Sura Novi

Sura Novi
species: Human
Covert Agent
from foundation series
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Sura Novi is a character in Isaac Asimov’s foundation series. She appears in Foundation’s Edge. Her full name is Suranoviremblastiran. She is first introduced as a Hamish farmer who rescues Speaker Stor Gendibal of the Second Foundation, and she comes to aid him on his quest.

Most of the book concerning Gendibal and Novi is told from a third person Gendibal-limited perspective, and the dynamic between the two characters is explored. There is a deliberate racial element involved; Gendibal and Novi are presented as looking white and non-white, respectively. Gendibal sees Novi as inferior and as a noble savage. However, as the story progresses, it becomes clearer and clearer that Novi is far more intelligent than Gendibal acknowledges, as the story comes to establish Gendibal as an unreliable narrator.

At the end of Foundation’s Edge, Novi is revealed to be a Gaian spy sent to keep tabs on and manipulate Gendibal. Thus, she is not only a mentalist capable of both reading and manipulating emotions but also a part of the collective consciousness that is Gaia. In the final standoff, Sura Novi speaks on behalf and in favor of Gaia. When Trevize decides in favor of Gaia, Gendibal’s memories and emotions are manipulated, leading him to believe that his goal was actually to manipulate Mayor Branno into obtaining a new commercial treaty with the Sayshell Union.

The ending of Foundation’s Edge casts Sura Novi as something of an unsung hero with a bittersweet ending, as she must remain physically and emotionally separated from Gaia in order to continue to keep tabs on Gendibal and thus ensure the future of the galaxy, most of the inhabitants of which will never even know she existed.