Yes, this is really a Foundation novel! One of three that fills in the gap in the Foundation novels, covering the time period between when the Foundation was started, and the rest of Hari Seldon's lifetime on Trantor. It ties in the Foundation novels and the Robot novels quite nicely, and felt like an Asimov book, even if it was a bit longer than an Asimov novel. ( )

This is the second book in the second Foundation trilogy, following on from Foundation's Fear, which I didn't enjoy. This book on the other hand is quite good. Its not the best book I've read recently, but its faithful to the universe that Asimov built, as well as resolving all the silly plot elements that made Foundation's Fear such a bad book. It also fills in some of the gaps between the end of Asimov's robot stories and the Foundation stories, which is good.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/Greg_Bear... ( )

When another author takes the helm of a series after the previous author has passed away or otherwise abandoned their universe, the fans reaction is not always pleasant. The biggest argument you'll hear is that "it's never as good." The authors have to blend their own writing style while trying to mimic the style of their predecessor, and the end result is not always great.

The Second Foundation trilogy, authorized by the Asimov estate, may be one of the few posthumous continuations you could read.

Bear follows Benford (and is thus followed by Brin, making them the "killer b's"), providing a sequel to Foundation's Fear.

FaC takes place at the same time as the first part of Foundation. The main character, R. Daneel Olivaw, takes the limelight away from Hari Seldon, the inventor of Psychohistory.

Olivaw has to deal with an angry sect of Calvinian robots who do not agree that robots have free will, I mean, have the capabilities of the Zeroth Law (a law that supersedes the other three laws and puts humanity above individual humans). Meanwhile, he's affecting the mentality of humanity so as to keep them in check until they can be more responsible.

Featured also are the rising telepaths, such as Seldon's granddaughter, who go on to form the Second Foundation, as well as a return of someone near to Seldon.

Don't come to these books expecting more Asimovian craftsmanship. The Killer B's are not Asimov, which comes apparent while reading it. If you obsess about this point, you'll hate the series, but if you accept that they are not Asimov, but are simply writing books set in Asimov's universe, then you will definitely enjoy it more.

If you're a fan of Foundation, or even of Bear, I'd recommend reading this book. Just be sure to familiarize yourself with Foundation's Fear, first, so you don't miss out on any vital plot details. It might also help to read the rest of the Foundation books, so, uh, clear your calendar. ( )

Probably my favorite thus far of the entire series - perfect pace and most interesting presentation of culture. Solid integration with all past books (some of which would happen in the future. ( )

I read all of the books in The Second Foundation Trilogy as they came out, but in 2002, I loaned many of my supplementary Asimov books to a "friend" and never got any of them back, aside from Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear. (I wish I had loaned him William F. Wu's Robots in Time books.) So I've been searching out these gaps in my collection, and I got this one for Christmas 2006. But acquiring a book means you read it in my worldview, and so this one went on the reading list for another go. It's an all right book-- like the others in the trilogy, its real success is in sketching out the millieu of Asimov's Robots/Empire/Foundation series more, tying the books together and providing a lot of detail on the politics and organization of the Galactic Empire. This one also goes through some effort to retcon out some of the stupider bits of Foundation's Fear, like the galactic wormhole network. But the plot ranges from nonexistent to uninteresting, as everyone is swept up in either psychohistorical forces or R. Daneel Olivaw's machinations. Which is really par for the course for an Asimov book, isn't it? (originally written November 2007)