Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Harper Voyager (2000), Edition: First Paperback Printing, 416 pages
Description
Isaac Asimov's renowned Foundation Trilogy pioneered many of the familiar themes of modern science fiction and shaped many of its best writers. With the permission and blessing of the Asimov estate, the epic saga left unfinished by the Grand Master himself now continues with this second masterful volume. With Hari Seldon on trial for treason, the Galactic Empire's long-anticipated migration to Star's End is about to begin. But the mission's brilliant robot leader, R. Daneel Olivaw, has discovered a potential enemy far deadlier--and closer--than he ever imagined. One of his own kind. A freak accident erases the basic commandments in humaniform robot Lodovik Trema's positronic brain. Now Lodovic's service to humankind is no longer bound by destiny, but by will. To ensure his loyalty, Daneel has Lodovic secretly reprogrammed. But can he be trusted? Now, other robots are beginning to question their mission--and Daneel's strategy. And stirrings of rebellion, too, are infecting their human counterparts. Among them is a young woman with awesome psychic abilities, a reluctant leader with the power to join man and robot in a quest for common freedom.or mutual destruction. The Foundation Saga Continues Read Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear, the first novel in this bold new series and Secret Foundation, the concluding volume from David Brin.… (more)
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1998-02
Physical description
416 p.; 6.78 x 1.14 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member aethercowboy
When another author takes the helm of a series after the previous author has passed away or otherwise abandoned their universe, the fans reaction is not always pleasant. The biggest argument you'll hear is that "it's never as good." The authors have to blend their own writing style while trying to
The Second Foundation trilogy, authorized by the Asimov estate, may be one of the few posthumous continuations you could read.
Bear follows Benford (and is thus followed by Brin, making them the "killer b's"), providing a sequel to Foundation's Fear.
FaC takes place at the same time as the first part of Foundation. The main character, R. Daneel Olivaw, takes the limelight away from Hari Seldon, the inventor of Psychohistory.
Olivaw has to deal with an angry sect of Calvinian robots who do not agree that robots have free will, I mean, have the capabilities of the Zeroth Law (a law that supersedes the other three laws and puts humanity above individual humans). Meanwhile, he's affecting the mentality of humanity so as to keep them in check until they can be more responsible.
Featured also are the rising telepaths, such as Seldon's granddaughter, who go on to form the Second Foundation, as well as a return of someone near to Seldon.
Don't come to these books expecting more Asimovian craftsmanship. The Killer B's are not Asimov, which comes apparent while reading it. If you obsess about this point, you'll hate the series, but if you accept that they are not Asimov, but are simply writing books set in Asimov's universe, then you will definitely enjoy it more.
If you're a fan of Foundation, or even of Bear, I'd recommend reading this book. Just be sure to familiarize yourself with Foundation's Fear, first, so you don't miss out on any vital plot details. It might also help to read the rest of the Foundation books, so, uh, clear your calendar.
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mimic the style of their predecessor, and the end result is not always great. The Second Foundation trilogy, authorized by the Asimov estate, may be one of the few posthumous continuations you could read.
Bear follows Benford (and is thus followed by Brin, making them the "killer b's"), providing a sequel to Foundation's Fear.
FaC takes place at the same time as the first part of Foundation. The main character, R. Daneel Olivaw, takes the limelight away from Hari Seldon, the inventor of Psychohistory.
Olivaw has to deal with an angry sect of Calvinian robots who do not agree that robots have free will, I mean, have the capabilities of the Zeroth Law (a law that supersedes the other three laws and puts humanity above individual humans). Meanwhile, he's affecting the mentality of humanity so as to keep them in check until they can be more responsible.
Featured also are the rising telepaths, such as Seldon's granddaughter, who go on to form the Second Foundation, as well as a return of someone near to Seldon.
Don't come to these books expecting more Asimovian craftsmanship. The Killer B's are not Asimov, which comes apparent while reading it. If you obsess about this point, you'll hate the series, but if you accept that they are not Asimov, but are simply writing books set in Asimov's universe, then you will definitely enjoy it more.
If you're a fan of Foundation, or even of Bear, I'd recommend reading this book. Just be sure to familiarize yourself with Foundation's Fear, first, so you don't miss out on any vital plot details. It might also help to read the rest of the Foundation books, so, uh, clear your calendar.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
Yes, this is really a Foundation novel! One of three that fills in the gap in the Foundation novels, covering the time period between when the Foundation was started, and the rest of Hari Seldon's lifetime on Trantor. It ties in the Foundation novels and the Robot novels quite nicely, and felt like
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an Asimov book, even if it was a bit longer than an Asimov novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
I read all of the books in The Second Foundation Trilogy as they came out, but in 2002, I loaned many of my supplementary Asimov books to a "friend" and never got any of them back, aside from Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear. (I wish I had loaned him William F. Wu's Robots in Time books.) So
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I've been searching out these gaps in my collection, and I got this one for Christmas 2006. But acquiring a book means you read it in my worldview, and so this one went on the reading list for another go. It's an all right book-- like the others in the trilogy, its real success is in sketching out the millieu of Asimov's Robots/Empire/Foundation series more, tying the books together and providing a lot of detail on the politics and organization of the Galactic Empire. This one also goes through some effort to retcon out some of the stupider bits of Foundation's Fear, like the galactic wormhole network. But the plot ranges from nonexistent to uninteresting, as everyone is swept up in either psychohistorical forces or R. Daneel Olivaw's machinations. Which is really par for the course for an Asimov book, isn't it? (originally written November 2007) Show Less
LibraryThing member jpsnow
Probably my favorite thus far of the entire series - perfect pace and most interesting presentation of culture. Solid integration with all past books (some of which would happen in the future.
LibraryThing member dazzyj
I managed to get to the end...just. A confusing mish-mash of too many characters characters and half-developed plots. Nearly as incomprehensible (and turgid) as "Children of Dune".
LibraryThing member losloper
Hari Seldon's life's work is about to come to an end. The science of psychohistory he has developed can be refined no more and the plans for the Foundation - which will steer humanity through the dark centuries ahead - are complete. Then political factions in Trantor accuse him of treason.
LibraryThing member JohnFair
Long after Hari's brief and disasterous stint ass First Minister, Hari was a scholar of little account to the masses of Trantor but those in power such as the Commissioner of Public Safety Linge Chen and the Emperor Klayus he's become known as Raven Seldon as the predictions of the Great Fall
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escape from the precincts of the Psychohistorical Cabal into the wider political networks. As Hari and Gaal Dornick stand trial for treason and sedition leading to exile to Terminus, Hari's secret friend Daneel faces a threat from a source he had thought loyal after a freak accident wipes Lodivik Trema's loyalty to the Three Laws. This isn't quite the metaphorical rollercoaster ride of Foundation's Fear and by staying fairly close to Trantor, it didn't warp my mind too much though Bear (and Brin in the next book) pushes Seldon and Psychohistory out of the centre. Otherwise a good book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Spurts
Well, guess this trilogy too deep/profound for me or something -- not a good story. Too much philosophy and not enough story (or even a good job carrying the what-if theme of everything in Asimov's original vision). Take away name of title, places and characters and I would never have suspected
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this had anything to do with Foundation novels. Show Less
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Pages
416