Foundation and Chaos (Second Foundation Trilogy) - Hardcover

Bear, Greg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061052426 ISBN 13: 9780061052422

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 1998

Synopsis

Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy is one of the high-water marks of science fiction. It pioneered many of the familiar themes of modern SF, and the sheer sweep of his "future history" shaped many if not most of the writers who followed him.

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 beloved Grand Master left unfinished.

The acclaimed Second Foundation Trilogy continues with Greg Bear's Foundation and Chaos, the gripping new novel about a galaxy-wide power struggle within the ranks of the robots that have served and protected humankind for 20 centuries.

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 insterstellar 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.

Daneel needs Lodovic, so he sends him to Eos, the legendary secret planet where the robots perfect their service to humankind. And Lodovic says he is healed. Yet, can he be trusted, when stirrings of discontent are arising all over the galaxy? Other robots are questioning their mission -- and Daneel's strategy.

And humans, too. Hidden in the steel caves of Trantor, sought by loyalist and rebel alike, is an obscure heatsink worker's daughter, a girl whose amazing mental powers are also the result of disaster: the deadly human malady known as Brain Fever. Young Klia Asgar's awesome but unwanted psychic abilities promise to join man and robot in a common destiny... or a mutual destruction.

About this title

Review:

This is book number two in the new Second Foundation Trilogy being written by hard science fiction authors Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, and David Brin, otherwise known as the "Killer B's." In this book, Bear continues where Benford's Foundation's Fear left off, as the trial of legendary psychohistorian Hari Seldon is about to begin. Bear writes with a style uncannily similar to Foundation creator Isaac Asimov's, and he even manages to incorporate some of Asimov's own writing in the novel. Aside from the trial, Bear also focuses on the nearly immortal robots that serve the Foundation, including R. Daneel Olivaw, who is set to guide one of the Foundation's first great undertakings. But Olivaw runs into trouble from an unexpected quarter, his best operative, Lodovik Trema, whose positronic brain has been irrevocably altered in a strange accident that has given him freedom from the supposedly immutable laws of robotics. --Craig Engler

From the Back Cover:

Isaac Asimov's renowned Foundation Trilogy pioneered many of the familiar themes of modern science fiction and shaped many of its best writers. With the permission and blessing of the Asimov estate, the epic saga left unfinished by the Grand Master himself now continues with this second masterful volume....

With Hari Seldon on trial for treason, the Galactic Empire's long-anticipated migration to Star's End is about to begin. But the mission's brilliant robot leader, R. Daneel Olivaw, has discovered a potential enemy far deadlier -- and closer -- than he ever imagined. One of his own kind.

A freak accident erases the basic commandments in humaniform robot Lodovik Trema's positronic brain. Now Lodovik's service to humankind is no longer bound by destiny, but by will. To ensure his loyalty, Daneel has Lodovik secretly reprogrammed. But can he be trusted? Now, other robots are beginning to question their mission -- and Daneel's strategy. And stirrings of rebellion, too, are infecting their human counterparts. Among them is a young woman with awesome psychic abilities, a reluctant leader with the power to join man and robot in a quest for common freedom ... or mutual destruction.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0061052426
• ISBN 13: 9780061052422
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352