Second Foundation Group Read, Conclusion

This is it! The last of the group read for the Foundation trilogy. Once upon a time I felt very intimidated by Isaac Asimov. I have been cured of that after participating in these group reads during the Science Fiction Experience.

I really enjoyed these books a lot. They’ve introduced some very interesting ideas on government, control, free will and fate. There have also been some great discussions throughout January and February and I’m going to miss them.

As with the others, questions are in bold and my answers follow. There will be spoilers of course, and with that out of the way, let’s go!

1. Now that the trilogy is over, discuss your feelings on Asimov's portrayal of female characters?

In the end I did find I liked Asimov’s portrayal of female characters. More would have been nice but we got to see different personalities and ages, with motives both good and bad. And they were part of the story and not just there as eye candy.

2. After all the back and forth mind control of the first part of Second Foundation, what was your state of mind reading this second section of the book? Were you suspicious of everyone? Did you figure things out? Were you just going along for the ride?

Other than partly guessing correctly where the Second Foundation had been the whole time, I tried to keep an open mind and just go along for the ride, so certain revelations (which I'll mention later in Question #5) really surprised me. I was slightly suspicious of the old man and lady (sorry, don't have my library copy and I forgot their names!) that met Arkady on Kalgan and helped her get away to Trantor. I thought it a little convenient that they too were just happening to be on their way to Trantor and how easily they were able to get her off of Kalgan.

3. Throughout the three novels we were shown a couple of versions of Trantor. Which is more appealing to you? Which would you rather visit?

The version of Trantor Arkady got to see seems more appearling. It’s quiet, not so densely populated. That’s more my pace. But I would have liked to visit Trantor during Seldon’s time; just to see the hustle and bustle of an entire planet devoted to the administration of a galaxy wide empire.

4. How have your thoughts about Hari Seldon, his plan, and either or both Foundations changed, or not, during the course of these three novels?

I do think Seldon was doing something good to try and ease the troubles between the fall of the first Galactic Empire and the rise of the second. I thought he had a real grasp on people and their motives with his psychohistory. But when we discover in this book, that the Second Foundationers had the ability to affect people’s mind, then I began to doubt Seldon’s "all knowing-ness"; that it just came down, not to people acting on their own according to their nature, but because of Second Foundationers influencing them. From the way the book ended, it doesn't look like either Foundation changed. The First Foundationers think they've defeated the Second, but we know that is not the case so each Foundation will continue moving along as they always had.

5. What, if anything, surprised you in this last half of the book? How do you feel Second Foundation held up compared to the other two books in the trilogy?

The Pelleas and Arkady revelations surprised me! Second Foundation, the book, seemed more in line with the first, Foundation. A lot of talk and some tense situations. Not a whole lot of action like the second book.

6. Did any themes stand out for you in this series? What are you taking away from the experience of reading the Foundation trilogy?

Free will and what does that really mean? Is influencing people through mind control really the best course in order to establish this second Galactic Empire? (Sorry, for answering a question with more questions. It's a bad habit of mine. My husband hates it!)

Despite good intentions, the actions required to achieve them have not always been honorable. I wonder if it really will be for the good of the galaxy in the end. I hope so after all the turmoil.

I want to thank Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings for hosting the group read and everyone who read and commented. Below are links to all three group reads. These go to Stainless Steel Droppings site and below the post there are links posted by other bloggers who participated:

Foundation - Part 1/Conclusion

Foundation and Empire - Part 1/Conclusion

Second Foundation - Part 1/Conclusion

I think the second book, Foundation and Empire, is my favorite. It had a lot more excitement. There was the battle between the Foundation and the Galactic Empire, then later we have Bayta and Toran barely escaping just ahead of the Mule as he conquered each planet of the Foundation. And let’s not forget the revelation of the Mule and his powers!

As a whole it’s a great series of books I highly recommend. I had a great time and I hope everyone else did too.

Second Foundation Group Read, Part 1

The Science Fiction Experience is still going strong. I have continued with the group read of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.

Below are the questions (in bold) for the group read and my answers follow. There will be spoilers so beware if you haven’t read the book and would like to in the future. These books are a great read if you remain spoiler free. Now for a quick summary of the story so far:

In the first book of the series, Foundation, Hari Seldon predicted the fall of the Galactic Empire and a thirty thousand year period that would follow that would see the galaxy in the midst of barbarism. Instead of a thirty thousand year period of barbarism, he established two Foundations on each side of the galazy to help guide the galaxy to a Second Galactic Empire that would only take one thousand years. Men such as Salvor Hardin and Hober Mallow, guided the Foundation to success when threatened by stronger neighboring kingdoms to keep with Seldon’s Plan.

