In Foundation's Fear, Benford examines the events surrounding Hari Seldon's appointment to First Minister following Demerzel's resignation and the ongoing development of his theory of psychohistory. The story roughly takes place between the first two stories in Asimov's Forward the Foundation, though Benford takes certain liberties with events laid out therein.

As the story opens, Seldon is reluctant to accept Cleon I's appointment as First Minister fearing that the additional duties brought on by the office will keep him from working on his development of psychohistory. Things are further complicated by other political figures that manuever to prevent Seldon from ascending to the position. In the process, Seldon is threatened by a myriad of assassination attempts that he manages to evade more through timely retreat rather then cunning or bravery.

Unlike Asimov in his prequels, Benford feels little need to restrict the action to Trantor and has Seldon visiting several other worlds in the Empire before events bring him back full-circle to the capitol. Benford's introduction of the wormhole network as mode of intergalactic travel has drawn the ire of many readers. Many see his tampering with the details of Asimov's universe to be unnecessary and in poor taste. This is a minor quibble in my opinion and shouldn't detract from one's appreciation of the novel.

Benford's inclusion of the Joan of Arc and Voltaire sims was another point of contention. I'll admit that their discourse at times was tedious, but I thought they provided a nice interlude from the primary narrative. Having them debate Faith versus Reason was an interesting approach and I wish Benford had explored this avenue a bit more thoroughly. Seldon's interaction with the sims towards the end of the novel also provides additional insights into his formulation of psychohistory.

Benford's faithful attempts to describe the details behind psychohistory are probably the novel's greatest merit. This is one area where Asimov's novels were lacking and I found Benford's description of psychohistory's underlying processes to be enlightening. He also manages to do it in a way so as not to overwhelm the reader with intricacies of statistical analysis. Of course, the overall impact of the psychohistory is diminished as we know it is ultimately undermined by the introduction of Gaia theory.

I think much of the criticism leveled at Benford results from him bringing his own style to this novel. It is neither realistic nor fair to expect Benford to write the type of novel that Asimov would have. Their writing styles are clearly different. While Asimov's was economical, Benford prefers greater discourse and it suits him well in this novel as he seeks to explore more complex issues and define the thematic thread that will tie together the later novels in the series.

Furthermore, careful reading of the book's afterword clarifies his goals in revisiting the Foundation universe and I think that he succeeds in realizing them. I suppose that I'm in the minority in commending Benford's effort here, but I feel that he has something worthwhile to say and am happy that he got the opportunity to share it with the rest of us.