The final part of the original Foundation-trilogy brings closer focus on the more elusive Second Foundation Hari Sheldon established as a counterpart for the First Foundation which has been the usher of scientific progression during the first two parts of the saga. The stories presented here focus on the search of the Second Foundation, first by the Mule determined to strengthen his grip on the galaxy, then by the suspicious minds within the Foundation, wanting to regain their free will.
Mule, the mutant with the ability to control human emotions, has now been a de facto ruler of the former Foundation and the Empire for five years. With his entry to power, the Sheldon plan was profoundly shaken, some believing it broke completely. But Mule isn't satisfied with what he has managed to do, he wants to wipe out the Second Foundation as well. He knows they exist, as he has noticed some of the people he has placed under his control have been modified further to be more lethargic. No one else has noticed this, but as a master of mind control, the changes have been screaming out to Mule.
The frontman of the search has been a former Foundation officer Han Pritcher, but now Mule wants to add another card in the deck in the form of a man who isn't under his control. He believes this will bring some new ideas to the table. Bail Channis, an unconverted as they are called, is more than keen to help the Mule. As it happens, Channis soon discovers a planet called Tazenda, which he believes holds the answer to Sheldon's statement of having set the Second Foundation at "Stars End". A linguistic joke, as Channis puts it.
On planet Rossem, The First Speaker of the Second Foundation and Mule have their confrontation, a battle of wills and brains, which ends in the Foundation's victory, but just barely. They don't remove Mule from power but allow him to continue his empire, knowing his frail body won't sustain him long.
The second part takes place 60-years after the events of the first story. It has been 55-years since the death of Mule and the Foundation has stepped up back in the power. But now, people of the foundation are certain they are guided by the unseen Second Foundation. This is a situation that doesn't sit well with some, as they see it as stealing their free will: how can they be sure they do things of their own accord, instead of a hostile act of an unseen force guiding them.
Arkady Darrell, a granddaughter of Bayta Darrell who helped to thwart the plans of Mule during his first search of the Second Foundation, is a 14-years old idolizing her dead grandmother and dreaming of being an author. She also finds out that her father Toran is secretly trying to find the Second Foundation and so decides to help him and his fellow conspirators. This leads her to leave towards Kalgan with her uncle Homir, who heads there in the guise of being one of the foremost scholars in all things Mule.
As Homir and Arkady try to get in the now sanctified palace of Mule, they arouse the power lust of the current Lord of Kalgan, the first citizen Stettin, who sees this as the sign to begin his own conquest of bringing back the former power of Kalgan thus it was under the rule of Mule. Before the war breaks loose, the mistress of Stettin, Lady Callia helps Arkady to escape, but something in her behaviour makes Arkadia realise she is actually an agent of the Second Foundation who has been controlling Stettin all along. Terrified of this realization and afraid for her father, she decides to leave for Trantor, the former capital planet of the Empire. She has also figured out the location of the Second Foundation
The Second Foundation has indeed controlled the events since it was established. The Seldon Plan in its broad terms actually consists of the First Foundation first becoming the mightiest force in the galaxy after which the Second Foundation would step forth, providing the rulers. The final idea is a benevolent dictatorship of the smartest and the most capable. This plan they now have been trying to fix, as since the Mule's reign the probability of success has dropped to around 20%. During both of the stories, we are given a bigger glimpse of what the Second Foundation does, how it operates and what the Seldon Plan really was and how it is executed.
After the Second Kalgan war finally ends, Arkady returns back home, where Toran informs his fellow conspirators of the truth about the location of the Second Foundation as told him by his daughter; The Circle Has No End. The Second Foundation was on Terminus all along with the First Foundation. Toran has managed to build a device that causes pain to any telepaths and with it, they purge the threat of control, making the First Foundation the foremost power in the galaxy.
In reality, this all was going according to the plans by Second Foundation. Since the rule of Mule, they have been pushing corrections to the Plan. It was necessary for them to sacrifice some of their own in order to make it look like the people of Terminus are free of any control and achieve their destinies all by themselves.
Second Foundation places events of the previous stories in an interesting light: it fully explains why seemingly impossible things succeeded and went on as they did. While people do have free will, they were constantly nudged towards one of the predicted possibilities which would lead to the inevitable success of Seldon's 1000-years plan. A shadow organization built of people capable of controlling the events from the shadows is exactly what is needed to ensure the success of such an elaborate plan.
And that's where the end of the trilogy leaves events: the strong notion on the success of the Foundation. It took nearly 30-years for Asimov to return to the series. He continued the saga with two sequels and two prequels. The prequels chronicle how Seldon founded the science of psychohistory and formed his plan as well as how his daughter built the elusive Second Foundation. And the sequels continue the story of the Plan itself and how it proceeds.
At first, there is an interesting tonal clash between the two stories. The first part is more or less in vein with how Asimov wrote the previous stories, but the second part with Arkady begins almost like a novel written for young adults. It is also tonally very, very 50s American in how Arkady and her father behave. The story does shift a bit as it goes along, but it never quite manages to shake off its initial impression mostly because how the language Arkady uses feels something you'd find from a 1950's teen drama movie.
That 1950's tone is something that is very strongly present in most of the Foundation stories, but here it comes out the strongest, perhaps because one of the main characters is a teen girl. The tone also might be an intentional attempt in bringing some levity to the story that actually has very heavy elements in it, considering it is about the lack of free will and war. There's no escaping the feeling of some of the story elements being outdated though.
Of the two stories, the first part is probably stronger, but it's the second part that has more meat about it, especially what comes to fleshing out the shadow counterpart of the Foundation. I merely place the first part stronger because it's tonally more cohesive, albeit not as wholly thought out as the second part is.
Still, despite some outdated aspects of the story, the final part of the trilogy is again well worth reading if you are into epic-scale sci-fi stories. It is a story about the large scope of an idea that takes a long time to brew and the people in them are merely small pawns on a much larger board. They do what they do and then just leave the stage to continue their lives. It is a piece of future history, an iteration on what might happen in a future far, far away from now. It's not as fantastical as something like Dan Simmons' Hyperion, but it does provide some insight into where the genre known as space opera began from.
Comments
Post a Comment