Foundation and Empire continues the saga started in Foundation. In that book one man, Hari Seldon, foresaw the beginning of the end of the great, all-encompassing Galactic Empire long before anyone else. He also foresaw, through the mathematical science of Psychohistory, which he himself developed, that the fall of the empire would lead to thirty millennia of barbarism. The decline and fall of the empire was impossible to halt, however he devised a way to drastically shorten the length of the chaos and anarchy that would inevitably follow down to a single millennium. In order for this to happen, Seldon formed two Foundations – one created in a blaze of publicity, situated on the remote planet of Terminus. The first Foundation was entirely the subject of the first book, and faced several Seldon Crises, which were successfully overcome.

The first Foundation remains the focus in Foundation and Empire, and the book includes that Foundation’s first (and last) real encounter with the remains of the first galactic empire. However, a freak of nature (I will give you no more clue than that), which could not possibly have been accounted for in the Seldon Plan, sets things in motion which could lead to the discovery of the Second Foundation. In stark contrast to the first Foundation, the second was set up in secrecy, at “the other end of the galaxy”.

The Seldon Plan

Simply put, the Seldon Plan is Hari Seldon’s forecast of how history would turn out so that a new, stronger Galactic Empire would be formed by the end of a thousand years following the fall of the first empire. It also involves whatever measures he put into place to ensure that the plan continued, but what these were, or in fact if there were any, are unknown… The Seldon Plan is based on psychohistory…

About Psychohistory

Psycohistory is the science of mathematically determining the probability of events based on the reaction of large groups of people to stimuli. Seldon found that, while individuals were unpredictable, large groups of people generally had predictable patterns of response, and thus could be predicted with accuracy. The science was not perfect of course, and deviations could be made, leading to…

Seldon Crises

A Seldon crisis occurred every so often, and this was a make-or-break time for the Foundation. At these points the Seldon plan predicted that each crisis would follow to a point where only one course of action would be possible, and thus the plan would continue.

The first Foundation has come to rely so heavily on the Seldon Plan, placing an almost religious significance on it, that they fail to recognise the true danger when it appears. But that isn’t where the story ends… in fact, really it’s where the story begins…

There are two main differences between this and the first Foundation book, neither of which are particularly good differences as they both play against author Isaac Asmiov’s natural strengths. Because the time period covered is less expansive than in the first book, Foundation and Empire is somewhat slower, and more attention is given to the characters. Somehow though these characters, although given more wordage, don’t really seem to be any better developed. We have the likeable newlyweds Toran and Bayta, the first rather aggressive and the latter of amore gentle but no less strong disposition. We have stubborn Captain Han Pritcher, an arrogant Imperial General, a suspicious Emperor, a frightened clown, etc… all pretty much 2-dimensional, all serving their purpose, but none really involving you. (Some of the dialogue and attitudes of the newlyweds lead to some amusing scenes though.) As always in Asimov books, the characters are very much given second place to the plot, but because the plot isn’t quite as strong as usual for his books, the overall effect is slightly less gripping.

The main plot twist is one you are very unlikely to see coming, and the pacing is just about fast enough for the plot to maintain credibility. Reading the first isn’t actually necessary to read this one as enough of the previous events are explained for you. To me it’s possibly the weakest book in the series, but it’s still well worth reading and after all, average Asimov is still good (unless of course you just don’t like Asimov’s writing!). Recommended, but only to fans of the author / series / plot-driven sci-fi.


Related Reviews

In the Foundation Series:

Foundation
Foundation’s Edge

Also by Isaac Asimov

Nightfall
The End of Eternity


Recommended: Yes