Asimov's Mysteries

Asimov's Mysteries
by Lacey Kat
This work is copyrighted by the author (c)2003


The problem with being a science fiction fan is that most people do not know what science fiction is. They think of “Buck Rogers,” ray guns, and rocket ships with fins. They do not think of “literature” and would never think of putting science fiction on the same shelf with “Romance,” “Western,” or “Mystery.” “Those,” most people would say, “are legitimate writings. Not science fiction.”
Yet what is the difference between a science fiction story and any other “adventure” tail? Is there not adventure in traveling to the moon or Mars? And what of romance? “John Carter” fights whole armies for the love of his princess. Why is he different from any other “Harlequin” hero?
And what about mystery? For the longest period of time it was thought that you could never have a science fiction mystery. The “logic” was that in science fiction the author could invent any device he needed to solve the crime instantly. It was an unfair advantage in this day and age when both sleuth and readers were supposed to have the same chance of solving the mystery. (I say in this day because there was a time when mysteries were simply presented to the reader. The author made no pretense in the reader’s ability to solve the puzzle. That changed in the last century) Isaac Asimov never bought that argument. He felt that as long as you were fair, and let the reader in on the clues, you could have a science fiction mystery as legitimate as anything Ellery Queen ever wrote.

In 1953 Asimov put his typewriter where his mouth was and wrote a science fiction mystery novel called “The Caves of Steel.” It met with critical approval as a good science fiction and mystery novel. The curse was broken and science fiction authors could start producing space-age Sam Spades.

“Asimov’s Mysteries” is a collection of thirteen short science fiction mysteries that Asimov wrote between 1954 and 1967. They vary in length and mystery quality but are a good read for any fan of Isaac Asimov, science fiction, or mysteries. Fortunately for the reader, they were put together at a time when Asimov started to add information to his collections. Each story has a forward, or afterward, that explains why the story was written, or some other little quirk that the reader might like to know. I have often found these to be the most entertaining part of any Asimov book.

The first story is entitled “The Singing Bell,” and introduces us to Asimov’s prime science fiction investigator, Wendell Urth. Professor Urth is the foremost authority on extraterrestrial worlds, even though he has never been more than a few dozen miles from his current office in his life. This may have reflected on Asimov’s fear of flying and his desire to remain in his rooms and write.
The story centers on a cash of “Singing Bells,” which are highly prized lunar artifacts that are to die for. Or to kill for as is the case of the story. The problem is that the primary suspect has a solid alibi that the police cannot crack. It is not going to be my policy to spoil the mysteries in this review, but the solution is a little weak and even Asimov feels the need to defend it in an “afterword.” Still, it is a good mystery and a good introduction for Wendell Urth.
The story was rejected by “Ellery Queen” magazine, its intended audience. It was also rejected by “Astounding,” and “Argosy,” but was finally accepted, with some revisions, by “Fantasy and Science Fiction (F & SF).”

The second story in the collection is also a Wendell Urth mystery. It is called “The talking Stone,” and is set in a time when the asteroids are heavily mined, and little creatures called “silicony” are telepathic pets. The crew of a space miner is killed and it is up to Dr. Urth to solve the cryptic riddle of the lost cargo. It is a clever story and shows that Asimov had a talent for alien creatures. A talent that he seemed to abandon in his later writings.

“What is in a name?” is not a science fiction story in the strict sense. It is a “straight” mystery though its characters are chemists, it is set in the chemistry department of a university, and the solution depends on a chemical gimmick.
It was published in 1956 in “Saint Detective Magazine.” To fit in more with the “detective motif,” they changed the title to “Death of a Honey-Blonde.” Asimov did not like when editors changed anything about his stories, and he changed it back the first chance he got.

“The Dying Night,” is another Wendell Urth mystery. It involves the reunion of college friends all of whom have had “stellar” careers in outer space. One of the group has not been so lucky but is about announce that he has solved the problem of mass transfer. That is until he ends up dead. (Of course) No one can solve the crime so Dr. Urth is called in to help.
First published in 1956, it has become dated by discoveries made in the 1960's. This does not detract from the story, and as Asimov says, “I wish astronomers would get things right to begin with.”

“Pate De Foie Gras,” is not a mystery at all, but is a very clever article in the vein of Asimov’s infamous “thiotimoline” articles. It is a mock-serious study of a goose that laid golden eggs. Along with being a fun read, it is also educational as Asimov must make sure the reader has some knowledge of basic biology.

“Dust of Death,” was to be another Dr. Urth mystery, but F & SF rejected it and a new magazine “Venture Science Fiction,” was about to publish, and needed filler. They were going to specialize in “sexier” SF, so Asimov removed the Urth motif and Bob Mills, editor, bought it.
Heavy in planetary chemistry, but not so that it bores the non-chemist, it revolves around the “accidental” death of an industrialist who has made his fortune on the work of his employees. Did one decide that it was time to get more credit, or was it just a chemical slip up?

