- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books (30 Oct 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 076531049X
- ISBN-13: 978-0765310491
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.5 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,029,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Frederik Pohl returns to novels with another story set in the future universe as gateway, one of his earlier novels. In this an asteroid is discovered in the solar system containing thousands of small spaceships that can be flown to pre determined destinations. All of which leads to contact between humanity and the aliens who built it, the heechee. Gateway is an excellent book and if you've never read it then you should redress that fact at once.
This is what they call a 'fix up' novel, which means that several short stories have been combined, with new linking material, in order to form a novel.
It's compelling for the first sixty pages, as it tells the story of one young gateway prospector and his attempts to find love and fame out in space. But after that the novel loses direction. It's very obvious that this is a fix up novel, as there are several lengthy interludes which introduce other characters where quite frankly little happens.
It attempts to have an overreaching plot with a minor character from the second gateway book trying to get revenge on those who wronged him. But in the end, a myriad of characters are drifting round the galaxy not doing very much, the threat is resolved quickly, and it returns to being the main characters story. And that, by the end of the book, isn't as interesting as it started out being.
Not one of his more memorable works. And that's a shame
This is what they call a 'fix up' novel, which means that several short stories have been combined, with new linking material, in order to form a novel.
It's compelling for the first sixty pages, as it tells the story of one young gateway prospector and his attempts to find love and fame out in space. But after that the novel loses direction. It's very obvious that this is a fix up novel, as there are several lengthy interludes which introduce other characters where quite frankly little happens.
It attempts to have an overreaching plot with a minor character from the second gateway book trying to get revenge on those who wronged him. But in the end, a myriad of characters are drifting round the galaxy not doing very much, the threat is resolved quickly, and it returns to being the main characters story. And that, by the end of the book, isn't as interesting as it started out being.
Not one of his more memorable works. And that's a shame
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Having read all other Gateway novels on more than one occasion & have a collection of many other Pohl's in my library of over 2000 Sci-Fi/fantasy titles,
I found this the worst book I have had the misfortune to buy in a very long time. It bore little relation to any other novel in the series, was even more disjointed than the original Gateway (quite an achievement).
In conclusion it was not worth the money & not even worth donating to the charity shops - it went in the paper recycling bin.
I found this the worst book I have had the misfortune to buy in a very long time. It bore little relation to any other novel in the series, was even more disjointed than the original Gateway (quite an achievement).
In conclusion it was not worth the money & not even worth donating to the charity shops - it went in the paper recycling bin.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
OK if you're a Gateway fan, skip it if not
4 April 2006
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Fred Pohl returns to "Gateway" with perhaps the series' most lightweight entry to date. We follow two young would-be explorers who have the misfortune to be out on a failed prospecting trip when Robinette Broadhead discovers how to read/set the Heechee spaceship controls. The two explorers, a young woman and a younger man, end up signing up for a trip to the core. Along the way they become lovers (surprise!), and most of the book deals with their effort to fit in with the Heechee at the core. We also find out that the lovers spend a lot of time in the sack.
The supporting characters are not terribly well-fleshed out. I guess that's appropriate given that they are either Heechee (very little flesh) or stored/machine intelligence. Pohl must really be a gourmet, as one (machine) character is a cook who goes into excruciating detail - over and over - about the meals it prepares. Said cook also turns into an intelligence officer along the way as a plot to kill millions of Heechee dominates the last third of the book.
You'll see a lot of old favorites here. The Kugel (aka the Foe) put in an appearance, as do Gelle-Klara Moynlin, Sigfrid Von Shrink, the Gateway Corp, the Old Ones, and a host of familar Heechee. Rob Broadhead, while frequently mentioned, does not put in an appearance - in person or otherwise.
If you've read the series, you'll get warm fuzzies from visiting our old friends again, but "...Forever" does not stand on its own. Pohl assumes you've read several other novels in the series; you'll be lost if you haven't.
The supporting characters are not terribly well-fleshed out. I guess that's appropriate given that they are either Heechee (very little flesh) or stored/machine intelligence. Pohl must really be a gourmet, as one (machine) character is a cook who goes into excruciating detail - over and over - about the meals it prepares. Said cook also turns into an intelligence officer along the way as a plot to kill millions of Heechee dominates the last third of the book.
You'll see a lot of old favorites here. The Kugel (aka the Foe) put in an appearance, as do Gelle-Klara Moynlin, Sigfrid Von Shrink, the Gateway Corp, the Old Ones, and a host of familar Heechee. Rob Broadhead, while frequently mentioned, does not put in an appearance - in person or otherwise.
If you've read the series, you'll get warm fuzzies from visiting our old friends again, but "...Forever" does not stand on its own. Pohl assumes you've read several other novels in the series; you'll be lost if you haven't.
20 of 24 people found the following review helpful
A decent, readable, clever and fun Heechee sequel.
16 Feb 2005
Format:Hardcover
______________________________________________
This is the latest, and perhaps final, chapter in the Heechee Saga, begun 28 years ago with his classic GATEWAY. "Boy Who" isn't in that class -- none of the Heechee sequels are -- but it's decent, readable, clever and fun.
For a quick reprise of the Heechee series, and a nice reiew of this book, Google the ever-reliable Paul Di Filippo.
