Re: Two stories containing search for thumb on scales

On 11/06/2025 02.58, Charles Packer wrote:

A recent thread mentioned the "Foundation" character Arkady Darell.
That brought to mind Jean Morrel in A.C. Clarke's "Childhood's
End." Both women are instrumental in locating the home bases of
totalitarian powers that orchestrate events. (Their names even
have a similar ring: Darell/Morrel.) This raises the question:
Is there anyplace else in SF literature besides Asimov and
Clarke that feature remote, vaguely-defined powerful entities the
sussing out of which are a preoccupation of some of the characters?
I guess this could be considered a subset of stories that
feature any type of decoding of mysteries.

Michael Flynn features an organization similar to the Second Foundation
in _In the Country of the Blind_[1], which I quite enjoyed.
A couple of differences:
- They're based in San Francisco rather than on Genagbe
- Their mathematical modeling technique was developed at about the time
   of the Glorious Slaveholders' Revolt, not in the far future.
- They turn out to be "a bumbling, babbling band of baboons", with
   constant infighting and bickering.
[1] <https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?18017>
--
Michael F. Stemper
Why doesn't anybody care about apathy?