Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Revised Edition) (44 page)
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Authors: James Gunn
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All this had shifted the evolutionary development of science fiction from the magazine to the book. Approximately the same number of magazines (half a dozen) were being published, and with the same average circulation (50,000-100,000 or so) but books had proliferated. More books were being published than magazine stories and for far greater financial return, and experienced authors were spending their time writing novels rather than stories. Magazine editors like John Campbell and H.L. Gold and Tony Boucher no longer shaped stories and careers, and in the process, science fiction itself; now power was in the hands of book editors such as Donald Wollheim, Pat LoBrutto, David Hartwell, and particularly the marketing genius Judy-Lynn Benjamin del Rey, and they were interested not in realizing a consistent generic vision for a group of identifiable subscribers but in selling diverse books to a difficult-to-define general audience.
Foundation's Edge,
then, was published in the expectation that it would become a best seller (and that expectation was reflected in the financial incentives of the contract); that, too, became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Copies were printed by the tens of thousands; press releases flowed; advertisements appeared in general as well as specialized media; and, most of all, salesmen persuaded booksellers to stock the book in large quantities, and therefore to display the book prominently where casual shoppers as well as knowledgeable SF readers would notice and perhaps even buy it.
then, was published in the expectation that it would become a best seller (and that expectation was reflected in the financial incentives of the contract); that, too, became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Copies were printed by the tens of thousands; press releases flowed; advertisements appeared in general as well as specialized media; and, most of all, salesmen persuaded booksellers to stock the book in large quantities, and therefore to display the book prominently where casual shoppers as well as knowledgeable SF readers would notice and perhaps even buy it.
What was the excitement about? In
Foundation's Edge,
48 F.E., the First Foundation has consolidated its position in the Galaxy: through the Foundation Federation it controls approximately one-third of the inhabited planets and influences what it doesn't control. A young Councilman, Golan Trevise, is stirring up controversy with statements that the Second Foundation hasn't been destroyed. His reason, he says privately, is that Seldon's Plan is too closely on course, and some external agency must be controlling events. Trevise is betrayed by fellow Councilman Munn Li Compor, a seeming friend, to Mayor Harlo Branno. Branno arrests Trevise and later exiles him into space in a powerful new computerized pocket-cruiser in the company of Janov Pelorat, an aging historian who wants to locate Earth, the legendary birthplace of humanity. Branno then sends Compor to follow them.
Foundation's Edge,
48 F.E., the First Foundation has consolidated its position in the Galaxy: through the Foundation Federation it controls approximately one-third of the inhabited planets and influences what it doesn't control. A young Councilman, Golan Trevise, is stirring up controversy with statements that the Second Foundation hasn't been destroyed. His reason, he says privately, is that Seldon's Plan is too closely on course, and some external agency must be controlling events. Trevise is betrayed by fellow Councilman Munn Li Compor, a seeming friend, to Mayor Harlo Branno. Branno arrests Trevise and later exiles him into space in a powerful new computerized pocket-cruiser in the company of Janov Pelorat, an aging historian who wants to locate Earth, the legendary birthplace of humanity. Branno then sends Compor to follow them.
After various intrigues and doublethinks (Asimov's "reversals of ideas"), Trevise and Pelorat arrive at a planet called Gaia, which might be but isn't Earth, whose parts, organic and inorganic, form a telepathic gestalt. Also gathering in spaceships near Gaia are Branno, who has hoped to trap the Second Foundation into revealing itself, and then to
destroy it through the development of a mental shield, and Stor Gendibal, an ambitious young Speaker of the Second Foundation, who also has maintained that Seldon's Plan has been impossibly consistent and that a mysterious third party must be responsible.
destroy it through the development of a mental shield, and Stor Gendibal, an ambitious young Speaker of the Second Foundation, who also has maintained that Seldon's Plan has been impossibly consistent and that a mysterious third party must be responsible.
A three-way mental battle ensues in which Trevise, who has been selected by Gaia to make the crucial choice for the future of the Galaxy, opts for Gaia's proposal. Branno and Gendibal are sent back to their respective Foundations with their memories adjusted to eliminate recollections of Gaia and the experiences that led to the confrontation but otherwise to believe that each had won. Pelorat stays on Gaia with a young woman he loves (and whom Trevise accuses of being a robot). And Trevise leaves to search for the elusive Earth. Asimov concluded with a veiled promise ("The End [for now]") of a sequel.
This brief summary gives little suggestion of the flavor of the novel. In style it belongs to the 1940s not simply to science fiction's 1940s but to Asimov's 1940s. It is no novel of character not even a
Caves of Steel
or a
Gods Themselves
but a discursive novel of ideas, much like the other Foundation stories. As the first extended treatment (140,000 words compared to the 50,000 words of "The Mule" or "Search by the Foundation") in fact the longest novel Asimov had written it hangs together well.