“A Loint of Paw,” is one of the turns of phrase stories that Asimov does so well. It is a short play on works that Asimov always considered the noblest form of wit.

The next story that Asimov included in this collection is interesting because it shows the “problem” some authors have in writing sexy scenes. Asimov was not noted for being a literary Casanova and when he introduced “I’m in Marsport without Hilda,” he called it a “James Bond type of story.” However, in his biography, he called it a “science-fiction sex story.”
The story is about a super secret agent who finds himself on Mars without his significant other. He calls a hot old girlfriend but before he can see her his boss has an assignment for him. He has only three hours to “save the universe.” Will he save the universe? Will he get the girl? And what about the girl back home?  This is not erotic fiction at its best, but it is a good story and more true to life than most “James Bond” stories.

The next story (or stories as they are connected), is a treat for Asimov fans. “Marooned off Vesta” was the first story that Asimov ever had published, in “Amazing Stories, ” back in 1939. On its twentieth anniversary Asimov suggested that “Amazing” might like to publish an update of the story. Asimov looked at the original and found a “throw away” line that he turned into a “mystery.”
Following the original “Marooned of Vista,” a story I have always liked and Asimov always seemed to apologize for, comes “Anniversary.” It is twenty years later and the three characters of the first story come back for a twenty-year reunion. Life has been good to them, but fame is fleeting and they are now only the “forgotten heroes” of a space disaster long ago. Only for some reason the site of their adventure is off limits and everyone is looking for something one of the men has. But what?

“Obituary,” is the next story in the collection and it is unique for several reasons. First, it is written in the first person. Something Asimov rarely did. Second, it has a woman as narrator. In 1968, when Asimov put together “Mysteries,” he was polite about how this “good” story has been received in the publishing community. By the time he wrote “In Joy Still Felt,” 1979, he was a little more reflective. He felt that it was “unjust” that “Obituary” had been passed over in anthologies.
The story was inspired by the obituary of “Cyril Kornbluth,” a noted SF author. His death affected Asimov in a queer way and he wondered if, when his time came, his obituary would be on the front page of the New York Times. Realizing this was a silly feeling, Asimov exorcised his demon by writing “Obituary.”

The story is a thriller about a scientist who uses a time machine to see his own obituary and gain fame by “rising from the dead.” It would do Hitchcock proud but appeared in F &SF. It is a different sort of story for Asimov and showed a side seldom seen. Asimov could have had a career as a horror author. This was my favorite story in the collection, and without spoiling anything, made me want to defrost a leg of lamb.

“Star Light” is one of the very short stories that Asimov did so very well. It involves a thief who steals a kilogram of Krillium, enough to set him up for life, if he can get away with it. But crime does not pay, and the thief is caught, and imprisoned, in a poetic way. What are the odds?

“The Key” is the second to the last story in this collection, and the fourth Wendell Urth story Asimov wrote. It was ten years after the last Urth story was written, and it appeared in a special edition of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. An edition devoted to Isaac Asimov.
This story deals with the discovery of an alien artifact on the moon. One man wants to use it for profit, but another wants it used for the benefit of mankind. Death ensues and the artifact is hidden before the authorities can be called. However a clue is left and it is up to Wendell Urth to decipher “The Key,” to this mystery.

At one time Asimov wanted to write a series of Urth-based mysteries and then collect them in one volume. He never got around to that, but he did realize that he wrote other mysteries, and that is how this volume came to be.

The final work in this collection is called “The Billiard Ball.” It is the only mystery Asimov knew of to combine the mystery form with Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. It was published in “If” magazine in 1967 and the year before both Asimov and “If” had won Hugos. Fred Pohl had the idea of putting out a “Hugo Winners” edition and tagged Isaac to with a story for the issue. Asimov agreed and “Billiard Ball” was the result.  The theme of the story was one that Asimov visited often, including twice in this volume alone. The hard-working scientist comes up with discoveries, but it is someone else who makes the money off of them. I do not know if there was a personal reason for these story lines, he never mentioned any, but they appear from time to time.  The beauty of this story is that you never really know if a murder has been committed or not. A cocky promoter uses a scientist’s discovery to make an “anti-gravity” device. During the first public demonstration, a horrible accident happens with only one fatality. Murder or accident?  In the afterword, Asimov tells the story of how a friend suggested the title be changed to “dirty pool.” Asimov refused because it sounded too flippant. And he was upset that he did not think of it first.

