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Title: Foundation's Triumph (Second Foundation Trilogy) by David Brin ISBN: 0-06-105639-1 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 30 May, 2000 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.72 (47 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Misguided
Comment: It's been many years since I read Asimov's original "Foundation" trilogy. As I remeber it, he takes the fall of Rome along with the ensuing dark ages and renaissance and gives it a futuristic and galactic spin. To make things interesting he adds Hari Seldon, psychohistory, and the Foundations. The sheer notion of a mathematical model that can accurately predict the future is nonsense. It's impossible to anticipate the appearance and impact of a Caesar or a Lincoln or a Hitler on the course of events. Nevertheless, psychohistory works in the original Foundation context. The original trilogy was a good read and is among the best sci fi around.
Later in his life, Asimov wrote several books that linked characters and events from his robot books to the Foundation series. This was, at best, a rather questionable idea. It took the role of robots and expanded it to completely outrageous proportions.
Now, we have the Second Foundation trilogy from Benford, Bear and Brin, and things have gotten totally out of control. Technological advances aside, imagine having a robot for a wife. I don't think so. Imagine computer simulations of historical personalities that escape and take on an intergalactic life of their own. I don't think so.
In this vein, Brin's book goes much farther than the previous two. Once Asimov's revered genius, Brin puts Hari into the role of the ultimate pawn. Robots now dispute the fate of humanity without bothering to consider what humans might want, and then use Hari to carry out their plans. And Hari goes along, even when he realizes he's being manipulated. R. Daneel Olivaw is now the ultimate villain, ruthlessly doing whatever it takes to impose his "ultimate solution" on the universe. Genocide, the deliberate destruction of the Galactic Empire, suppression of human knowledge and creativity, it's all here. The destruction of a vast accumulation of human historical records are reminiscent of the book burning indulged in by Hitler's Nazis. R. Daneel thinks nothing of wiping the memory of anybody who threatens his grand scheme. It's all very "logical" in a sense, but totally unthinkable.
One absurd scene features Dors, a "female" robot, and Lodovic, a "male" robot, heading off toward Trantor in a space vehicle together. They maintain their "human" sub-routines (out of habit. Can robots have habits? Silly.) and the writing clearly implies that "feelings" are at work here. They talk, rather than communicate via microwave. They simulate expressions and emotional responses though these are clearly not called for. There are no humans on board. One can only imagine a sequel in which we are treated to robot love-making, with a little mechanical sperm cell fertilizing a little metallic ovum, leading to the birth of a little robot infant. Ridiculous.
This may be one robot's utopian dream, but it comes across as my worst nightmare. I won't tell you what happens at the end, but I will tell you what doesn't. Nobody smashes R. Daneel into a pile of little metal fragments. That, however, is exactly what should have happened. As it is, the book has lots of maneuvering, and every time the plot gets a new complication, it gets a new robotic sect as the cause, but there is little real action and the ending is completely unsatisfying. Brin ties up lots of loose ends, but he leaves lots of others. Open door for further sequels? I hope not! This story is a perversion of the original "Foundation" trilogy. The only reason I have given it two stars is because the writing is technically competent. It's clear from some of the other reviews here that some people liked this series in general, and Brin's finale in particular, but I didn't. I recommend that if you haven't read this already, don't.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good... for a Brin ending.
Comment: OK, that's a cynical title. I'm actually a huge Brin fan. But the execution of the Second Foundation Trilogy has left me wanting. As I mentioned while reviewing the second installment, it seemed too much like competition, and not enough like collaboration.
In the third volume, Brin abandons story elements that the previous two authors established, and introduces his own. I won't spoil them here, but by the third novel, this practice gets tiresome. And those who have read third volumes of Brin trilogies know that he has a penchant for Deus ex Machina. If you enjoy Deus, you won't be disappointed here.
But none of that fundamentally kills this story. If you've read the first two books of this trilogy, by all means, finish it. It does tie up a lot of threads that Asimov left hanging, and that's gratifying. And honestly, Brin does most of the work in this department. How did an interstellar human culture made up primarily of parochial, servant-dependant Spacers colonize an entire galaxy? What influence does chaos theory have on psychohistorical predictions? How did Gaia emerge? What happened to Earth? Brin gathers together these loose ends, and then dangles a couple of new ones... just in case there's an appetite for more books in this universe.
Overall, I liked Bear's Foundation and Chaos most of the three books in this trilogy. But Brin's contribution comes a close second. I gave them both 4 stars anyway, because the third novel is still above average. But David, if you're reading this... how about tying off some loose ends in your Uplift setting!
Rating: 5
Summary: A good wrap to a good project.
Comment: I think Brin, Bear, and Benford did a very good job on these books (the second foundation trilogy). They took these ideas from Asimov and agreed to not take literary license with them but to merely bring them to life in the way Asimov would have if he had lived to write them. I think that Brin actually might even be a better writer per se than Asimov, but it was Asimov's storyline, not the way Brin wrote it that made it a great book. It answers many questions that Asimov never got around to answering but I think always meant to at some point because they were in the notes that the three B's used to write this series. Great job!
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Title: Forward the Foundation by ISAAC ASIMOV ISBN: 0553565079 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 February, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Foundation's Edge : The Foundation Novels by ISAAC ASIMOV ISBN: 0553293389 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 October, 1991 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Prelude to Foundation by ISAAC ASIMOV ISBN: 0553278398 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 March, 1989 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov ISBN: 0586071105 Publisher: Harper Collins - UK Pub. Date: 1987 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Foundation and Empire by ISAAC ASIMOV ISBN: 0553293370 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 October, 1991 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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