Book Review - Foundation and Empire (Isaac Asimov)

Foundation and Empire continues the saga of Isaac Asimov's future universe. It opens 200 years after Hari Seldon's fateful prediction of the fall of the Empire. The Empire is still clinging on to power, but is being worried at the edges by an expanding and recalcitrant Foundation, now represented by a grouping of independent Trader States.

This sequel expands on the themes of its predecessor (individual agency vs historic determinism), but also challenges them and makes for a more unpredictable read. Throughout the text we see characters try to impose their individual will upon the universe around them, whether to bring the universe under their control, or else merely to survive.

In the first of two subplots, the ambitious General Bel Riose tries to do this by waging war on the Foundation and restoring glory to the old order. The trader Lathan Devers (captured by Riose) tries to do the same by expoiting the general's greed and hoping to turn him against the emperor. As has happened so many times before, Seldon's predictions come to pass as individual efforts prove fruitless against the march of history.

This subplot is only fifty pages long and feels a little awkward compared with the second, which is far deeper and takes the Foundation series in a fascinating new direction. The Riose plot feels more at home in the first book, but it's the “Mule” subplot where Foundation and Empire really shines. This plot jumps ahead another hundred years, where an unprecedented threat emerges, throwing Hari Seldon's meticulous predictions off course, and threatening all civilization in the Universe.

Here, Asimov subverts our expectations with the introduction of the Mule, a mysterious warlord who brings whole swathes of the galaxy under his control with almost supernatural ease. The Mule is a mutant, and therefore outside the rule of Seldon's psychohistoric model, meaning that for the first time the future of the two Foundations is under threat. Through the Mule, Asimov shows how a triumphalist individual can be just as frightening as a universe where individual will counts for little – as the Mule advances he deprives everyone in his path of their own liberty. He almost seems to distort the universe by bending everyone in it to suit his needs.

This new development also adds some tension to the saga. A series where every attempt to fight psychohistory fails would become stale very quickly. With the Mule subplot, Asimov challenges the rules he has spent so long constructing, and leaves the novel on a much more ambiguous note than its predecessor.

He also explores individualism through Bayta, the Foundation scholar who acts as our point of view for much of the story. She starts off as fairly passive – being recruited by her in-laws to join the resistance against an increasingly repressive Foundation government. For a while, Bayta doesn't seem to do much other than witness other characters (like Ebling Mis, the psychologist, or Captain Han Pritcher) make more of an impact on wider events.

Towards the end of the book however, as these characters are slowly worn down by the Mule's seemingly unstoppable advance, it's Bayta who takes decisive action. It's a triumphant counterpart to the Mule's rise to power, where Asimov shows individuality as a force for good as well as evil.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, as the Mule is not defeated but frustrated instead. But it still leaves a hopeful note of defiance behind. And given there are still two books left, there are bound to be plenty of twists to come.

Foundation was an interesting exploration of themes but with little heart, I felt. Foundation and Empire shows that both are possible at once. I can't wait to see what happens next!

TV Review - Game of Thrones (S06E01) "The Red Woman"

(This review contains spoilers)

The new season of Game of Thrones opens with the aftermath of Jon Snow's (Kit Harrington) assassination by Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) and the rest of the Night's Watch who deem him a traitor for allowing the wildlings through the gate. With Jon out of the way, we get some more focus on Thorne, Olly and Davos, who've been kept to the sidelines till now.

Thorne's speech about doing what he sees is right for the Watch – contrasting with Jon's view of what's right – poses some interesting questions that I hope will be explored more in the season. For Thorne, Jon's radical overtures to the wildlings went against one of the key principles of the Watch – yet in trying to protect those principles, Thorne and his men have committed their own act of treachery. It seems this paradox will be the focus of this season's Watch subplot.

For the first time, Thorne is given a motivation for his actions beyond being an asshole. Olly (Brennock O'Connor), likewise, has his own personal reasons for killing Jon. Yet by avenging his parents, Olly shows his partisanship in affairs of the realm, another taboo of the Watch.