The book was first published in 1968, but is still available at Amazon.com. Interestingly, when Dell published it, the misspelled Urth on the back cover. They refer to him as Wendell "Orth." I do not know if they corrected this in the 1972 reprint, but it may make the 1968 edition a collector’s item.

Asimov Book Reviews - Second Foundation

Second Foundation
by Lacey Kat
This work is copyrighted to the author (c) 2003


The Foundation was gone.

At least the Foundation that Hari Seldon had worked so hard to establish. The Foundation that, for three hundred years, had been the cornerstone of his great plan. A plan to blunt the fall of the great galactic Empire and bring peace and stability to the galaxy in a mere thousand years.

Seldon, using the discipline that became known as “psychohistory,” set about a state of affairs that he felt would be man’s best hope to shorten the coming Dark Ages. He foresaw everything except the one thing he could not factor. A Mutant. A creature known as the Mule. Born with the ability to mold men’s emotions and shape their minds, he could make his bitterest opponents devoted servants. Against such a power even the Foundation could not, nor would not, fight him. The Foundation fell and Seldon’s plans lay almost in ruins.

I say almost because Seldon did one thing to hedge his bets on the future. He created a “Second Foundation,” at the “opposite end of the Galaxy.” While the First Foundation was devoted to science and lived in the daylight, this Second Foundation lived in the shadows. It was this foundation that the Mule now feared, for he could beat the machines of the First Foundation, but could he beat the minds of the Second?

This then is the opening of the book “Second Foundation.” The third, and final edition of Isaac Asimov’s original “Foundation Trilogy.” It was originally published as a short story, called “Now you See It-”, and a multi-part novelette, called “-And Now You Don’t,” in “Astounding” magazine in January of 1948, and November of 1949. In 1953 Gnome press collected the two stories into this “final” volume.

The story behind the Foundation series is almost as interesting as the series itself. To catch up on the story behind the stories please refer to the reviews of “Foundation,” and “Foundation and Empire,” on this site.

Asimov started writing his next installment of the Foundation saga in the fall of 1946. He finished in February of 1947 and turned it into the editor of “Astounding,” John W. Campbell. Asimov had been writing the Foundation series for the better part of five years and he had grown a little tired of the endeavor. After seven stories, totally about 185,000 words, he felt it was time to end this part of his writing life and move on to something new. Originally the story Asimov handed to Campbell had an appropriate ending to the series. Campbell, who had originally derailed Asimov’s original story line, liked the Foundation series in his magazine and told Asimov that he wanted a new ending. One that left things open to continue the series. He was firm in his wants, and Asimov was not as firm in his. Campbell got his new ending, Asimov got a check for $500, which he used to buy his wife, Gertrude, a mink-dyed opossum fur coat, and we the readers got another edition to the series we had come to love.

“Now You See It—“ was changed to “Search by the Mule,” when it was published in book form. It starts five years after the last story, “The Mule.” That story chronicles the Mule’s rise to power and the mad dash by Foundationers to find the fabled Second Foundation for help. The Mule also seeks the Second Foundation, but for other reasons. Having failed to find it by the slimmest of margins (No spoilers hers. Read the book) the Mule stops his expansion into the Galaxy in favor of a consolidation of territory. Using his abilities to alter men’s minds, he has Union of worlds who “love” him and must do what he commands. The post-war Union is economically prosperous and people are “happy.”

Han Pritcher had fought the Mule even after the Foundation had fallen. The Mule then “converted” Pritcher so that he would fight for the Mule. With the fighting over, Pritcher now was sent out to find the “Second Foundation.” After five attempts, without success, he was called before the “First Citizen,” as the Mule was now known, and his assignment altered. The Mule teamed Pritcher up with a younger, unconverted, adventurer named Bail Channis. Channis, the Mule thought, might still have that creative spark that a converted mind might lack. Between that spark and Pritcher’s experience, the Second Foundation might be found, eliminated, and the last roadblock to total galactic domination would be removed.

“Search by the Mule” is a shorter story than the two that bracket it. It moves almost too quickly for the amount of story it covers, and the importance of battling the Mule in Seldon’s plan. Every move is a direct move and there is only the barest of development needed to propel the story. Those familiar with Asimov’s later move into novels will find this story uncomfortably light fare. As big of a problem as the Mule is, he is dealt with too easily for this author’s tastes. Perhaps this is the result of Asimov’s tiring of the series.

With the Mule taken care of, the stage is set for the final confrontation in the original Foundation series. With the Mule gone, and man once again free, the Foundation rises from the ashes and starts again to continue Seldon’s plan. However, with the existence of the Second Foundation no longer a myth, regular men start to resent their fates shepparded by any mental giants, be they Mule or Second Foundation.

