Gateway (Heechee Saga): 1 - Softcover

Pohl, Frederik

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345475836 ISBN 13: 9780345475831

Publisher: Random House Inc, 2004

Synopsis

WINNER OF THE HUGO AND NEBULA AWARDS - Frederik Pohl stands shoulder to shoulder with Philip K. Dick, Larry Niven, Robert Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury as one of the brilliant vision-aries in the science fiction stratosphere. Gateway is a modern masterpiece that defines--and transcends--its genre.

Seeded among the stars are troves of valuable artifactsleft behind by the enigmatic, long-vanished alien racecalled the Heechee. For the right price, anyone can climb aboard one of the abandoned Heechee spaceships, castoff on an autopilot voyage to parts unknown, and takea chance on finding wealth . . . or facing death.

Robinette Broadhead took that chance and walked awaya winner. But at what cost? Despite living a millionaire's life of material luxury, he's haunted by crippling despair--and the dark secrets buried deep in his psyche. With the help of his computerized psychiatrist, the truth about whathappened "out there" could set Broadhead free. But only after a personal journey more terrifying and, ultimately, more devastating than his last fateful trip into space.

Praise for Gateway

"When an author of the stature of Frederik Pohl says that . . . Gateway is the best thing he has ever written, it deserves careful attention. . . . Get this one."--Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine

"Ccompulsive reading."--Chicago Daily News

"Wonderfully satisfying."--The New York Times Book Review

About this title

Review:

Some SF writers have astonishingly long productive careers. Frederik Pohl started in 1940 and with Cyril Kornbluth co-wrote such classic 1950s satires as The Space Merchants. He won Hugo and Nebula awards for the 1977 Gateway, a major novel combining classic SF excitement with psychological depth and now reissued in Millennium SF Masterworks. The compelling central idea is Gateway itself, an asteroid base stuffed with abandoned interstellar ships built by the mysterious, elusive alien "Heechee". These tiny vessels can travel on autopilot to countless unknown destinations. Some human passengers return with fabulous technologies and scientific insights, others empty-handed. Many more die from incomprehensible hazards at journey's end, or from lack of food or air in overlong round-trips. So the atmosphere of the human community at Gateway is uniquely edgy, halfway between a gold-rush town and Death Row. Pohl's unheroic hero Broadhead has both good and bad luck in Heechee craft, emerging with riches and terrible loss. We learn the shattering story of what happened in successive flashbacks, while the engaging, scene-stealing AI psychology software called Sigfrid patiently tries to put Broadhead together again. Gateway is witty and humane, full of clever insights, ingenious asides and claustrophobic drama. Its sequels are less impressive. --David Langford

Review:

"When an author of the stature of Frederik Pohl says that . . . Gateway is the best thing he has ever written, it deserves careful attention. . . . Get this one."--Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine

"Ccompulsive reading."--Chicago Daily News

"Wonderfully satisfying."--The New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Inc
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0345475836
• ISBN 13: 9780345475831
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288