Caves of Steel
or a
Gods Themselves
but a discursive novel of ideas, much like the other Foundation stories. As the first extended treatment (140,000 words compared to the 50,000 words of "The Mule" or "Search by the Foundation") in fact the longest novel Asimov had written it hangs together well.
Like the stories that make up
The Foundation Trilogy, Foundation's Edge
is largely dialogue, like them it contains little action, and like them it is readable, involving, and intellectually complicated. As Jorane Sutt tells Hober Mallow in "The Merchant Princes," "There is nothing straight about you; no motive that hasn't another behind it; no statement that hasn't three meanings," so it is with
Foundation's Edge.
The suspense of the novel is sustained by repeated examples of motivation within motivation, wheels within wheels. Harlo Branna, for instance, has Trevise arrested on an accusation of treason. But in a personal conference, she reveals that she really wants him to search for the Second Foundation. But as she tells her Director of Security, Liono Kodell, what she
really
intends him to do is to serve as a lightning rod (Asimov's working title for the novel), leading the Second Foundation to reveal itself.
The Foundation Trilogy, Foundation's Edge
is largely dialogue, like them it contains little action, and like them it is readable, involving, and intellectually complicated. As Jorane Sutt tells Hober Mallow in "The Merchant Princes," "There is nothing straight about you; no motive that hasn't another behind it; no statement that hasn't three meanings," so it is with
Foundation's Edge.
The suspense of the novel is sustained by repeated examples of motivation within motivation, wheels within wheels. Harlo Branna, for instance, has Trevise arrested on an accusation of treason. But in a personal conference, she reveals that she really wants him to search for the Second Foundation. But as she tells her Director of Security, Liono Kodell, what she
really
intends him to do is to serve as a lightning rod (Asimov's working title for the novel), leading the Second Foundation to reveal itself.
Similar deviousness lies behind her actions with Compor. Deviousness, however, is common to all the characters. It comes naturally to the Speakers of the Second Foundation, who are revealed in
Foundation's Edge
as intriguing for power as relentlessly as any non-mentalist. Most important, it is characteristic of Trevise, who is the critical character in the novel, if not, indeed, its hero. Trevise is continually re-evaluating
the actions of the other characters, particularly in his conversations with Pelorat, whose major function in the novel is to act as confidante for Trevise (the business about Earth, though it provides substance for a sequel, here seems more like an excuse for Pelorat's presence, and the possible existence of Earth is presented too dramatically to lead only to Gaia, and Trevise does not need Pelorat to lead him there). Pelorat, though he is better characterized and plays a more substantial role, is Trevise's "Bigman" Jones.
Foundation's Edge
as intriguing for power as relentlessly as any non-mentalist. Most important, it is characteristic of Trevise, who is the critical character in the novel, if not, indeed, its hero. Trevise is continually re-evaluating
the actions of the other characters, particularly in his conversations with Pelorat, whose major function in the novel is to act as confidante for Trevise (the business about Earth, though it provides substance for a sequel, here seems more like an excuse for Pelorat's presence, and the possible existence of Earth is presented too dramatically to lead only to Gaia, and Trevise does not need Pelorat to lead him there). Pelorat, though he is better characterized and plays a more substantial role, is Trevise's "Bigman" Jones.
The motivation-behind-motivation method is appropriate to the subject of the novel. When psychological control of people's actions and even of people's thoughts occurs, the hiding and questioning of motivation is natural. Moreover,
Foundation's Edge
operates both as a novel of intrigue and as a mystery. The various political intrigues that are at work in the First Foundation's councils on Terminus and that are found on Sayshell and, by implication, on every other planet in the Galaxy, thrive on actions taken ostensibly for one reason but actually for another.
Foundation's Edge
operates both as a novel of intrigue and as a mystery. The various political intrigues that are at work in the First Foundation's councils on Terminus and that are found on Sayshell and, by implication, on every other planet in the Galaxy, thrive on actions taken ostensibly for one reason but actually for another.
More significantly, the novel functions, in typical Asimovian fashion, as a mystery that begins with the apparent goal of locating the Second Foundation (the mystery that sustained the last half of the
Trilogy
) and then is diverted to locating the power that has kept galactic events impossibly close to Seldon's Plan, with subsidiary mysteries along the way, such as why information about Earth has disappeared from the Second Foundation's (computer) library, why Gaia is feared on Sayshell and why it is not recorded in Foundation files, etc. As a mystery the major question of the novel is who (or what) done it? Various characters are presented as suspects: Pelorat, Compor, Kodell, Branno, and Sura Novi, the peasant woman from Trantor who aspires to be a Scowler (scholar) and, having attached herself to Gendibal, is taken along to the confrontation with Trevise, near Gaia. And, indeed, more than one turns out to be something other than what he or she seems.