In October of 1948 Asimov once again was getting pressure from Campbell for another Foundation story. Asimov had the idea to use the story to reveal the “secret location” of the Second Foundation. He also firmly indicated that this would be the last of the Foundation stories. Campbell agreed but wanted the story to be 50,000 words long, almost book-length, so he could run it as a serial. This, he thought, would end the series on a high note.

Asimov had problems from the start. As the series progressed more and more time passed between publications. Each story relied on information presented in previous stories and enough time had passed so that the current reading audience might have missed the original entries. In order to catch those readers up to speed, Asimov started the story with a young girl reading her assignment on the history of the Foundation to her class. It was a week beginning, but the makeup of the series, and thus this final entry, made it mandatory. Asimov worked hard on this entry and it killed the enthusiasm he had for it 7 ½ years earlier when the idea occurred to him. Even Campbell realized that he had had enough.

The story was originally entitled, “–And Now You Don’t,” to continue with the title of the previous story. However, in the book version, the title was changed to “Search by the Foundation.” The girl who opens the story is Arcadia Darell, who is the granddaughter of Bayta Darell, the first strong female character Asimov ever wrote. She is also the woman who defeats the Mule in the closing pages of “Foundation and Empire,” which adds to the continuity of these stories.

Arcadia’s father feels that the Second Foundation must be dealt with or the First Foundation will stagnate and die. He is not sure if Seldon’s Plan can be saved, but he is sure that the Second Foundation should not have the honors.

To fight the Second Foundation they must first find it, and the best place to start is in the Mule’s old palace and archives on his base world of Kalgan. There the current “First Citizen,” a title left over from the Mule’s days of conquest, feels that he, and no the First Foundation, is the more logical seed from which the next Galactic Empire will grow. In the background is the Second Foundation, who must pull the right strings and not get caught.

This story is more involved than the last one and spends more time developing characters and plot twists. We are also introduced to the tools of the Second Foundation, tools that Asimov uses in the future Foundation novels he chooses to write thirty years hence. There are two endings to the story and for a time the series. The first is the “Answer that Satisfied,” and the second is the “Answer that was True.”

Oddly enough, though he bemoaned the work involved with the Foundation series, and the joy in bringing it to an end, Asimov left the final story open enough to come back to should he change his mind. Fortunately, for his fans, he did change his mind some time later. But that is another review.

Asimov handed in this “final” entry to the Foundation Saga on March 31, 1949. It was published beginning in the November issue of “Astounding” magazine of that year.

Science Fiction had always been the poor stepchild of the publishing world. Until the end of World War II, and the ushering in of the “Atomic Era,” Science fiction was the stuff of pipe dreams and children. Almost all of it, from the previous twenty years, had been published in “pulp” magazines. Few hardback books were devoted to the subject. After the war, science fiction was sought after by the general public and legitimate publishing houses scrambled to put out novels and story collections. Asimov went to Double Day and Little, Brown and offered them the foundation series for book form. They, being short-sighted, wanted only “new” stories, and turned him down. Martin Greenberg was starting “Gnome Press,” and loved the idea of a Foundation Trilogy, and the books went into print.

And they have remained in print ever since.

In 1966 the Foundation Trilogy won the Hugo award for “Best All-time Novel Series,” beating out J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert Heinlein, E. E. “Doc” Smith, and Edgar Rice Burrows.

Side Note;  I included the two Ace Books Versions of the First two Foundation Novels but have not been able to find if Ace printed a version for Second Foundation.  If you know of one, please let me know.   Thank you. 

Asimov Book Reviews - Foundation and Empire

Foundation and Empire
by Lacey Kat
This work is copyrighted to the author (c) 2003

“Foundation and Empire,” is the second book published in the “Foundation” series. Originally issued in 1952, it is actually two short stories, originally published in the magazine “Astounding Science Fiction,” in April and November of 1945.

[Note: For a more complete history of the origin of the “Foundation” series, please read the review of “Foundation” on this site.]

The book opens with a simple prolog. Enough information is presented to bring any reader, who has not read “Foundation,” up to speed. “The Galactic Empire Was Falling.” It re-introduces the persona of Hari Seldon, and his plan to save the galaxy from 30,000 years of wreck and ruin. His idea, born of the science he calls “Psycho-history,” is to establish two foundations, at “opposite ends of the Galaxy,” and direct events so that only a mere 1,000 years will pass before order is again established and a Second Galactic Empire will arise. The first book dealt with the establishment of one of the Foundations and its rise against the tide of barbarism. At its closing the Foundation, as it was known, was the most powerful state in the Galaxy, except for the remains of the old Empire. On its last legs, it still controlled the central third of the Milky Way, along with three-quarters of the population and wealth of the universe. A conflict was inevitable.

