“The Big and the Little” was originally published in the August 1944 issue of Astounding. This is a Foundation story. It was published before “The Wedge” (10/44) but was placed after it when the stories were collected in book form.

There is a bit more substance to this story than there is to “The Wedge”, which I’ll review when I get to the short story nominees. A trader who was born on Smyrno (rather than Terminus, the location of the Foundation) is given the task of investigating the disappearance of ships in the Republic of Korell.

Spoilers Ahead

He discovers that the Empire is still out there and providing nuclear weapons to the Korellians. A wily man, he sets in motion a plan to protect the Foundation while getting himself elected Mayor and eliminating his political enemies.

Asimov was a pacifist, and it shows in this story. The plan to protect the Foundation involves getting the Korellians hooked on the superior technology of the Foundation. Then when war looms, the supply lines are disrupted. Soon the people of Korell are wanting peace so they can have their creature comforts back.

Asimov based the Foundation stories in large part on his reading of Gibbons’ The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It shows, and I found that to be a plus. Warlords are starting to rise out on the Periphery with the intent of eventually becoming emperor, while on Trantor, the imperial capital, the emperors are changing like the seasons. The daughter of one of the warlords is married to the leader of Korell.

Frankly, I found the portions of the story that involved what had been happening in the Empire to be the most interesting.

This was a well-written and enjoyable story, but I’m not sure it was the best of the finalists.  I’ve got one more nominee for novelette to read.  That would be “No Woman Born” by C. L. Moore. I’ll try to get it read and reviewed before the end of next week. Then I’ll summarize my thoughts on the novelettes before moving on to the short stories.