Foundation's Triumph (Second Foundation Trilogy) - Hardcover

Brin, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061052418 ISBN 13: 9780061052415

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1999

Synopsis

In the epic conclusion of the Second Foundation Trilogy, Hari Seldon, creator of the science of Psychohistory, escapes from exile on the distant planet of Trantor and roams the galaxy in search of a new galactic enigma, only to confront a dangerous new robot conspiracy led by an ambitious Lodovik Trema.

About this title

Review:

Isaac Asimov's 1951-53 "Foundation" trilogy is a rough-hewn classic of far-future SF, honoured with a unique 1965 Hugo for Best All-Time Series. It begins with "psychohistorian" Hari Seldon mapping the best possible course for humanity's next millennium, after the fall of the doomed Galactic Empire. Late in life Asimov revisited the series and awkwardly linked it with his popular robot stories--introducing vast conspiracy theories to explain the Empire's total lack of visible robots.

Asimov's estate authorised three SF notables to fill out Seldon's life in the "Second Foundation Trilogy", which David Brin here wraps up after Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear and Greg Bear's Foundation and Chaos. Chaos is the new keyword because chaos theory seemingly makes nonsense of psychohistorical prediction. Whole planetary populations can lapse into chaotic rebellion despite secret mind-controlling agencies behind the scenes. So Seldon makes his last interstellar journey, harried, lectured and even kidnapped by the warring factions of robots and not-quite-robots that have long manipulated humanity. The robots' dilemma:

"We are loyal, and yet far more competent than our masters. For their own sake, we have kept them ignorant, because we know too well what destructive paths they follow, whenever they grow too aware."

Brin does his best with Asimov's overcrowded legacy, skilfully steering Seldon to an insight about the much-foretold future that satisfies both the old man and the reader, with a spark of human free will and constructive chaos shining through the greyness of predestination. Asimov would have approved. --David Langford

Review:

"The three new 'Foundation' novels...are far more than just new pieces of the same story. They add up to a deeply affectionate work of literary deconstruction".

-- The New Yorker

"Will intrigue new readers and please veterans of both his own and Asimov's writing."--"Tulsa World"A satisfying and clever finale...An impressive, thought-provoking addition to Isaac Asimov's formidable legacy."--"Science Fiction Weekly"In the Second Foundation Trilogy, Gregory Benford, Greg Bear and now David Brin have conducted a lively exploration of the logical and ethical implications of Asimov's sprawling future history."--"Science Fiction Weekly"The three new 'Foundation' novels...are far more than just new pieces of the same story. They add up to a deeply affectionate work of literary deconstruction."--"The New Yorker

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0061052418
• ISBN 13: 9780061052415
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 328