The first story in “Foundation and Empire,” is entitled “The General,” and it deals with the inevitable conflict between the Foundation and the Empire. Originally called “Dead Hand,” it was published in the April 1945 edition of “Astounding” magazine.

Several factors influenced Asimov during the writing of the Foundation series. As stated in other reviews, Asimov was deeply influenced by Edward Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” In the spring of 1944, Asimov became a short lived admirer of historian Arnold Toynbee. His six-volume “Study of History” influenced Asimov in the writing of “Dead Hand” (retitle “The General” for the book). However, Asimov soon became disillusioned with Toynbee and the influence stopped with the one story. Another influence for the series was the 1907 twenty-four-volume collection of historical writings entitled “The Historian’s History of the World.” Asimov checked out the series, volume by volume, from the Philadelphia Free Library in the latter half of 1943.

“The General” is unique in that it tells the story from the perspective of the Empire. Bel Riose is the general of the title. The last of the fighting men, he has been sent by an old and stilled court to guard the frontiers of the Empire from the encroaching hoards of the periphery. He is the last competent military leader born too late to save a way of life quickly fading.

Bel Riose has heard rumors of “magicians” in the galactic periphery. Men who can do things he has only read about in the old books of the Empire. He hungers for more than just holding battles against border thieves and dreams of the old days when a general proved his worth by ground won, not just defended. He believes that if these magicians are real, and are a threat to the Empire, he can persuade the emperor to give him the men and ships needed to conquer the foe and raise the flag of the Empire again. If the magicians are real.

In his investigations, Riose learns of the story of Hari Seldon, of the Foundation he was sent to establish, and of Psycho-history and the Seldon plan. He is indignant to learn that the events of the next thousand years are already established and that there is nothing he can do to change their course. The General decides to pit his living will against Seldon’s dead hand.

The war with the Foundation begins, and the scene shifts to a captured Foundation trader by the name of Lathan Devers. His purpose in the story is two-fold. First, he is a spy for the Foundation sent to ascertain the real threat of Riose. Second, he allows Asimov to cover great events in the war with simple dialogue and dispatches. At this point in his writing career, Asimov had neither the talent nor the inclination to write great battle scenes. While it was during the war, Asimov was stateside during the whole conflict and new of the brutality and scope of conflict only through newspapers and newsreels. Rather than write great pages of spaceships ablaze, Asimov moved the action to the back of the story, preferring to deal with a few key players in local areas. This was his strength and he used it well.

The war rages on, the Foundation must try and stop it, however, the eternal questions is always, “is this the Seldon Crisis of the day, and is it already taken care of?” In the end, the best-laid plans of traders and teachers are no match for the foresight of Psycho-history. The Foundation is saved and with it the future of the Seldon plan.


In January of 1945, Asimov went to John W. Campbell to discuss the next Foundation story. Campbell said he wanted to upset the Seldon plan, which of course was the backbone to the series to date. Asimov was not thrilled with the idea because it meant derailing his story idea and sending it in a direction he was not yet sure of. Campbell was not one to be disagreed with so Asimov sulked away to follow orders. To get his pride back he decided to make the new Foundation story the longest, biggest, and wildest yet. He would entitle it, “The Mule.”

The idea for the story was simple, in hindsight. Hari Seldon, through Psycho-history, had carefully laid out the next thousand years of galactic history. As each event unfolded Seldon was there, in image only, of course, telling those assembled to view his recorded messages, that this was what he had foreseen, and that the current crisis would be solved as he had intended. What could possibly go wrong?

What if something happened that Seldon had not foreseen. Seldon could predict the movements of humanity, but what if a mutation gave a man the ability to affect those movements? What place would this unexpected, unpredictable, force have on the Seldon plan? That is the plot of the Mule.

The Mule rises out of obscurity with the ability to alter the minds of men so that they must love him and obey him. He also has the desire to rule the galaxy and punish those who made fun of his as a youth. Against this force what chance does the Foundation have? And if he conquers the first Foundation can the Second Foundation, only to this point alluded too but not seen, save the galaxy from the Mule’s tyranny? That is the plot of the second story.

It is the longest and most complex of the Foundation stories to date. In fact, it was so long that Campbell presented it in two different issues of the magazine. This was Asimov’s first serialized story. It is also unique in having a strong female character. Not only strong but the dominant character in the story. For one of the few times to date, a woman would be a key figure in an Asimov story.

You see, by this time in his life Asimov had been married to Gertrude Blugerman for about two and a half years. Gertrued inspired the character of Bayta, the strong girl in the story. In fact, Asimov later related that Bayta’s quieter husband in “The Mule,” was modeled after himself and what he saw as his role in their marriage. With his life situation now expanded, Asimov used this new knowledge to write stronger female characters into his stories. Ironically Asimov’s science fiction career would soon take an extended break and with it the role of strong female characters. It would be some time before women were more than mere props in science fiction stories.

