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A review by yak_attak
Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
3.0
Second Foundation takes the format of book two and improves on it in a couple of ways - Unlike that book's bifurcation, here the two stories deal with and build on each other well. There's an overriding mystery at the center of the book that, while its conclusion is utterly banal and annoying, the possibilities behind it are interesting while they last.
The first half was probably my preference, and while it's very much rife with Asimov's annoying "Hahaha! But you don't suspect it was actually I who solved everything from the very beginning!" oneupmanship that is just horridly shot through in these books, it has one of the better character beats in the whole thing. Han Pritcher's interesting situation where he's been mind-controlled by one character and knows about it, but *possibly* mind controlled by a second and is unsure... there's a lot of great little moments provided by that. Given a good character's rarity, this really helps.
The second half is messier, juggling a number of plotlines each of which aren't too stellar. Again some ridiculous Xanatos Gambit shit abounds to the point where you just don't care about the conclusion at all (and in fact, the *most interesting* option is one of the earliest thrown away. Ah well.) This at least better expands the galaxy than book 2, and gives some somewhat stronger characters. At least they're not directly irritating.
Not a great review, but there's just not tons to say here. You already know how you're going to feel about this book by the time you get done with the original Foundation book. It's more of the same, even if a bit lesser.
The first half was probably my preference, and while it's very much rife with Asimov's annoying "Hahaha! But you don't suspect it was actually I who solved everything from the very beginning!" oneupmanship that is just horridly shot through in these books, it has one of the better character beats in the whole thing. Han Pritcher's interesting situation where he's been mind-controlled by one character and knows about it, but *possibly* mind controlled by a second and is unsure... there's a lot of great little moments provided by that. Given a good character's rarity, this really helps.
The second half is messier, juggling a number of plotlines each of which aren't too stellar. Again some ridiculous Xanatos Gambit shit abounds to the point where you just don't care about the conclusion at all (and in fact, the *most interesting* option is one of the earliest thrown away. Ah well.) This at least better expands the galaxy than book 2, and gives some somewhat stronger characters. At least they're not directly irritating.
Not a great review, but there's just not tons to say here. You already know how you're going to feel about this book by the time you get done with the original Foundation book. It's more of the same, even if a bit lesser.