There's two massive holes in Thorne's argument though. The Watch are already well aware of the growing threat of the Others, so surely they'd decide the wildlings were the less of two evils. And if Jon's assassination was done to prevent a catastrophe, Thorne and his men are a little late – because the wildlings are already through the gate! The catastrophe they've feared has already arrived, and they've just killed the only man who could have brokered a peace between the two sides. The show might be trying to portray Thorne as misguided, but he just comes off as an idiot.

That said, I'd still be interested to see a civil war within the Watch, which, with half the men calling Thorne the traitor, seems a likely outcome.

Davos (Liam Cunningham) is also given more to do this episode, which is great as you can never have too much Davos Seaworth. That said, it does seem a little odd that he should suddenly become so concerned with protecting the corpse of a guy he barely knew. You'd have thought Davos would still be recovering from the loss of Shireen, Stannis and the entire army. He is effectively a fugitive now with no king to support him, and by rebelling against Thorne he's closing off the possibility of joining the Watch – perhaps the only chance of survival he has left. Really, there was no reason for Davos to carry those scenes at all. Dolorous Edd (Ben Crompton) could have taken his place, and there's another character who I'm never unhappy to see around.

Melisandre's (Carice Van Houten) psychological breakdown following her two failures (supporting the wrong Azor Ahai and failing to protect the real one) are at least a realistic reaction in the midst of all these weird character turns. It's also refreshing to see Melisandre scared and unsure of herself for once. That rapid ageing at the end only adds to the lack of uncertainty about what will happen next.

Paralleling the assassination of Jon is the assassination of Prince Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig), and his son Trystane. Ellaria (Indira Varma) and the Sand Snakes are tired of Dorne being run by weak, complacent men and plan to lead the kingdom against the Lannisters.

This is certainly a gripping setup . . . not that I have any confidence in Ellaria's coup. Indeed, I expect the four of them to meet some gruesome fate after such a spectacular miscalculation that's on par with Joffrey taking off Ned Stark's head. I'll give D&D the benefit of the doubt and assume we're not meant to see these killings as “badass”, or Ellaria's pretensions about a new golden age for Dorne. By killing both the prince and his heir, they've not only extinguished the Martell line, they've also left Dorne with no clear successor. Being bastards, the four of them can't legally lead Dorne unless a lord or lady recognises them. We've so far seen no other Dornish house willing to make an alliance with them, and apart from Doran's guard they don't seem to have any connections to speak of.

We'll probably hear of some as-yet unheard of allies in the coming weeks, but for the moment, Ellaria and her little band come off more stupid and irrational than genuinely revolutionary. Indira Varma just about saves this plot-line, convincingly portraying a ruthless usurper. The Sand Snakes are still also prominent, unfortunately, and as indistinguishable as ever. The only entertainment I can see from them is the expectation of watching as their little power fantasy crumbles around them.

In the North, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) are fleeing desperately from the clutches of Ramsay Snow. Just as they're about to get recaptured, they're saved by Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) and Podrick Payne (Daniel Portman). This was certainly an intriguing development as we now have four mismatched characters brought together. It's possible this could be the beginnings of a new Stark household with Sansa at the head. It would certainly be a nice change from Sansa being moved two and fro across the board by the other players.

It will be interesting to see how Sansa deals with her precarious new position. For the first time, she's the one in authority and will have to use her own diplomatic skills to carve out a position of security. I can see Brienne and Pod using their own experience at court to act as her counsellors. Sansa's relationship with Brienne will be especially interesting given Brienne's past service to Catelyn Stark.

Perhaps Sansa will look to one of the other great houses for help, given the general hatred of the Boltons. Or maybe she'll lie low in one of the villages and try to rally the peasantry against them. Given that Sansa has based her whole life around being a lady up until this point, forswearing that lifestyle might be the next stage in this trope's deconstruction.

Whatever else Season 6 may throw at us, this is one subplot that i think is ripe with potential.  