With the closing of “the Mule,“ the fate of the “Foundation” is sealed. However, because of the strength and determination of one woman, the fate of mankind may yet be saved. That, however, is to be left to the “Second Foundation.”



Side Note;   Ace published their version of this story with an altered title, complete and unabridged.

Asimov Book Reviews - Foundation

Foundation
by Lacey Kat
This work is copyrighted to the author (c) 2007

First, some important background information.
At the 11th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Philadelphia in 1953, the first Achievement Awards for Excellence in Science Fiction were handed out. These were small wooden bases topped with stainless-steel rocket ships, and were called "Hugos." This was in honor of Hugo Gersback, the first publisher of a magazine devoted entirely to Science Fiction.

In 1966 Isaac Asimov won a retrospective Hugo for his novel series, "The Foundation Trilogy." It was deemed the "All-time Best Series," in Science Fiction. "Foundation" is the first book of that series, and before I review the book proper, I feel its history should be noted.

The Foundation Saga was the only planned series of stories that Asimov ever did. While the Positronic Robot stories revolve around the Three Laws of Robotics, and occasionally there are reoccurring characters, these were stories written for their own sake and not part of a well thought out plan. This was not the case with the Foundation Series. The stories were written with the intent of being connected. One plot relied on the actions of the earlier stories. This was unusual for the Good Doctor and, while he was very good at it, it was not an endeavor he repeated in his writing life.

"Foundation," is not actually a novel, but a collection of short stories and novelettes published in "Astounding Science Fiction Magazine" (Astounding) between May of 1942 and October of 1944.

[Please note: This is a review of Foundation and not the Foundation Trilogy. Each book will be reviewed in its turn – Ed.]

It started on August 1, 1941, on a trip to visit the editor of Astounding, John W. Campbell. Asimov was not yet an established name in Science Fiction and to aid his writing career he would often visit the offices of the various Science Fiction magazines to keep his name fresh in the minds of the editors, and to discuss story ideas they might like to buy. This was a practice Asimov would continue throughout his publishing life.

This time, however, there was a minor problem. Asimov was on his way to meet Campbell, but without a story idea. While on the subway he resorted to free association to see if he could stimulate his creative muse. Asimov opened a book he was carrying, a collection of Gilbert and Sullivan plays, and looked at a picture of the Fairy Queen and Private Willis in "Iolanthe." This led him to thoughts of armies, soldiers, empires, the Roman Empire, and finally an empire that spanned the galaxy. An idea was born.

Asimov had tried working with Galactic Empire stories earlier with mixed success (see "Pilgrimage" A.K.A. "Black Friar of the Flame" in "The Early Asimov."). However, this time he had a different idea. Having read Edward Gibbon’s, "Decline and fall of the Roman Empire," twice, he thought of a story telling of the fall of a great Galactic Empire, and the return to feudalism, written from the perspective of the secure days of the second galactic empire.

Campbell loved the idea but thought it was too broad a theme for a short story or novelette. He suggested an open-ended series of stories. He envisioned a number of short stories, serials, novelettes, whatever it took to present this future history to the reading, and more important, magazine buying, public.

Asimov was a bit taken back at first. He was a short story writer and the thought of a novelette was as large as he ever considered. But, Campbell loved the idea and asked for an outline of the whole saga.  At that time Robert Heinlein was writing his "Future History Series." These were to be various stories that would fit into a broad tapestry at different times. They were not to be written in any order, so he needed an outline to keep all of the story lines consistent.

This was a logical request on the part of Campbell, who probably saw this series stretching over a decade or more. However, Asimov never worked from an outline. He tried to create one, but as it got larger and more complicated, he tore it up and started to write. As the stories progress Asimov had to keep reading previous stories to make sure names, dates, and events corresponded. Even with his phenomenal memory and writing talent, on April 1966, a fan approached him with a carefully made out list of inconsistencies throughout the series.
[Aren’t dedicated fans fun?]

So, on August 11th, 1941, Asimov started to write his first story in the "Foundation" series. He submitted it on September 17 and was paid $126. This was an average sum of money for the times. The stories continued for the next eight years, and, along with the Positronic Robot stories, made up the bulk of Asimov’s creative output. It was also the high-watermark of his Science Fiction writing. He once commented that the years spent on the Foundation Series were the most rewarding of his writing life. They helped him develop his technique and kept his name before the public. They also helped establish him as one of the giants of the Science Fiction World.

