Category: B

Second Foundation

Another two novella effort.
First half is the Mule’s search for the second foundation post the events in Foundation & Empire.
Second half is about bayta’s son and granddaughter and reveals more about the way the second foundation works.

Rating: B

Search The Sky

Pohl and Kornbluth wrote some magnificent science fiction together. Indeed I regard The Space Merchants as one of my favourite science fiction books. However this particular title, even after a 1985 update, is rather dated.
The plot is straightforward enough, a young man on a colony world becomes disenchanted with the ‘decay’ he can see around him everywhere. As a result he is entrusted with access to a secret faster than light ship to find out “What has gone wrong with mankind and why?”.
This journey takes in several worlds, where he gets into trouble and rescues others in trouble.
The crux of the story is based upon some shonky equation that blames lack of genetic diversity for the woes of the worlds.
Plus points are the excellent way they keep the plot moving forward and the relative brevity of the book compared to modern titles because this book would have seriously sucked at greater length.
The negatives are cardboard characters, trite world building and a sense that this would have been better off stuck back in the 50’s.
I would only recommend this particular title to those interested in the work of Pohl & Kornbluth or in the mood for some quick old school sci-fi.

Rating: B