Second Foundation (1953)
Second Foundation is a 1953 fiction book written by Isaac Asimov.
Two hunts drive the third book. First the Mule, the mind-bending conqueror who broke Seldon's plan, sets out to find the one power that might still stop him: the rumored Second Foundation, hidden somewhere at the galaxy's far end. Later the First Foundation takes up the same search, suspecting that unseen hands are steering its fate too neatly. Much of the story rests on Arkady Darell, a fourteen-year-old girl carrying a secret and a gift for trouble. Asimov closes his original trilogy on the question of who really holds power when history itself is being managed from the shadows.
Quick answers
What is Second Foundation about?
Two hunts drive the third book. First the Mule, the mind-bending conqueror who broke Seldon's plan, sets out to find the one power that might still stop him: the rumored Second Foundation, hidden somewhere at the galaxy's far end. Later the First Foundation takes up the same search, suspecting that unseen hands are steering its fate too neatly. Much of the story rests on Arkady Darell, a fourteen-year-old girl carrying a secret and a gift for trouble. Asimov closes his original trilogy on the question of who really holds power when history itself is being managed from the shadows.
When was Second Foundation published?
Second Foundation was published in 1953.
Who made Second Foundation?
Second Foundation was written by Isaac Asimov.
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Second Foundation in our writing
- Companion guide: Foundation: The Complete Guide to Isaac Asimov's Galactic Empire
A few thoughts on Second Foundation
The Matrix shares this book's fascination with hidden minds steering people who believe they are free, which sits close to the Second Foundation's quiet science. Silo again suits the mood of secrets kept for a supposed greater good. For a sprawling galactic follow-up, Mass Effect 2 carries similar stakes of a concealed power moving the board.
A hidden power secretly steering history from behind the curtain
Second Foundation spends its length on the question of who is really steering galactic history once the Mule breaks Hari Seldon's careful math, with both hunters and hunted certain someone unseen is still pulling strings. Silo, The Matrix, Star Wars, Foundation and Thunderhead all build their world around a hidden order or intelligence managing events from behind the scenes, visible only in the outcomes it leaves behind.
A teenager who becomes the key to a much bigger fight without anyone noticing
Second Foundation turns on fourteen-year-old Arkady Darell, who carries a secret and a gift for trouble that puts her at the center of a fight far bigger than she understands. Shatter Me, Witch & Wizard, The People of Sparks and The Marrow Thieves all follow a teenage girl whose choices end up mattering to a much larger power struggle than the adults around her expect.
One overwhelming individual breaks a plan generations in the making
The Mule is a single anomaly whose power lets him tear through a plan built on the behavior of billions, something no statistic in Second Foundation ever saw coming. Mass Effect 2, War of the Worlds, BioShock Infinite and Babel-17 all put one disproportionate force, a fleet, an invader, a weapon, up against careful, large-scale strategy, and let it prove that a single exception can outrun the average.