After eight stories the series only covered half the time frame laid out. Asimov, though, was growing tired of it and wanted to move on to other endeavors. The stories did represent a large body of work and after World War II publishing houses started to print hardback Science Fiction material (unheard of in the 30’s and 40’s). Science Fiction, once the folly of immature minds, was now respectable in the "Atomic Age."

Having already published his first two novels, Asimov went to Doubleday with his Foundation Series and tried to interest them. Walter I. Bradbury, then editor of Science Fiction for Doubleday, did what most in a new area of publishing do. He said, "We want new stuff, not old stories." Doubleday, with uncharacteristic short-sightedness, turned Asimov down.

Asimov tried other publishing houses but with the same results. Finally, a young man by the name of Martin Greenberg (not to be confused with a later associate, Martin H. Greenberg), who had published Asimov’s Robot stories agreed to publish the Foundation Series as a collection of three books. The second and third books would be 75,000 words apiece, but the first was just under 60,000 words long. Greenberg had always thought the series started too abruptly, so he asked Asimov to write an introductory story. This turned out to be very fortuitous.

Which leads me to the Review.

"Foundation," the first book of the Foundation Trilogy, is actually five short stories connected by an overall plot. This is the fall of a galactic empire and the rise of the last hope for civilization.

Part one, "The Psychohistorians," was written for the book and never appeared in print in Astounding Science Fiction. It was added as an introduction of the character of Hari Seldon, who sees that the Empire is falling and has a plan to shorten the Dark Age that is to come. While no one in power believes that a Galactic civilization that has endured for hundreds of generations could ever fall, they recognize that knowledge is power. If this "Psychohistorian" can help keep them in power, he is worth keeping around. They agree to let Seldon, and a number of his colleges, set up a "Foundation," on a remote planet, to compile an encyclopedia of all of Man’s knowledge. This, Hari has told them, will lessen the fall and keep those in power safe. In reality, Seldon sets up two Foundations with another purpose. A purpose that only a few people know.

As stated before, this story was written as an introduction to the book. The character of Hari Seldon was long dead by the start of the original series and only exists to move the stories along. By having Asimov flesh him out, Greenberg would give Asimov a chance to write other novels in the Foundation series some thirty years into the future. It’s a wonderful life, isn’t it?

The next story in the book, "The Encyclopedists," was, in reality, the first story published in the series. It was the story Asimov sold to Campbell, who published it in the May 1942 issue of "Astounding," under the title, "Foundation."

It is fifty years since the last story and the Encyclopedia Foundation Number One has been set up on a desolate, mineral poor, rock of a planet called Terminus. In five more years they will start to publish their first volume of the "Encyclopedia Galactica." Or so they think.

The Galactic Empire has started to fall just as Seldon predicted. Terminus is now surrounded by star systems that have declared themselves separate from the Empire. These four kingdoms have effectively cut Terminus off from the rest of the Galaxy.

Terminus is run by the Board of Trustees of the Encyclopedia Committee, who has given administrative powers to the Mayor of Terminus City. His name is Salvor Hardin, and he alone recognizes the new political situation in their part of the galaxy.

The Encyclopedists, believing that the soul purpose of the Foundation is their work, still live in the days of the old Empire. They believe that the Seal of the Emperor is all the protection they need against the rising tide of barbarism. Hardin, being born in the present, realizes that times have changed, and with the last trade route closed, problems are approaching. Although it is only a planet of rock, Terminus has one thing that the other star systems lack, scientific knowledge. They alone still poses "atomic power." All of the other neighboring kingdoms must rely on coal and oil for their spaceships.

[Note: This bit of absurdity was unlike Asimov even at this young age. How he ever imagined a coal-fueled spaceship in beyond me –Ed]

Hardin knows that petty dictators only care about conquest and that Terminus is land for the taking. He is also aware that on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of the Foundation, Hari Seldon’s vault will open and he will give a recorded speech (this is the first time that Seldon is mentioned in the published series). At this point in the series, Seldon is referred to as, "the greatest psychologist of our time," and father of the Foundation. Psychohistory is not yet mentioned in the series.

Hardin must find a way to take control of the Foundation from the "Board of Trustees," and stop Terminus from becoming a slave planet for every new leader that comes their way.

The closing scene of the story is in the "Vault of Hari Seldon." It is here, before Hardin and the rest of the Board, that Seldon reveals the true purpose of the Foundation. That the Encyclopedia is a fraud used to obtain an Imperial Charter and the people needed for the Foundation’s true purpose. Seldon then states the poor condition that the Foundation is in, and that this is only the first of a number of crises that he has foreseen in the future. He also refers to the “other Foundation” at the other end of the galaxy. Seldon does not solve the crisis. That is a job for the men in the room. Seldon merely lets them know that they are part of a larger plan to save the galaxy. Only Salvor Hardin sees the solution to the current crisis. To him, it is "obvious as Hell!" And with that, the first story ends.

