Few words about the author. Isaac Asimov’s stature in Science Fiction may be compared to Gandhi in Politics and Einstein in Science. The guy really had imagination for words, phrases, situations, science, and most of all, the mind. So much so that this phrase of his doesn’t seem egotistic at all: “People who think they know everything are a big nuisance to those of us who really do”. He has written 470 books on very diverse subjects (some even on Biochemistry, in which he graduated!).
Foundation trilogy is very diverse and enjoyable. Two great things about it are the creative and the unexpected.
Foundation novels are based in a Galaxy dominated by a strong Empire centred at Trantor. Hari Seldon is a psychohistorian – someone who predicts future based on psychological reaction of the masses. He is the real hero of the series, though he hardly lives even 10% of it. He predicts the fall of the Empire and 30,000 years of barbarism following it before humanity will return to normal. He establishes two Foundations with the intent of reducing this span to 1000 years. That is what Foundation trilogy is about, and much more!
Foundation is about First Foundation – a lonely planet established at periphery of Galaxy for the purpose of preparing encyclopaedia to retain knowledge through the period of barbarism. Very soon, the intelligent ones identify that that cannot be it. And then crises come one after other – all seemingly unsurpassable. Only those, who are able to see beyond the obvious and have courage to do what needs to be done, are able to bring them out of the crises. What Asimov really does well is changing the reel fast – from encyclopaedists to diplomats to traders, the situation at Foundation changes every 50 years, like political situation in any country. That makes the novel very interesting. Foundation produces many heroes, but my favourite is Salvor Hardin. Two of his quotes are my all time favourites:
a. Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
b. Don’t let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.
Foundation & Empire shifts gears. The Empire senses Foundation’s growing power and wants to curb it before it is beyond its own. Once again, mind wins over the muscle; however, a mutant called Mule turns up and he changes the whole power game from physical powers to psychic powers. The novel is the sort that is nice but starts to get tiring because things stop making a point. However, the last chapter really covers up for this seeming pointlessness of the remainder of the novel. It is like 3 Deewarein or Life is Beautiful, where the end makes everything sane, but this one really comes with a Bang! One of the best thriller endings ever.
Second Foundation is a further shift in gear (lower gear perhaps) – it is all about psychic and emotional powers and is a bit difficult to read, both due to heavy psychic wars and tough English. The fight between Mule and Second Foundation is really cool, but the fight between First and Second Foundations starts to drag. One aspect that I liked very much is the fear of the emotional control – one group always fears of emotional/psychic control by the other and is never sure whether what they think is original or not. This happens in life too, and people who read too many books, watch too many movies or listen to too many people should be aware of missing originality. Any way, Asimov handles emotional control very well – until the end, he lets you guess when emotional control is present and when it is absent.
Before it drags too long, let me end the blog here. Try “Foundation” and if you like it, go for the next two in the trilogy. These are really fast read 250 pages novels. For myself, I will read the prequels, which I am told are good (the sequels to Second Foundation are reported to be a drag).
In the queue: The Ultimate Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy!
1 comment:
Well written and interesting thoughts. Its amazing how sometimes we get inspiration from the most unexpected of quarters !
AC kalyana mandapam in Chennai
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