| This is the second book in Asimov's epic Foundation series and begins about 40 years after the events of the first book. In Foundation, Asimov described the first two centuries of the 'First Foundation', as they struggled to survive, cut off from the Empire and at the mercies of their more powerful neighbhors. By the end of the first novel, the First Foundation finds themselves in control of their region and firmly established as the center of authority through their technological superiority and the myth of the 'Seldon Plan'.
If you recall at the end of first novel, the First Foundation discovers that the Empire still exists and that its power still reaches the First Foundation's domain. Foundation and Empire is actually made up of two separate stories that were originally published as novellas in the late 40's
The initial story, title "The General", chronicles the exploits of an ambitious Imperial general who sets his sights on defeating the First Foundation. Faced with annihilation at the hands of a superior army, the First Foundation has only their faith in the Seldon Plan to give them hope.
I found the first story to be a bit weak plot-wise and the conclusion to be somewhat trite. In fact, "The General" is pretty much a continuation of the same sort of political maneuvering that characterizes the first Foundation novel. Once again, the Foundation continues to blindly follow the Seldon Plan, expecting that things will work out for them inevitably, guided by the subtle hand of Hari Seldon's theory of psychohistory. The biggest problem with this story is the literary 'dead-end' Asimov seems to write himself into towards the end and the lack of the First Foundation's ability to resolve the conflict. Instead, Asimov uses internal strife within the Empire to explain the Foundation's ultimate victory. IMHO, this is clearly the weakest of all the Foundation stories.
Based on my previous commentary, you may be wondering why I gave this novel such a high rating. Well, it's because the second story in the novel more then makes up for the first one's shortcomings.
The second story of Foundation and Empire, titled "The Mule", describes the rise of a mutant power that bears the same name. The Mule is endowed with incredible powers that allows him to almost single-handedly derail the Seldon Plan. I won't give away the Mule's specific abilities here, but you can probably guess what they are if you are somewhat familiar with the Foundation universe.
This story works so well because we finally witness a threat to the Foundation that Hari Seldon himself could not have forseen. The problem is with fundamentals of psychohistory itself and not his interpretation of the theory. Psychohistory only works when examining significantly large populations where statistical methods can be utilized to analyze the behavior of the populace. Therefore, psychohistory cannot take into account the actions of one particular individual and this is what allows the Mule to wreak so much havoc.
Throughout the story, the reader is given glimpses of the Mule's true nature, but Asimov manages to provide a real plot-twist at the end that provides an effective climax. The Mule is a truly enigmatic and fascinating character, one whose origins are also given greater explanation in the later Foundation novels.
Asimov himself has said that "The Mule" was his favorite Foundation story and it is easy to see why. The ending of the story also serves as a fitting way to bring the Second Foundation into the picture, which becomes the focus of the final book in the trilogy.
If you found the first Foundation novel somewhat disappointing as I did, do yourself a favor and read this book and I promise you it will restore your faith in the rest of the series! |
