begin the book with The Mule's single-minded search for the Second Foundation, this semi-mythical group of individuals living in secret for the past approx 400-500 years. They are rumored to have extreme mental control powers, contrary to the physical science acumen of the First Foundation.
With mental powers, we always get that kind of social intrigue, backstabbing, accusations-flying, etc. Asimov does the reader a huge favor by bringing in a 14 year old girl to play a role. She is brilliant and precocious and witty and surprisingly street smart at times. She is a breath of fresh air among the arrogant and stubborn and morally ambiguous adult men that have featured so heavily in the series thus far (the previous book had a similar female character - different age, but equally cool).
Spoilers on book structure/plotting no big reveals:
There comes to be a bit of a macguffin feel to the Second Foundation - you can only hear so many planets (and people) be convincingly accused without eventually getting a little sick of it. You *do* find out the truth at the end, and I have to say, I did see that coming, given all the various hints throughout. But I think it was well done - a suspicion was planted, but I didn't feel like I'd been hit over the head with it.
We begin the book with The Mule's single-minded search for the Second Foundation, this semi-mythical group of individuals living in secret for the past approx 400-500 years. They are rumored to have extreme mental control powers, contrary to the physical science acumen of the First Foundation.
With mental powers, we always get that kind of social intrigue, backstabbing, accusations-flying, etc. Asimov does the reader a huge favor by bringing in a 14 year old girl to play a role. She is brilliant and precocious and witty and surprisingly street smart at times. She is a breath of fresh air among the arrogant and stubborn and morally ambiguous adult men that have featured so heavily in the series thus far (the previous book had a similar female character - different age, but equally cool).
Spoilers on book structure/plotting no big reveals:
There comes to be a bit of a macguffin feel to the Second Foundation - you can only hear so many planets (and people) be convincingly accused without eventually getting a little sick of it. You *do* find out the truth at the end, and I have to say, I did see that coming, given all the various hints throughout. But I think it was well done - a suspicion was planted, but I didn't feel like I'd been hit over the head with it.