Second Foundation

How it reads

Second Foundation is science fiction (space opera, specifically), and its dominant mood is adventurous. It's driven by momentum, discovery and getting into trouble. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in an invented world, in the future, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are power and politics, secrets and survival. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It's a later book in a series — you'll usually want to start earlier. The ending resolves happily. At 256 pages it's a quick read. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.