Foundation and Empire
81. Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov (Science fiction) 224 p.
I was eager to read this sequel to Foundation, but I didn’t expect it to live up that book. And it didn’t.
Foundation and Empire is made up of two short novellas. “The General” takes place some forty-odd years after the end of Foundation. Although the Galactic Empire is dying, the visible decay on its periphery has not yet penetrated to its heart. A young, successful, and loyal general named Bel Riose targets the Foundation for Imperial conquest. It seems that another Seldon crisis is at hand, this time pitting the Foundation against the might of the still-powerful Empire.
Other than my complaint that, once again, Asimov seems to believe that women will never have anything of value to contribute to politics or history, “The General” is a pretty good story, but it lacks the force and excitement of the earlier stories. There’s a very good reason for that, but it made me glad that the story was fairly short (only 82 pages.)
“The Mule” takes place three centuries after the Foundation was first established. Quite some time has passed since “The General”, and the Empire is a dead husk. On the Periphery, a new power has arisen, known to followers and enemies alike only as the Mule.
Although “The Mule” is a much longer and better story than “The General”, it suffers from greater problems, too. From very early on, I found the identity of the Mule pathetically obvious. Even though there’s a partial explanation at the end for why no one figured it out, it’s still annoying. And as before, Asimov’s attitude toward women is profoundly disturbing, such that their presence in this part of the series bothers me as much as their earlier, unjustified absence.
Even with all its drawbacks, Foundation and Empire is well worth reading, an enjoyable return to the world of Foundation. It reveals more about Hari Seldon and the original Foundation project, and takes the plot in an unexpected new direction, setting the stage for the final instalment in the original trilogy, Second Foundation.
Pages read: 23,781
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, 888 Challenge, A ~ Z Reading Challenge, Foundation, Isaac Asimov, SF Subgenre Challenge
