I have read the other novels in Pohl’s Heechee saga and this one was just not as compelling for me. The writing style reminded me of late Heinlein in the sense that the tone seemed a bit cheeky. It’s a fine distraction - good for the beach maybe. But just not up to the same level as other novels I have read by Pohl. ( )

Saga se încheie cu o viziune prea... pămînteană, probabil s-a dorit un fel de happy-end. Mi-aş fi dorit să aflu ceva mai mult despre Asasini, dar asta e. Per total, e o carte care încheie cum trebuie acest ciclu.

Aviz amatorilor care nu au citit celelalte volume! Dacă vă apucaţi doar de volumul ăsta, o să aflaţi prea puţin despre unele personaje - care sunt descrise mai pe larg în primele volume, şi ce fel de aventuri au trăit - şi apoi veţi fi tentaţi să vă plîngeţi că volumul nu e prea-prea şi o să daţi 2 stele. Nu e frumos! :)) ( )

Several stories loosly connected in the Gateway universe. Hechee are finally revealed, hidden in the center of the galaxy where they are living hidden from a menacing entity from the outside. The book follows Stan a teenager that ends up being the first one contacting Hechee and his girlfriend Estrella as they live through the adventures, while revealing parts of the universe. It also features Marc Anthony, an AI that also prepares food. Gelle-Klara Moynlin one of the protagonists of earlier novels and a crazy Wan that wants to destroy the Hechee. The connection between different narrative threads is loose, and there is no "big picture" except describing the vast universe. Interesting description of technology that can not be understood and how things can evolve in time over huge time/distances/culture. It is a very good idea to be familiar with the rest of the books in the series before reading this one. ( )

The Boy Who Would Live Forever is a sequel to the Heechee books that takes place in the same universe, but involves mostly new characters. The main characters, Stan and Estrella, are humans that move to the Core, the Heechee homeland. While the story does eventually involve a little bit of plot and conflict, it's really mostly a series of loosely-connected vignettes of human life in Pohl's far-future. Because of time dilation, tens of thousands of years pass outside the Core over the course of the story, but rather than detail the tides of human civilization, the author uses this to obscure what the rest of humanity is doing, because the characters cannot possibly keep track. On the whole, this was a pleasant read, but it didn't really present anything new or intriguing. ( )

Frederick Pohl's "Gateway" series is deservedly well known and this book offers another adventure in that created universe. It would be easy to be too critical of this book; it falls short of Pohl's usual standard and, oddly, his artificial intelligences often seem to offer more personality and depth than his organic characters in this particular work. If you are a science fiction reader, however, it is well worth reading. ( )