Book Review - Demogorgon (Brian Lumley)

(This review contains spoilers)

Today I look at Brian Lumley's 1987 occult thriller Demogorgon. Charlie Trace is a cat burglar with no real future and a past he'd like to forget. One day he's approached by a mysterious Greek with disturbing news – Trace is the son of the Antichrist, who's now hunting for him. At first dismissive, Trace slowly realises that he's a tool in a plot to revive an ancient evil spawned from Satan himself.

I was drawn to Demogorgon by its author's name. I'd previously read Lumley's Necroscope, which showed his knack for fast-moving prose and plotting that whisks the reader along on an engrossing supernatural trip. Demogorgon doesn't quite reach its heights, but it's still a lot of fun for all that.

The characters are not especially deep but they're engaging enough. Trace starts off as a man who only looks out for number one, having been abandoned by his father and losing his mother to a nervous breakdown. Thieving gives his life purpose, not to mention experience in dodging the lords of the Underworld – the criminal one in this case. As horrific events start building around him, Trace becomes a more traditional, morally pure hero. He never really becomes an action hero though, spending much of the third act drugged up to his eyeballs – which I thought hampered the plot a fair bit. He also doesn't do much in the climax, leaving it up to the more interesting secondary characters to save the day.

I really wish Dimitrio Kastroumi had got his own novel. He has a backstory which really could have done with some fleshing out – he stabbed a man in a fit of romantic envy for marrying the woman he loved, but the impact of this on him (like guilt?) isn't really touched on. Plus he spends thirty years researching and tracking down the Antichrist. You could write a whole saga on that!

We're also teased with some social context. There's an establishing section of the story set in Cyprus in the 1950s, where emnity between the Greeks and the Turks is boiling over into violence and vigilantism. It's only here that we see the effect the Antichrist has on the wider world – the rest of the time, “Khumeni” (as he goes by here) is only interested in his own rejuvenation. Perhaps Lumley didn't feel there was time to expand beyond his main characters.

Lumley also tries to work in a love story between Trace and the mysterious Amira Halbstein. Unfortunately, like Trace, she also becomes less active in the plot as the story goes on. There's some brief tension as you wonder what side she's really on, but it quickly turns into a trite “falling for the mark” subplot. Her feelings for Trace are kind of out-of-the-blue (maybe that was just Trace's devilish charm working on her sub-consciously?).

Also Trace – when he realises she's working for Khumeni – orders her to strip for some reason. Because . . . fanservice?

Her role in Khumeni's plot doesn't make much sense either. She was sent to seduce Trace to make him come to Israel with her, where Khumeni would be lying in wait. But Khumeni sends some thugs with her to bring Trace by force if he proves troublesome. He eventually does and has to be doped to come along with them. So why didn't Khumeni just do that before? Wouldn't it have made more sense to keep Amira near him so he could keep an eye on her?

And jumping to the end, that coda felt a bit flat too. Trace, finally succumbing to his dark inner self, calls on Satan's power to destroy some thugs who beat him up, and his ex who went over to their side. The trouble is, none of these characters are developed enough so their deaths felt a bit off. I wasn't sure what I was meant to feel. Was there supposed to be some grim satisfaction to watching them get struck by lightning? If so, Lumley could have built up their unpleasantness a bit more.

The supernatural side of the book is handled better though, and it's clearly here that Lumley has the most interest, so I won't hold his character issues against him too much. The Antichrist's absorbtion of his victims is a wonderfully gruesome sight – and it also lets Lumley play on the old image of the devil as having goat legs. We also get walking lightning, a terrifying but awesome way to kill someone. Lumley plays with biblical stereotypes here as well – here it's Satan's wrath that comes from the sky as lightning, not God's.

The climax though feels a bit too neat. Khumeni is just about ready to be fully revived and then . . . Satan just abandons him? Why? He threw away his chance at world domination. Had he thought Khumeni had failed him in some way? Did the Prince of Darkness suddenly decide his grandson would make a better agent? Again, Lumley could have set this up better by showing Trace as more overtly villainous.

Khumeni is thus left the ignominous fate of being turned into a pig-man and falling off a cliff to his death. Kind of a shite way to treat your villain. It's not really a case of “God out of the machine” so much as “Satan exits stage left.”

Alas Demogorgon has many problems. But I still had fun.