Asimov was clever to end the story that way. To most readers, the solution is not so obvious and a second story, with the solution, would surely be called for. Asimov insured another story would be bought.

The third story in the book, and the second one published in Astounding is called "The Mayors" (Originally called "Bridle & Saddle" when published in June of 1942). It starts thirty years after the last story on the Foundation home world Terminus. Salvor Hardin is the mayor of Terminus and some background is given to help any reader who missed the last story (sort of a "Previously, on Foundation").

The crisis, or "Seldon Crisis" as they would become known, has passed and the Foundation is now prized more as a source of technology than of conquest. Each of the surrounding kingdoms wants to ensure that Terminus is free to trade with all, and not the sole domain of any one group. Hardin is thirty yeas older and now having to contend with the next generation of power seekers, both at home and across the spaceways. His "appeasement" policy has begun to end its usefulness and he sees another "Seldon Crisis" on the immediate horizon. Unlike most politicians thought, Hardin has been preparing for this day and has been quietly working to solve the crisis before it happens.

The story ends with the crisis being solved, this time in a way that is easy for any reader to understand, and with all of the principals converged in the Seldon Vault. Here they learn that Seldon predicted this problem and the solution Hardin chose. Seldon also reminds all those assembled that this is only a temporary solution and that more troubles await. This sets the stage for future stories.

Now bear with me for a moment because, for some reason, things become slightly confusing.

The next story, in the book Foundation, is called "The Traders." It was originally the fourth book, published in Astounding, under the name "The Wedge," in October of 1944. However, for some reason I have yet to discover, it is placed before "The Merchant Princes," which in reality was the third story printed.

"The Traders" is the shortest of the Foundation stories and is separate from the plot line established in the previous stories. It is more set in the Foundation universe than a Foundation story.

The traders are Foundation members who troll the rim of the galaxy looking for worlds who wish to buy their atomic goods. The last Seldon Crisis has lead to a consolidation of power within the four kingdoms under the Foundation. While this has added to the security of the Foundation, it has made outside star systems leery of dealing with potential conquerors. On one such world, Askone, a trader has been arrested and it is up to Master Trader Limmer Ponyets to save him and open the hostile world to Foundation goods and influence. Ponyets plays politics with a young councilman who dreams of better things. The Foundation Trader literally turns iron to gold and offers the secret to the ambitious keepers of the local faith, in exchange for the arrested trader, and all of the iron, copper, zinc, and other base metals his ship can carry. This is what Foundation traders trade for. Atomic goods for base metals for the resource poor Terminus.

This is a fun story dealing with the high cost of political ambition. It has no "Seldon Crisis," and no pivotal play in the Foundation Saga. However, it does expand the daily lives of the Foundation, and the problems they encounter in their quest to tame the galaxy.

The final story in Foundation was, now follow me here, the third, not last, story written. Originally called "The Big and Little," it was published in Astounding in July of 1944. For the book, the title was changed to "The Merchant Princes."

By the time this story was written, enough time had elapsed that explanations of the past stories had to be included. The characters are forced to say things like, "You’ve never heard of a Seldon Crisis?" They then explain about the last two crises and how these events have lead to the current situation.

The situation is that seventy-five years have passed since the time of "The Mayors," and the Foundation is now the strongest power outside of the old Empire. The Empire is falling, but it is still around and controls the richest, most densely populated, third of the galaxy. They are aware of the Foundation and are using various ways to keep it in check.

Foundation ships, the most powerful in the area, are disappearing without a trace. Since the Foundation must maintain the guise of supreme power, anyone who can challenge their ships is a threat to the whole Seldon Plan. Huber Malloy, a Master Trader, must go to the Korellian Republic to solve the mystery of the missing ships.

This is the longest of the Foundation stories and contains many elements of the rest of the book. There is politics, intrigue, danger, and a very well written courtroom scene where our hero must explain why he threw a priest to a mad crowd and gave Foundation technology to a potential adversary. The final solution is an economic one and Seldon does not make an appearance. The future is then speculated upon, but that is for the next book.

And with that, Foundation comes to a close.

These are entertaining and well-written stories and are a timely look at power, politics, and the role of economics in the affairs of man. Asimov was in his early twenties when he wrote them yet demonstrated a political wisdom he claims he never had. They have stood the test of time and should be required reading in any political science or humanities, curriculum. They are also an enjoyable read.

Side Note;  Ace published their own version of Foundation as a Double novel, along with "No World of their Own," by Poul Anderson.  They called it "The 1,000-Year Plan," and is an abridged version.  Still, it is interesting for collectors such as myself.