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Second Foundation

Pages
304
Published
1953
Language
English

Synopsis

The Seldon Plan lies in ruins. A single extraordinary conqueror has done what statistics said no individual could, and the survivors of the First Foundation cling to one hope: the fabled Second Foundation, the secret society of mind-scientists Hari Seldon is said to have planted "at the other end of the galaxy" to safeguard his design.

In the first half, the conqueror himself hunts for that hidden order, certain it is the last thing standing between him and total dominion. In the second, a rebuilt First Foundation turns on the legend too, uneasy at the idea of unseen minds steering its fate, and a sharp, willful girl named Arkady Darell is swept into the search. The question driving both hunts is the same: where, and what, is the Second Foundation, and who is really guiding history?

Second Foundation closes Asimov's original trilogy on a series of reversals about knowledge, power, and who gets to hold the map of the future.

About the author

I
Isaac Asimov

Asimov was born sometime between October 4, 1919 and January 2, 1920 in Petrovichi in Smolensk Oblast, RSFSR (now Russia), the son of a Jewish family of millers. Although his exact date of birth is uncertain, Asimov himself celebrated it on January 2. His family emigrated to Brooklyn, New York and opened a candy store when he was three years old. He taught himself to read at the age of five. He began reading the science fiction pulp magazines that his family's store carried. Around the age of...

Characters

Arkady DarellProtagonist

Teenage granddaughter of Bayta Darell, drawn into the hunt for the Second Foundation.

The MuleAntagonist

The mutant conqueror searching for the Second Foundation in the first half.

The First SpeakerSupporting

Leader of the Second Foundation's mentalic order.

All characters in Second Foundation
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