Foundation and Empire
 Dust-jacket illustration from the first edition | |
| Author | Isaac Asimov |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Edd Cartier |
| Language | English |
| Series | Foundation Series |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Gnome Press |
Publication date | 1952 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover]) |
| Pages | 247 pp |
| ISBN | NA Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| Preceded by | Foundation |
| Followed by | Second Foundation |
Foundation and Empire is a novel written by Isaac Asimov that was published by Gnome Press in 1952. It is the second book in the Foundation Series. It takes place in two halves, originally published as separate novellas.
The General
The first half of the book, titled "The General," tells how the Galactic Empire, now well into its collapse, launches an attack against the Foundation. They are led by General Bel Riose, a commander of supposedly unparalleled prowess. The Empire, though a mere shadow of its former self, still retains far more resources and personnel than the Foundation. Riose asks the Emperor for reinforcements, apparently more than he could possibly need, so he can guarantee victory over the Foundation. He also rejects the Foundation's offer of "You stop invading us and we'll pay you a wad of money." Devers intercepts a message that summarizes the General's doings, and escapes to Trantor, trying to see the emperor and show him the message. He fails and is nearly killed, but the emperor finds out anyway. In the end, the emperor decides that Riose is too dangerous (refusing bribes? Highly suspicious. Taking that many reinforcements? And he's popular enough that he could easily turn them against the Empire and carve out his own territory), and has him tried and executed.
This was the psychohistorical defense: Under a weak emperor, an upstart general would have much greater opportunities for conquest than a group of planets on the edge of the Galaxy. A strong Emperor, on the other hand, is one that allows no one else to become too powerful; a strong emperor would kill a competent, strong general before he even launched an attack. The only time there would be an actual threat to the Foundation would be when there was both a strong emperor and a strong general; the general could not overthrow the emperor, so his attention would be diverted outwards. However, the strong emperor would eventually become fearful of the strong general's exploits, and being a capable emperor he would get rid of a general like Riose, as happens in the story. The emperor and the general cannot be the same person, because then someone will take over while the emperor is off conquering the Foundation. In all cases, the Foundation is invulnerable.
The characters of Emperor Cleon II and Bel Riose in this story are based around those of the historical Roman Emperor Justinian I and his general Belisarius, the story of whom was familiar to Asimov from his recent reading of Robert Graves's novel Count Belisarius.
"The General" was first published in the April 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction under the title "Dead Hand".
The Mule
The second half of the book, titled "The Mule," takes place approximately one hundred years after the first half. The Empire has ceased to exist in name as well as in fact, Trantor having been sacked by a "barbarian fleet", and only a small rump state of 20 agricultural planets remaining (dwarfed by most barbarian kingdoms). Following Cleon II's death the Empire entered into an even more rapid phase of decline and civil wars, never to have another revival like that which happened under Cleon II. The Foundation has become the dominant power in the Galaxy, controlling its regions through its trading network. Unfortunately, the leadership of the Foundation has become degenerate: the Mayor of Terminus is the ineffectual successor to a strongman who seized power and instituted hereditary rule.
In response to the internal corruption on the Foundation, roughly 30 outer planets belonging to the Foundation who have become wealthy on their own through extensive trade begin to plan a civil war. The Independent Traders are gearing up for a war to secede from the Foundation.
In addition to this internal corruption, an external threat arises in the form of a mysterious man who is known only as the Mule. The Mule (whose real name is never revealed) is a mental freak, and possesses the ability to sense and manipulate the emotions of others. He uses this ability to take over the independent systems bordering the Foundation, and has them wage a war against it.
