It is almost impossible to discuss this book without giving away elements of the previous ones, so I caution you against reading ahead if you are unfamiliar with plot of the earlier novels in the series.

Much like the previous novel, Second Foundation is made up of two distinct stories tied together by a common theme of the search for the elusive Second Foundation.

Foundation and Empire ended with the Mule's attempts to locate the Second Foundation thwarted by the young Bayta Darrell. Ebling Meis who had surmised the location from the records in the Galactic Library on Trantor was killed by Bayta to prevent him from revealing the location inadvertently to the Mule.

The Mule's character provides some continuity between this book and the previous one. The story begins with the Mule returning to the seat of his new empire on Kalgan to continue his search for the Second Foundation. The Mule elicits the help of his newly converted military captain, Hans Pritcher, along with a youthful citizen, Bail Channis to help him locate the other Foundation, so that he can destroy it and consolidate his empire.

The first story appropriately titled "Search by the Mule", chronicles this expedition undertaken by Pritcher and Channis. The story concludes with a somewhat anticlimactic confrontation between the Mule and the Second Foundation.

By know, you should know that the Mule is a mutant with incredible mental abilities that allow him to completely control peoples' minds and adjust their emotions as he sees fit. Similiarly, the Second Foundation is composed of mentalists who can exert great control over their mental faculties.

As a result, any confrontation between the two would result in a battle waged between two extremely advanced minds, one that doesn't lend itself to an easy literary description. For this reason, Asimov's description can be a bit of a letdown, but it works well considering the circumstances. This is probably my favorite Foundation story and I thought the conclusion worked quite well, though I have to admit that a part of me was disappointed to see the Mule so thoroughly defeated.

At the end of the story, one is left with a somewhat better understanding of the workings of the Second Foundation, but still without the precise location of this enigmatic operation.

The plot of the second story revolves around the First Foundation's search for their unseen cousin. The problem is that the First Foundation was never supposed to be aware of the Second Foundation's workings and their knowledge threatens the entire Seldon Plan. The Mule's search and apparent defeat were not enough to dissuade the First Foundation from their belief in the Second's existence.

The key figure in this story is none other then Arkady Darrell, the granddaughter of Bayta Darrell. Arkady's father becomes involved with several other Foundationeers in a search for the Second Foundation. Naturally, they fear what the existence of the other implies for their future. The idea of another Foundation undermines their authority and importance in the Seldon Plan. And who would relish the thought of being at the mercy of a hidden organization of telepaths?

The key problem for the First Foundation is that no one really knows the location of the Second Foundation. They are only left with Hari Seldon's ambiguous note referring to the location as being at Star's End. It is clear that the meaning is not literal, but rather that it offers a subtle clue as to the Foundation's true location.

This is a rather good story with plenty of interesting plot twists and culminating in the revelation of the true location of the Second Foundation. I won't give the it away, but it should be somewhat easy to figure out if you think about it for a bit. Still, the story works well and provides a rather nice conclusion to a great series.

Aside from some minor complaints regarding the plot structure, this is the best book of the series IMHO. If you've read the other two Foundation novels, then you won't be disappointed by this one.