In the second book, Foundation and Empire, the Foundation was once again threatened but by the Galactic Empire as an ambitious general tried to conquer those kingdoms the Empire had lost hundreds of years ago. Once again these efforts failed and the Foundation survived. Then we were introduced to the Mule, a mutant who could manipulate emotions, an element Seldon’s Plan had not accounted for, who finally conquered the Foundation and the Galaxy.

We are now on the third book, Second Foundation, which continues the search for the Second Foundation by the Mule, who has sent out two men, Han Pritcher and Bail Channis, to assist. (On a side note: Han Pritcher/Han Solo. Bail Channis/Bail Organa. A Galactic Empire stretching across hundreds of planets. Hmmm…) The Mule is so close to discovering the location of the Second Foundation, but he seems to have met his match. Then (once again!) we jump several years to discover the Foundation is back on course and the Second Foundation may be involved more than we would have thought.

1. How have your perceptions of the Mule and his form of governing grown or changed, or not, after spending more time with him in this novel?

I don’t think my views have changed of the Mule. I was always rooting for him and we learn later in the book that his rule was a peaceful one, after he conquered the Foundation and after his entanglement with the Second Foundationers, which I think would have still been peaceful even without the Second Foundation intervening.

2. Having finally gotten a glimpse into the mysterious Second Foundation, what are your feelings/thoughts about this group and their methods (as revealed thus far)

And we questioned the Mule’s motives and actions! I find the Second Foundationers extremely sketchy, especially when we learn Channis was a spy of theirs and now we’ve learned something very interesting in the second half of the book, with the secret meeting between Pelleas Anthor, Dr. Darell, Jole Turbor, Dr. Elvett Semic and Homir Munn.

3. Has your understanding of the Seldon Plan changed at all with the revelations about the plan and the Second Foundationers near the end of this first part of our reading? Looking back does it alter any ideas you had about Seldon and his predictions?

“The laws of Psychohistory are statistical in nature and are rendered invalid if the actions of individual men are not random in nature. If a sizable group of human beings learned of key details of the Plan, their actions would be governed by that knowledge and would no longer be random in the meaning of the axioms of Psychohistory. In other words, they would no longer be perfectly predictable.”

I always felt it took an individual to make a crucial decision for the Foundation that kept with the Seldon Plan. We see that Seldon’s calculations are “dependant” on these random actions. But not I wonder if Hardin and Mallow’s actions were really random. We’re getting hints that the Second Foundation is infiltrating. So what if Seldon’s predictions only came true because these “random” actions were not so random? What if they worked because there was someone (or a group of people) secretly guiding things along but making certain these acts looked random? What if they were guiding Hardin and Mallow without their knowledge?

Then we get this, when Channis remembers the location of the Second Foundation: “Like Ebling Mis before him, he was conscious of only one vast, numbing surprise.”

What would surprise Channis and Mis so much? I can only think that it would be the true location of the Second Foundation being somewhere they least suspected because it was always said it was located on the other side of the galaxy. I think the Second Foundation was established on Terminus, along with the Foundation, in secret.

4. A simple one: How did you feel the first part of Second Foundation held up in comparison to the sections we've previously read?

It has the same flow and style. Not a whole lot of action as usual with a lot of talking and a lot of tension! Similar to the way the second half of Foundation and Empire ended, the first half of Second Foundation was quite tense. And we get resolutions to the tension without bloodshed which has usually been the standard throughout the series.

5. It is perhaps not surprising that Asimov's second important female character in the trilogy would be a direct descendent of the first. What do you think of young Arcadia "Arkady" Darell?

I like “Arkady” a lot. She’s smart and sassy and feels like a teenager. I remember when I was around the same age wanting to change my name to something more sophisticated so she definitely rang true. I’m looking forward to seeing what Asimov has in store for her and for the Foundation.

I have to say I’m glad I’ve participated in these group reads. This series has been a fun adventure. Return next week for the conclusion of the book and the series (and to see if I'm right about the Second Foundation)! And if you'd like to discuss Second Foundation, you can comment here or check out what others are saying here.