This was the most ambivalent the Foundation series ever made me. Second Foundation is the third book in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, and it was the last one for nearly thirty years. This book was serialized in 1948 and 1949, and novelized in 1953. The next book didn't come until 1982. So this was the conclusion of Asimov's vision until publishers begged him for more.
As in the previous books, this one is separated into parts. Two, in this one's case. The first part, "Search by the Mule" is really, really good. The second part, "Search by the Foundation" is good but not great. I'll get into that in a moment.
Overall, the book is written in that same functional, descriptive, but not overly flowery Asimov style. I've got no complaints there. If you've read the previous books (and you should), you won't be surprised.
The first part is carefully plotted and plausibly layered. The question of who is and isn't under the influence of the Second Foundation is open until the very end. Suspicion, intrigue, deception, and insight all grapple for your attention, and the reliability of the narrator makes you question which is which. Did this character come up with an idea? Was it planted in his mind? Where do his loyalties lie? What motivated this advance in the plot? The tension and mystery build constantly until they are carefully peeled back at the end to produce a tense, fun, and satisfying conclusion.
The second part is less plausibly motivated and less satisfying. We can all understand why the Mule was hostile to the Second Foundation: it threatened his rule, which ran counter to the assumptions of psychohistory. Why the remnants of the First Foundation are eager to uncover and thwart the Second Foundation is less clear. If the Second Foundation has remained secret, then it's likely they're still working for the Seldon Plan. The First Foundation characters treat the Second as an adversary without proper justification. If they were merely curious, that might make sense, but their adversarial position is a little hard to understand.
The second part also puts even more genius weight onto the shoulders of the long-dead Hari Seldon. Not only did he figure out psychohistory and make his Plan, but he also mastered a thing that requires vast training and is also much harder if you use the spoken word frequently. It's a bit far-fetched.
One of the main characters appeared to me to be an insert specifically designed to pander to the young adult audience. Super-smart without actually doing the work, that kind of stuff.
At the end of the book, there is an ending to the story, but the second part ends more like the Clue movie than a careful peeling back of layers of deception.
I mean, Asimov is obviously a giant of science fiction, and this series, including this book, is a major classic. It wasn't bad, but some of the less plausible elements of the second part really grated on my nerves.
If you're a big sci-fi fan, this is a must-read at some point. If you're more casual, I wholeheartedly recommend the first part, which, by the way, is freely available in its original serialized form.
As for the second part, if you want to read it, go for it. If you read a lot of sci-fi, you will almost certainly have read stuff not as good as the second part. You won't feel cheated for your time.
Full book trilogy can be found here.
And, as always, I put the spoilers in the appropriate chapter of the embedded video.
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