Sample: Frederik Pohl is 85 years old. His first story was published more than 60 years ago. The Gateway sequence itself is now nearly 30 years old. Despite-or perhaps because of-all this history, Pohl's new book remains a feast and a pleasure.
"Boy Who" is in part a fixup -- you are most likely to have already seen "Hatching the Phoenix" (1999), in which Gelle-Klara Moynlin pays for a scentific expedition to study the Crab Nebula supernova. The blast also incinerated the planet of the "Crabbers", a decidedly unsympathetic race of aliens. It's a crackerjack story, reprinted in the Dozois Year's Best --though its connection to the rest of the novel is tenuous. Two other previously-published stories are more smoothly integrated.
So the novel reads a bit choppily -- but there's lots of cool Pohl stuff here. My favorite character is Marc Antony, the Stovemind AI. His primary duty is cooking up gourmet meals for humans and Heechees, both organic and machine-stored -- but his collatereal duty is Human-Heechee Security, and who Saves the Day! from the nefarious star-smashing plot that's the McGuffin here, and is a decidedly less-interesting part of the book.
Ol' Fred isn't getting any younger, so I'm very pleased to recommend his latest novel. Recommended for Pohl fans -- and who isn't?
Review copyright ©2005 by Peter D. Tillman
This is the latest, and perhaps final, chapter in the Heechee Saga, begun 28 years ago with his classic GATEWAY. "Boy Who" isn't in that class -- none of the Heechee sequels are -- but it's decent, readable, clever and fun.
For a quick reprise of the Heechee series, and a nice reiew of this book, Google the ever-reliable Paul Di Filippo.
Sample: Frederik Pohl is 85 years old. His first story was published more than 60 years ago. The Gateway sequence itself is now nearly 30 years old. Despite-or perhaps because of-all this history, Pohl's new book remains a feast and a pleasure.
"Boy Who" is in part a fixup -- you are most likely to have already seen "Hatching the Phoenix" (1999), in which Gelle-Klara Moynlin pays for a scentific expedition to study the Crab Nebula supernova. The blast also incinerated the planet of the "Crabbers", a decidedly unsympathetic race of aliens. It's a crackerjack story, reprinted in the Dozois Year's Best --though its connection to the rest of the novel is tenuous. Two other previously-published stories are more smoothly integrated.
So the novel reads a bit choppily -- but there's lots of cool Pohl stuff here. My favorite character is Marc Antony, the Stovemind AI. His primary duty is cooking up gourmet meals for humans and Heechees, both organic and machine-stored -- but his collatereal duty is Human-Heechee Security, and who Saves the Day! from the nefarious star-smashing plot that's the McGuffin here, and is a decidedly less-interesting part of the book.
Ol' Fred isn't getting any younger, so I'm very pleased to recommend his latest novel. Recommended for Pohl fans -- and who isn't?
Review copyright ©2005 by Peter D. Tillman
39 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Terrible
3 Dec 2004
Format:Hardcover
Simply disastrous work by Pohl. After throroughly enjoying the original Gateway, I was looking forward to this sequel. My hopes were utterly shattered. In summary, here is why this book was totally unreadable.
1. The main characters, Stan and Estrella, are totally unbelievable. Their dialogue is only slightly above kindergarten level. They are never given any motivation for their actions.
2. Pohl fills the pages with useless details, including information about plantlife, and cooking, as well as vomitting and bowel movements. I gave up on the book completely when he decided to indulge in an entire page about one man going to the toilet. Maybe he was trying to be funny. It didn't work.
3. Total lack of plot development. The book is basically a loosely connected series of random events, stuffed with filler. Mid-way through the book Pohl begins to introduce entirely new characters in an attempt to generate some kind of plot momemntum. I have never read a more unfocussed science fiction novel. It comes off as really poorly done space-opera.
4. Characters are completely flat. Stan and Estrella are both sickeningly dumb. Every other character is the exact same cardboard cutout. Aliens act just like humans except they talk funny. It is very cheesy and lacks any attempt at originality.
5. Book has an insane number of sex scenes, and they are all badly written. I mean literally, you cannt go more than 15 pages without a sex scene. So juvenile.
I would go on, but I believe my point is made. This book has not a single redeeming feature. If you enjoyed Gateway, DO NOT ruin your memory of it by reading this sequel.
1. The main characters, Stan and Estrella, are totally unbelievable. Their dialogue is only slightly above kindergarten level. They are never given any motivation for their actions.
2. Pohl fills the pages with useless details, including information about plantlife, and cooking, as well as vomitting and bowel movements. I gave up on the book completely when he decided to indulge in an entire page about one man going to the toilet. Maybe he was trying to be funny. It didn't work.
3. Total lack of plot development. The book is basically a loosely connected series of random events, stuffed with filler. Mid-way through the book Pohl begins to introduce entirely new characters in an attempt to generate some kind of plot momemntum. I have never read a more unfocussed science fiction novel. It comes off as really poorly done space-opera.
4. Characters are completely flat. Stan and Estrella are both sickeningly dumb. Every other character is the exact same cardboard cutout. Aliens act just like humans except they talk funny. It is very cheesy and lacks any attempt at originality.
5. Book has an insane number of sex scenes, and they are all badly written. I mean literally, you cannt go more than 15 pages without a sex scene. So juvenile.
I would go on, but I believe my point is made. This book has not a single redeeming feature. If you enjoyed Gateway, DO NOT ruin your memory of it by reading this sequel.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
