tagged seven books or series in which the "deep state" actively exercises power, including:The Foundation series, by Isaac AsimovRead about another entry on the list.
Perhaps the most ambitious Deep State of all time is in evidence in the multiple Foundations Asimov imagines being set up by the genius Hari Seldon. Seldon, able to predict the broad strokes of future events through the science of psychohistory, sets the wheels in motion to mitigate the inevitable fall of the Galactic Empire and the Dark Age that will follow. Without intervention, that Dark Age will last thirty centuries. With the steady, invisible hand of the Foundation (and the even steadier, more invisible hand of the Second Foundation) the Dark Age can be reduced to a mere thousand years. Over the course of centuries, the Foundations deal with a series of predicted galactic crises and nudge events in the direction they wish without once having any direct authority or control. In fact, it’s only the emergence of a wild card—in the form of a mentally-empowered mutant known as The Mule—that threatens to upset the delicate math Seldon bet on. And even then, the Deep State proves fairly robust.
The Foundation Trilogy appears on Ken Follett's list of five favorite trilogies and Orson Scott Card's list of five books sure to get new readers hooked. Foundation is a book that inspired Paul Krugman.
--Marshal Zeringue
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