A Ragging Mule, A Hopeless Foundation: Asimov's Foundation and Empire
Written: Apr 17 '03 (Updated Apr 27 '03)
Product Rating:
Pros: Asimov ups the ante and writes the best foundation novel.
Cons: Weak one-dimensional characters and dialogue, my biggest problem with all Asimov.
The Bottom Line: The best novel in the series, leaving you with a craving for the further novels, the Mule is a worthy plot twist and breeds an interesting, page-turning experience.
avepythagoras's Full Review: Isaac Asimov - Foundation and Empire
Depending on who’s counting Foundation and Empire is either the second or fourth book in the often over praised Foundation cycle by Isaac Asimov. I consider it the fourth. It is not a stand alone novel, so either read Foundation or Prelude to Foundation first.
It was inevitable, inevitable as history itself, as the Foundation grew in power it would eventually threaten the final remnants of the once great Galactic Empire, and despite centuries of destabilizing civil war and internal political strife, the Empire was still strong, a threat to the stability of the Foundation and its mission to uphold the scientific purity of humanity during the oncoming night of Seldon’s predicted dark age. Spurred by the diabolical aspirations of a young military genius, the Imperial remnant moves upon the unsuspecting Foundation, and, as the war rages, easily becomes a victim of the machinations of the Seldon Plan. Even the most brilliant human minds have little hope of besting the Foundation. But the Foundation meets its match as a psychic mutant known only as the Mule rises to power; the Mule is anything but human. As the Mule begins his blitzkrieg conquest of the galactic outer rim and periphery, the Foundation rests firmly in a bed its own laziness; three centuries of success and opulence have left a growing sickness upon the Foundation, a sickness of apathy, a sickness of carelessness and overconfidence. Seldon’s psychohistory begins with the assumption that individuals don’t matter, that history is made by the herd, the seething mass of human consciousness and interaction. But the Mule does not play by the rules, he, as an individual, matters, and thus The Seldon Plan begins to crumble around the discontinuity. His psychic power transcends humanity, for he can control the emotions and actions of ‘the herd’, he can control the forces behind society and thus controls the outcome of psychohistory.
This is my favorite novel in the Foundation cycle. The powers of the Mule render the overly optimistic notions of psychohistory and The Seldon Plan useless, and as the threat of the Mule looms large upon the hopes of an overly ethnocentric Foundation, we begin to realize, with the hopeless Foundation, that maybe Seldon was wrong, and all his effort, sweat and tears to save the galaxy from itself might not rise to more than a chasing after the wind, and that humanity might be doomed to the horrors, ignorance and chaos of the oncoming night.
The naïve optimism of The Seldon Plan gives over to the vague hopes of a Second Foundation, as four survivors of the Mule’s conquest set out into the depths of space with only a three century old rumor and a sense of vital urgency: find the Second Foundation or all is lost.
The Mule breathes ample tension and a sense of hopelessness into an predictability of The Seldon Plan. Even though Seldon predicted the future, there was still a chance it would fail, and thus, Seldon could not account for the birth of a mutant with powers greater than any human. Thus Asimov wrote a startlingly interesting addition to the Foundation series, this novel actually makes you want to read the following novels, if only to know the conclusion. The Mule becomes an interesting and needed plot twist, providing a sense of danger and intrigue all the previous novels lacked. The situation is dire, and the future of humanity is held only by the vague hopes of a Second Foundation. Will this Second Foundation be enough to turn the tide? Or will the awesome power of the Mule overcome even Seldon’s hidden contingency? I recommend this novel, along with Asimov’s early Foundation. They are both classics of science fiction, and worth the time. The ending of this novel leaves the reader in precarious cliffhanger, and thus you’ll want to read the further novels as well—in my opinion definitely the best in the series.
Although small and seemingly helpless, the Foundation had managed to survive against the greed of its neighboring warlords. But could it stand against...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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