Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Whispers of the Story 

This novel teases more about the location of the Second Foundation and who they really are.

First, the Mule (a powerful mutant with mind control powers) sends agents to find and destroy them. Turns out, they were expecting him all along. They outsmart him, rewire his brain, and he spends his final days as a peaceful ruler. 

Sixty years after the Mule’s defeat, the Foundation, still traumatized by his mind-control antics, starts studying mental sciences, mainly how to block brain-hacking, so history doesn’t repeat itself. Afraid that the Second Foundation is manipulating them, a secret group investigates if they are real. A teenage girl named Arcadia gets mixed up in galactic espionage and finds the location of the Second Foundation. It was on Terminus all along, among them. Her father creates a mechanism capable of hurting people with mental abilities. They use it on people and dispose of those with mental powers. Everyone is relieved that they were smarter, destroyed the Second Foundation and they can continue with Seldon’s plan. 

Everything went according to the plan, that is the Second Foundation’s plan. They just wanted to remain a secret and boost the morale of the people from Terminus even if that meant sacrificing some of their own. 

In reality, the Second Foundation never left their home since the time of the Empire. And they are still watching. 

Review of Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov

The third novel of the series by Isaac Asimov continues the journey to find the Second Foundation started in the previous novel Foundation and Empire. The two parts present many different theories of the location of the mysterious society of people with mental abilities, but in the end, all the theories are wrong.

The Mule wants to destroy the Second Foundation because the people there are the only ones who pose a threat to his rule. In the end, he was proven right, being defeated by the First Speaker. Over half of century later the people from the Foundation wanted to destroy the Second Foundation because they did not want to have the suspicion that they were mentally manipulated, believing that they alone could follow the Seldon’s Plan. Again, their actions were already foreseen and another First Speaker put an end to their suspicion with an elaborate plan.

I must admit I enjoyed the first part more than the second because I was very curious about the Mule’s downfall. In the previous novel, the Mule seems to me to be the perfect enemy, I called him “the ultimate unbeatable character” in my review of the novel because since he could control the minds of everyone around him, I could not see how he could be defeated. I was taken by surprise to see that the Mule fell into an easy trap. He did not even need much convincing to believe that the Second Foundation was on the planet Tanzeda. For a man so careful, cunning, and who managed to gain control over an empire just with his mental abilities, it seems to me too far-fetched that he would fall into a trap, and lose a mental battle because he got a little distracted. If he was defeated by one person with greater mental abilities, then I cannot even imagine what all the people from the Second Foundation could do together.

In the second part of the novel I like the slight reference that even though the people from the Foundation were the most technologically advanced, they still feared the unknown and tried to prevent any other mass mental manipulation. I think that there was also a problem with their ego, they wanted to be the only Foundation.

The whole journey to find the Second Foundation was confusing and boring for me. The final confrontation in the cabal was much more engaging. I think Asimov specifically chose the most liked man from their group to be one from the Second Foundation. The idea that the two societies could coexist on that planet was mind-blowing, and I honestly believed it, which is why it came as even more of a surprise to learn that the Second Foundation was actually located on Trantor, right in the heart of the dying empire.

Overall, I liked the continued search and different theories of the Second Foundation. I’ll admit that I had assumed their society would be more developed in some aspects. With all of their power, all they did was study the Seldon’s Plan and keep the indigenous rural populace at a distance. I would have expected them to use their powers to accelerate the advancement of civilizations if the Second Foundation was meant to be both the fulfilment of the First Foundation and a contrast. Verifying that the Foundation is following the correct course in the Seldon’s Plan appears to be a waste of their abilities. One simple question is why didn’t they foresee and stop the Mule before he took control?

Check out my reviews for the first two novels of the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, Foundation and Foundation and Empire. Check out the TV Show Foundation which is based on this series and now has two seasons. The plot is very different from the books, and if the first season still had some resemblance, at least in the first episodes of the book, the second season is completely different from the plot. But it is still fun to watch.

Happy reading!