Among the most popular and fascinating Golden Age scifi is Asimov's Foundation series, which introduced the idea of "psychohistory", the statistical prediction and modification of patterns in human society. Now there is Donald Kingsbury's Psychohistorical Crisis, which is either a brilliant tribute to or a blatant rip-off of the master, depending how you look at things. Personally I prefer the former view.

Readers may be familiar with The storyline of the Foundation trilogy, which takes place in the xfar future, at a time when a galaxy-wide human empire is falling into decay. A brilliant mathematician creates the 'foundation' on the rim world of Terminus, an organization which according to his 'psychohistorical' predictions will cut short the long dark ages or 'interregnum' and eventually form the social foundation for a new galactic empire.

"Psychohistorical Crisis" is set many centuries after this second empire has come to pass. The new empire is openly ruled by the 'Pscholars', a secret and elite brotherhood who 'manage' the future of society via psychohistorical prediction and adjustment. Much of the detail of Asimov's original stories is referred to during the book's long historical musings, although many names are changed (Faraway instead of Terminus, Splendid Wisdom instead of Trantor, etc.) However, most of the story after the end of "Second Foundation" is left out. The telepathy so vital to the later plot twists is replaced with the 'tuned probe', which accomplishes the same thing as the Mule's powers but is more plausible and sets the stage for an idea similarly vital to Kingsbury's technosphere: the 'fam' or electronic familiar, a neural implant which vastly enhances the powers of human though while connecting the brain to vast electronic libraries.

The plot concerns the life of the brilliant mathematics student Eron Osa, who at the beginning of the novel has been 'executed', his fam destroyed. He is thus deprived of his memories and skills and is nearly unable to function (his brain has grown lazy from dependence on the tools of his familiar). The story then jumps backwards to Osa's childhood, then charting his university years and his friendship with his mysterious tutor Hieronymous Scogil. He is eventually involved in subversive conspiracies against the Pscholars and in the continual infighting between Rector Jars Hanis and the 'Mad Admiral' Konn, a paranoid war-machine buff who disagrees deeply with Hanis' vision for the future. Eventually, he attempts to challenge the very foundations of his social order. The characters are well-drawn, quirky and multilayered, although they do not seem to drive the plot so much as the plot drives them.

The novel goes into continual and fascinating digressions on the nature of history and social change. Unlike Asimov's galactic empire, Kingsbury's future society is still deeply rooted in the history and literature of 'Old Rith' (Earth), whose fam-less 'sapiens' inhabitants are seen as little better than animals but still manage to be the galaxy's most notorious hucksters, forgers, and conmen. Though they concieve of themselves as being unimaginably evolved, the 'modern' inhabitants of the galaxy have obviously not severed themselves from their evolutionary roots, and seem often to forget that their ancestors and even their beloved Founder were the self-same ape-men who now make their living selling 'genuine historical artifacts' to gullible tourists.

The novel also has much to say about such subjects as superstition, elitism, the value of objects and a host of other broad social topics; its central message is a deep relation of free will to democracy.

It's a difficult chew for those who are scared of long words, long metaphysical arguments, and long books in general; it also jumps around in time in a way which tends to be disconcerting. However, it is definitely a rewarding read.

Recommended: Yes