The Second Foundation

Rating:
Summary: Foundation series remains strong
Review: The great thing about this is that Asimov makes you think that it's all over when it's really not. I don't want to spoil the book, so I'll say no more. And there a Mule-like surprise when the location of he Second Foundation is revealed.

Rating:
Summary: Found Second
Review: The last book in this trilogy sees the serch for that elusive Second Foundation Hari Seldon set up before his death.

The rouge superbrained leader The Mule sets off on a journey to find it as well as a cunning and cleaver 14 year old girl Arkadia Darell. A battle of minds takes place and eventually humanity wins out. The victory comes as quite a shock for those who will read it and Hari Seldon's unpredicted crisis is over and the Second Foundation is saved right where he left it, in the Universty campus on the now rusted and tatty world of Trantor.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't believe a third awsome book
Review: The last book of the Foundation trilogy, Second foundation brings the mentalists into evidence. The plots of the first speaker to keep nursing the first foundation but allways trying to stay hidden. I found myself sheering for the mentalists. Take your side and read it !

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant ending that shows the true force of human will
Review: The second foundation is composed of advanced psychic psychologist/mathemeticians. The first foundation is composed of advanced physical scientists. Which one will triumph?

The Mule, in the previous book, threw every plan off, and forced the second foundation to reveal itself. Now the first foundation wants to be the only one. Will technology be enough to overcome the power of the mind?

Again, this is two stories, a pattern Asimov used in this series, but these are more closely tied together, being separated by a generation as both generations face the same foe in one way or another.

This novel is the inspiring finish, that completely fails to answer that, of the foundation series, a series that was started when a mathemetician started an effort to save the galaxy. It is a struggle of an underdog, in this book as well, and the struggle of the mind to achieve.

Rating:
Summary: Best of the Series!!!
Review: The third book in the series, Second Foundation is an excellent book. Written in an odd style, mixing history books with storytelling, this is probably my favorite book of the series. After struggling with the style of writing in Foundation, and anxiously reading though the Foundation and Empire, I finally found my pace in this book. By the end of the book, I was holed up in the bathroom with shaking hands, trying to escape from society long enough to FINISH THIS DARN BOOK!! The ending is spectacular, letting you toss and turn your way though the book just waiting to know what happens. Though not expected, the book finishes in perfect key with the rest of the story, and makes you ask yourself why you couldn't see what was right in front of you all the time. Overall, an exellent story!!
-LJ

Rating:
Summary: Great- Read it
Review: The trilogy was voted the BEST ALL-TIME SERIES. It is full of plot twists.

Rating:
Summary: read this.
Review: third book is just as great

Rating:
Summary: A must-read for anyone who appreciates good writing.
Review: This book is the last in the classic Foundation Trilogy and is a perfect example of a truly captivating story. The series builds up exponentially into this finale and the plot moves faster and faster, not dropping off until the very last sentence and being easily the greatest conclusion to a story I have ever read, leaving me laughing maniacally and wondering how such a profound literary mind could possibly exist. The sheer grandness of it all is simply superhuman, and the best part is the way you would never suspect it before the point, but once you get there, everything falls into place perfectly and you know that no matter how much you had to struggle through the first two books, it was worth the ride. And such a ride it was.

Rating:
Summary: Good End to a Great Series
Review: This book was originally the third of three in a series. The series has now been expanded to include at least four more novels. Since the additions were added much later in time, I think they lost the flavor of this series. If you want to read an Assimov book, read this book, and its two predecessors. The first two are great, in my view, classics. Second Foundation is very good, but not as good as the first two.

In Second Foundation, we learn more details about the second foundation. Does it exist? Where is it? What does it do? Second Foundation is actually a clever answer to the critics of Hari Seldon. There are flaws in psychohistory. This book explains what some of those flaws are, and how Mr. Seldon prepared to deal with them.

In Second Foundation, the book starts with the "Mule" and his search for the Second Foundation. The Mule has already conquered the first Foundation. He has the most powerful Empire in the Universe. His troops are undefeated. Yet, in the midst of his actions and continual successes, he halts he troops.

The Mule, who is a "mutant" able to control emotions, has discovered that someone or something else, has this same talent. His key personal have been attacked. Their intiative, their creativity have been altered to make them ineffective and incompetent as their assigned tasks. Since his Empire was based on his mutant power, anyone or anything that has the same power, is an overwhelming threat to him. Could these "second power" be the Second Foundation? The Mule learns the answer, but his people do not.

The second story in this book is the story of a group of scientists seeking out the Second Foundation. They are convinced it exists. Based on their new science, they are able to detect the influence of people whom them believe to be part of the Second Foundation. These scientists search for the Second Foundation. But sometimes success can be more dangerous then failure.

I didn't like this second story so much. The first story in this book is a good as the first two books. In the second story, a daughter of one of the Scientist, Arkady, is one of the key figures in the book. I was annoyed by her charactor and some of the things which happened here were not logical to me. By my annoyance should not distract you. This is, overall, a good book, well written, and worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Thrilling Game of Chess
Review: This final installment of Asimov's classic Foundation trilogy contains all of the excitement and subterfuge of a well-played game of chess. Actually, in this book, you get two games for the price of one, since the book consists of two novellas detailing the search for the ellusive Second Foundation.

If you've read the first two books in the series, you know that there was a man named Seldon who had a plan to save our future society from a long cold winter of discontent. Then came along an unpredicted rogue element, the mysterious Mule, the perfect monkey wrench to foul up Seldon's works.

In the first novella of this book, the Mule uses his emotion-controlling abilities to search for the Second Foundation. This section is very tightly plotted and there are enough well placed zigs and zags along the way to keep you addictively turning the pages.

The second novella deals with the search by the First Foundation for its shadowy twin. Here Asimov introduces Arkadia Darell, a precocious 14-year old girl who has the ability to out-wit most of the adults around her. I only wish Asimov had spent more of the story with her, because I thought she was probably the most interesting character in the book, along with the Mule. The tightness of plotting in this second novella is probably twice that of the first. The suspense and tension just builds and builds until you don't think you can take it much more. If you're a slow reader, like I am, you'll find that the need to find out what happens will make you into a fast one.

I don't think "Second Foundation" is a perfect book, so I hesitate to give it five stars, but it definitely is a very good, very entertaining book. Having read the entire original trilogy now, I'd say most of the same strengths and weaknesses apply to all three books. Asimov is clearly a master of "the great idea". I love the whole concept of Psychohistory and the Seldon plan and the Seldon crises. He's an excellent story-teller in terms of knowing how to turn the tuning pegs of his plot until the strings are so tight that they sing every time a light breeze blows through.

I'd say Asimov's one weakness is in the writing of his characters. It's sort of ironic that in this trilogy all about the psychology of human motivation there would be relatively little psychological subtext to the characters. We never get to know many of the characters much more than from skin-level. I felt I never really identified with any of the characters in a truly human way.

I don't mean to be overly critical of this one aspect of the trilogy. I still think they're very very good books and in fact feel that Asimov's purpose was to draw attention away from the individual characters. As Seldon himself repeatedly says, there's no accounting for indiviudal behavior. I think Asimov knew that his strengths were in analyzing and commenting on humanity as a whole. He's brilliant at that, and his ideas and concepts are terrific. He paints on a wide enough canvas here that the dance of ideas he presents can be appreciated in much the same way that the fine dance of human emotion might be appreciated in the works of other great authors.

This trilogy is a must-read for any lover of science fiction, psychology, or great ideas. It's also good reading for any chess players out there.