Trilogy
) and then is diverted to locating the power that has kept galactic events impossibly close to Seldon's Plan, with subsidiary mysteries along the way, such as why information about Earth has disappeared from the Second Foundation's (computer) library, why Gaia is feared on Sayshell and why it is not recorded in Foundation files, etc. As a mystery the major question of the novel is who (or what) done it? Various characters are presented as suspects: Pelorat, Compor, Kodell, Branno, and Sura Novi, the peasant woman from Trantor who aspires to be a Scowler (scholar) and, having attached herself to Gendibal, is taken along to the confrontation with Trevise, near Gaia. And, indeed, more than one turns out to be something other than what he or she seems.
Some reviews noted the increased role given to women, but the women of
Foundation's Edge
are not significantly female. The leader of the First Foundation, Mayor Branno, is a woman, but she is cast in the same mold as Salvor Hardin and Hober Mallow. Though she makes a critical error in judgment, it would be a mistake to categorize this as a feminine mistake; it is motivated by ambition, and the other characters, mostly male, make similar mistakes. Novi, though more complex than she appears, has a public persona much like that of Valona March of
The Currents of Space.
Bliss, the Gaian young woman with the fast quip and the erotic outlook, is a bit different from most Asimov characters, but
she may or may not be a robot. Bayta of "The Mule" and Arkady Darell of "Second Foundation," though they are not feminists, are at least as sympathetically drawn.
Foundation's Edge
are not significantly female. The leader of the First Foundation, Mayor Branno, is a woman, but she is cast in the same mold as Salvor Hardin and Hober Mallow. Though she makes a critical error in judgment, it would be a mistake to categorize this as a feminine mistake; it is motivated by ambition, and the other characters, mostly male, make similar mistakes. Novi, though more complex than she appears, has a public persona much like that of Valona March of
The Currents of Space.
Bliss, the Gaian young woman with the fast quip and the erotic outlook, is a bit different from most Asimov characters, but
she may or may not be a robot. Bayta of "The Mule" and Arkady Darell of "Second Foundation," though they are not feminists, are at least as sympathetically drawn.
Reviews pointed out that Asimov in his new novel updated his Foundation universe scientifically (as well as socially). Just as, in later editions of Asimov's "Lucky Starr" juveniles, he pointed out the scientific inaccuracies that later discoveries had revealed, so in
Foundation's Edge
Asimov made his Foundation Galaxy more scientifically plausible without going back to revise the earlier stories.
Foundation's Edge
Asimov made his Foundation Galaxy more scientifically plausible without going back to revise the earlier stories.
In his later novels, however, Asimov was tidying up. It was not so much that the
Trilogy
universe was scientifically inaccurate as that scientific accuracy was not that important; the speculation about future history and the prediction of events through psychohistory was what mattered, and the absence of computers (which Asimov was contemplating in his robot stories, which he wanted to keep separate so that he could continue with one if he, or his readers, grew tired of the other) seemed more irrelevant than a failure of the imagination. But at the age of 62 Asimov was another man with a different sense of values. After Sputnik he had turned to the writing of science popularizations with a sense of urgency and dedication to increasing the general store of scientific knowledge. In 1982 he could not be as casual about separating the fiction writer from the scientist who knew better. In
Foundation's Edge
the computer plays a significant part and one that promised to grow more significant in sequels. In his memoir he said that "I just put very advanced computers in the new Foundation novel and hoped that nobody would notice the inconsistency. Nobody did." More accurately, people noticed but didn't care.
Trilogy
universe was scientifically inaccurate as that scientific accuracy was not that important; the speculation about future history and the prediction of events through psychohistory was what mattered, and the absence of computers (which Asimov was contemplating in his robot stories, which he wanted to keep separate so that he could continue with one if he, or his readers, grew tired of the other) seemed more irrelevant than a failure of the imagination. But at the age of 62 Asimov was another man with a different sense of values. After Sputnik he had turned to the writing of science popularizations with a sense of urgency and dedication to increasing the general store of scientific knowledge. In 1982 he could not be as casual about separating the fiction writer from the scientist who knew better. In
Foundation's Edge
the computer plays a significant part and one that promised to grow more significant in sequels. In his memoir he said that "I just put very advanced computers in the new Foundation novel and hoped that nobody would notice the inconsistency. Nobody did." More accurately, people noticed but didn't care.
