FanFare

"Search by the Foundation" is my favorite story in the original Foundation series. Part of it is nostalgic, as I have vivid memories of reading the story as a young boy, but another part of is that it's in this story that you see most of the mundane, everyday world of the series, and it's a fun world to visit. You read about life in the suburbs and traveling by regular transport, and most importantly, you see a lot of the setting through the eyes of Arkady Darrell, a fourteen year old girl. My youthful self, falling headlong into science fiction fandom, was thrilled to find an easily relatable hero. Today, I'm impressed by how skilfully Asimov used this different perspective for expert world-building. And young and adult me agree, Arkady Darrell is the most purely fun protagonist to read about in the Foundation series, with the possible exception of Salvor Hardin. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Nov 27, 2015 - 1 comment

Second Foundation is the only one of the original Foundation books that feels like a coherent whole. The two parts, originally titled "Now You See It—" and "—And Now You Don't", feel like they were conceived in one go. Nevertheless, they are quite different from each other, even if both center on the hunt for the elusive "Second Foundation" set up by Hari Seldon. The first section, "Search by the Mule" might just be the weirdest story in the original Foundation trilogy. It brings to an end the narrative of Han Pritcher and The Mule from the previous story, and climaxes in a psychic duel that feels like something out of E. E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Nov 20, 2015 - 7 comments