Foundation and Chaos (Second Foundation Series #2) FROM OUR EDITORS
Two of the most interesting novels this month look to the past, but in different ways. Greg Bear's Foundation and Chaos is the second volume in the "new Foundation trilogy" based on Isaac Asimov's classic series (once voted the best science fiction series of all time). The first was Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear, and the third will come from David Brin. Bear's novel doesn't break as much new ground in the Foundation universe as Benford's did, but Asimov fans will probably find this account of the political fortunes of psychohistorian Hari Seldon to be more closely in keeping with Asimov's own fiction. In one key courtroom scene, Bear even includes most of the dialogue from "The Psychohistorians," the first chapter in Asimov's original Foundation novel.
—Gary Wolfe
FROM THE PUBLISHER
With the permission - and blessing - of the Asimov estate, three of today's bestselling SF writers, Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, and David Brin, have conspired (like the original Foundation!) to complete the epic saga the Grand Master left unfinished. Hari Seldon, frail and full of years, is on trial for daring to predict the Empire's fall, and the time has come for the long-anticipated migration to Star's End. But R. Daneel Olivaw, the brilliant robot entrusted with this great mission, has discovered a potential enemy, even deadlier than the figurehead Emperor's brutal minions. One of his own. Humaniform robot Lodovik Trema is the only survivor of a bizarre interstellar accident. Exposed to a neutrino storm, his positronic brain has apparently erased the holographic template of the Three Laws of Robotics. If this is true, Lodovic's service to humankind is no longer a question of destiny, but of will, and therefore, no longer absolute.
SYNOPSIS
The Second Foundation Trilogy adds to the work of science fiction master Isaac Asimov. With the approval of the Asimov estate, the first book in the trilogy, Foundation's Fear by Gregory Benford, appeared last year. A rigorous adventure combined with lucid intellectual debate and ingenious invention, it perfectly set the stage for Greg Bear's new addition to the trilogy, Foundation Chaos. The trilogy will be completed by David Brin, thus bringing together the talents of three of today's most acclaimed science fiction writers to continue one of the most beloved -- and groundbreaking -- fiction series of all time. Bear has written the sequel to Benford's masterful beginning with inventive talents equal to those of Asimov.
Psychohistorian Hari Seldon, frail and full of years, is on trial for daring to predict the Empire's fall, and the time has come for the long-anticipated migration to Star's End. But R. Daneel Olivaw, our hero and the brilliant robot entrusted with this great mission, has discovered a potential enemy even deadlier than the figurehead emperor's brutal minions: A trusted member of his ranks has turned against him. A taut tale of treachery and white knights in an apocalyptic landscape, Foundation Chaos is science fiction on the grand scale, and an ideal sequel to Foundation Fear.
FROM THE CRITICS
Denver Post
Brings out the complexities of a galactic empire that Asimov never filled out.
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