Asimov also neatened up the Foundation Galaxy with recent knowledge about galactic evolution and black holes, indicating in one place that the center of the galaxy is uninhabitable because of the huge black hole there, and in several other places that most of the planets in the Galaxy are inimical to human life. Neither appeared in the
Trilogy.
Trilogy.
Asimov also included in
Foundation's Edge
references not only to the earlier Foundation stories but to other Asimov works: the robot stories; the
Robot Novels,
with their future history of space colonization and robotic civilization, that differed in significant respects from the other novels that fit more neatly into the Foundation future history;
Pebble in the Sky;
and
The End of Eternity.
In an afterword, Asimov noted the references to the other works as well as to the fact that the references to
The End of Eternity
are not quite consistent with the events described in that novel.
Foundation's Edge
references not only to the earlier Foundation stories but to other Asimov works: the robot stories; the
Robot Novels,
with their future history of space colonization and robotic civilization, that differed in significant respects from the other novels that fit more neatly into the Foundation future history;
Pebble in the Sky;
and
The End of Eternity.
In an afterword, Asimov noted the references to the other works as well as to the fact that the references to
The End of Eternity
are not quite consistent with the events described in that novel.
So Asimov returned the reader to the Foundation universe of the 1940s, but he returned with a greater conviction about the importance of accurate science and of public understanding of science, and of the importance of ecology. Gaia, for instance, is ecology carried to the ultimate degree of self-awareness; it is ecology personified.
More important,
Foundation's Edge
altered the message of the
Trilogy
the message that rationality is the only human trait that can be trusted and that it will, if permitted to do so, come up with the correct solution. That message is embodied not only in Seldon's psychohistory but in the actions of the men and women who work to preserve the First and Second Foundations and Seldon's Plan, and even those who try to destroy them. In the new novel, however, Asimov allowed to creep in (or pushed in) a significant element of mysticism. Mysticism is present in Gaia, the planet that acts as a gigantic mind made up of variously sentient parts (although an explanation is proposed that the robots perhaps going back to the unfortunate Herbie of "Liar!" have perfected telepathy and are continuing their guardianship of humanity, as in "The Evitable Conflict"), and mysticism is evident in Trevise's grasp on correctness when he is "sure" he is always right, like Paul in D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner."
Foundation's Edge
altered the message of the
Trilogy
the message that rationality is the only human trait that can be trusted and that it will, if permitted to do so, come up with the correct solution. That message is embodied not only in Seldon's psychohistory but in the actions of the men and women who work to preserve the First and Second Foundations and Seldon's Plan, and even those who try to destroy them. In the new novel, however, Asimov allowed to creep in (or pushed in) a significant element of mysticism. Mysticism is present in Gaia, the planet that acts as a gigantic mind made up of variously sentient parts (although an explanation is proposed that the robots perhaps going back to the unfortunate Herbie of "Liar!" have perfected telepathy and are continuing their guardianship of humanity, as in "The Evitable Conflict"), and mysticism is evident in Trevise's grasp on correctness when he is "sure" he is always right, like Paul in D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner."
Hari Seldon and his rational psychohistory are accordingly de-emphasized. Even though Seldon's thousand-year Plan is preserved as Trevise chooses the status quo and even though Gaia (which is the mysterious force both Trevise and Gendibal have suspected) has acted to restore Seldon's Plan after the disturbances caused by the Mule (who is revealed, a bit unconvincingly, as a Gaian renegade), the Plan seems inconsequential when compared to the Gaian vision of "Galaxia! Every inhabited planet participating. Every star. Every scrap of interstellar gas. Perhaps even the great central black hole. A living galaxy and one that can be made favorable for all life in ways that we cannot foresee. . . ." It is a concept to rival that of Olaf Stapledon's
Star Maker,
but it is transcendence reached by faith rather than by reason.
Star Maker,
but it is transcendence reached by faith rather than by reason.
What could have led Asimov to what seems like a change of heart after a life dedicated to the rational pursuit of the right thing to do? Perhaps it is pushing the facts beyond a reasonable doubt to suggest that Asimov may have seen himself as Trevise, the man who has always been right, but Asimov was popularly perceived as a repository of not only facts but wisdom, and his opinions and recommendations were sought after and paid for. He dedicated himself to the education of the masses through numerable (he numbered them himself) books and innumerable articles. Nevertheless, as he looked around him, he must
have seen the world as ignorant as it was when he began, and perhaps more dangerously ignorant. Could he help but have wished for an opportunity such as that offered Trevise the chance to make the right decision for the whole galaxy?
have seen the world as ignorant as it was when he began, and perhaps more dangerously ignorant. Could he help but have wished for an opportunity such as that offered Trevise the chance to make the right decision for the whole galaxy?
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