While his vassals prosecute the war, the Mule travels under the guise of a refugee clown named "Magnifico Giganticus," with Foundation citizens Toran and Bayta Darell to different worlds of the Foundation. He uses his abilities to undermine the Foundation's war effort by spreading despair and destroying morale. In the end, the Foundation falls without much of a fight at all. As the Mule was advancing, the Foundation leadership complacently assumed that Seldon predicted his attack, and that even though the Mule was inexorably winning, the scheduled hologram crisis message appearance of Hari Seldon would tell them how to win (just as Bel Riose had seemed impossible to defeat, yet was "defeated" by Seldon's predictions). However, when Seldon's crisis tape plays they are shocked to discover that the crisis Seldon predicted was a civil war between the Foundation and the Independent Traders, and makes no mention of the Mule whatsoever. Several representatives of the Independent Traders in attendance explain that they were going to start a civil war of secession, but stopped when the Mule started his invasion: Seldon didn't predict the Mule. When the Mule's ships soon afterwards appear over Terminus, the Foundation surrenders with little fight. The Trader worlds, however, fight a losing war of attrition.
Still under the guise of a refugee clown, the Mule travels with the Darells, along with psychologist Ebling Mis, to the Great Library of Trantor. The Darells and Mis seek to contact the Second Foundation, which they believe will be able to defeat the Mule. The Mule, on the other hand, wishes to know the location of the Second Foundation so that he can use the First Foundation's technology to destroy it.
While at the Great Library, the Mule surreptitiously stimulates Ebling Mis's mind, allowing him to make powerful insights. Unfortunately for Mis, the Mule's actions cause his health to deteriorate very quickly. As Mis lies dying, he tells Toran, Bayta, and the Mule that he knows where the Second Foundation is. Just before he reveals the Second Foundation's location, however, Bayta kills him. (Bayta had shortly before realized that the renegade clown was actually the Mule, and killed Mis to prevent him from revealing the Second Foundation's whereabouts to the Mule.) Defeated, the Mule leaves the Darells on Trantor to reign over the Foundation and the rest of his new empire. Bayta tells the Mule that while the First Foundation was made to master physical sciences, the Second Foundation was centered on the science of psychology and mentalics; in a sense, Seldon did predict the Mule, or at least, anticipated that something unexpected like the Mule might happen, and set up the Second Foundation as a direct countermeasure to a hypothetical individual with mental or telepathic powers like the Mule. The Mule admits that had he found out where the Second Foundation was from Mis, he would have destroyed it before they could develop a counter-strategy, but now he doesn't know where it is, and the Second Foundation has been bought enough time to develop a counter-strategy to the Mule. Now that the Mule has conquered the Foundation (as well as the pathetic remnants of the Galactic Empire) he stands as the most powerful force in the galaxy, as he is the sole controller of nuclear technologies and weapons; the Second Foundation is the only real threat to his eventual rule over the entire galaxy. The Mule promises that he will find the Second Foundation, while Bayta asserts that he will run out of time before the Second Foundation reacts.
"The Mule" was first published in the November and December 1945 issues of Astounding Science Fiction.
Characters
- Bel Riose, the last strong general who attempted to capture the Foundation.
- Ducem Barr, Siwennian patrician and hostage of Riose.
- Lathan Devers, trader sent to spy on Riose.
- Emperor Cleon II, the last strong emperor before the sack of Trantor.
- Brodrig, Cleon II's Privy Secretary.
- The Mule, mutant who captures the Foundation and attempts to establish a Second Empire.
- Toran and Bayta Darell, the Mule's companions.
- Captain Han Pritcher, intelligence agent for the Foundation, and first to recognise the power of the Mule.
- Mayor Indbur III, mayor of the Foundation during the Mule's conquest.
- Ebling Mis, psychologist who discovered the location of the Second Foundation.
The Sequels
This novel is very closely tied into Second Foundation, which tells the rest of the Mule's story.
We learn in Foundation's Edge that the Mule was a rogue member of the planet/society Gaia.
The demise of the Empire's remnant on Trantor is told in "Trantor Falls" by Harry Turtledove in Foundation's Friends, a tribute collection.
References
- Chalker, Jack L. (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 301.
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