This is a book I didn't like. . . until shortly after I finished it. This is because the truth of the book - the conflict around which the entire story is based - only appears in the last couple of pages. That conflict centers around the implications of a black hole's event horizon. Everything else: the discovered technology of an ancient race, which makes faster than light travel possible, the AI therapist to whom the main character goes for help, the tunnel -ridden asteroid housing the mysterious Heechee space ships. . . all of this becomes an entire novel's worth of interesting background against which that one unifying situation is finally cast. So, after plodding though all of this for two hundred and fifty some pages, you close the book. . . you think a few minutes. . . and then you realize: 'hmm, that's an interesting idea.'

In this sense, the tale feels like it has the scope of a short story. However, Pohl gives it the space of a novel. And this is why I felt at times like I was plodding though developments that seemed to be going nowhere. Added to this is the fact that Pohl's book seems dated now, written as it was in 1976: the lines of computer printout that resemble BASIC programming, the revelation that a screen image is digitally generated, the overt notices about second hand cigarette smoke. All wold have been forward-thinking issues for the '70s, but for a modern reader, just dated enough to distract. I cannot say that Pohl is one of my favorite sci-fi writers. To me, his prose seems. . . soul-less, perhaps. I feel as though I should have read him back in the day. Realizing that there are additional books in this series, Gateway may be best judged against the context of the whole. However, taken by itself, I can't say I was 'carried off' by this one novel. ( )

Robinette Broadhead has managed to win the lottery, and uses his winnings to procure a one-way ticket to Gateway, seeking money to purchase a better life.

As to what Gateway is... it is a space station, created by the Heechee half a million years ago, and recently discovered by humans. The space ships the Heechee have left behind in Gateway are ridden by humans, who chance their lives against the numerous dangers of space in the hope of finding riches. However, since the Heechee were so advanced, humans have no real idea how to operate or control the spacecraft, making their operation equatable to playing Russian Roulette.

The story of Gateway is told in two alternating parts. The first part is that of a young Robinette Broadhead, leaving behind a life in an Earth struggling to maintain its current population, trying to make his fortune on Gateway. The second part, told as conversations in psychology sessions that Robinette attends, is that of someone who has made his fortune, and is living the life he always dreamed of, albeit with a lot of psychological issues.

The story of the younger Robinette makes for quite interesting reading - the premise of Russian Roulette in space is intriguing (and the story lives up to the premise), the idea of Gateway well-fleshed out, and life in Gateway is depicted quite well. The story of older Broadhead, however, does not always maintain interest as well as the first storyline plot, and is the sole reason that this book drops half a star to four-and-a-half-stars.

Also of interest are the numerous inserts throughout the book. The inserts mentioned range from text on signs, to letters, to newspaper advertisements, to various reports. Not all of them are directly related to the story, but all help to show and expand upon the background of the story.

Gateway has great world-building, an intriguing premise, an interesting plot and interesting ideas. Robinette Broadhead makes for an interesting character, too. It's quite easy to see why it won a Hugo Award, a Nebula Award, a Locus Award, and the John W. Campbell Award. ( )

This science fiction work was awarded both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 1978. Apart from its abbreviated length, I found it be well deserving of the awards. The novella is set in the somewhat distant future, in which the Earth, with a population of 25 million souls is suffering from food shortages and converts hydrocarbons not into energy, but into food. Picture a “Soylent Green” society. To alleviate overcrowding, colonies have been founded on Mars, Venus and Luna.

While establishing the underground Venus colony, the remnants of a previous civilization are discovered. A “prospector” finds a self guided alien spacecraft which transports him to Gateway, some type of alien way station at which hundreds of self guided alien ships are stored. The story revolves around life at Gateway and the process of using the alien (Heechee) ships (they are capable of interstellar travel) to explore the galaxy. The pilots of these one, three and five man ships are compensated based upon the importance of their discoveries. Each trip contains a very high likelihood of mortality, but the rewards are great.

The story is told through a Gateway “prospector” named Robinette Broadhead, a former food miner who has earned his way to Gateway through a lottery. The chapters alternate between his “current” psychiatric sessions and flashbacks to his time on Gateway.

The premise of the story is excellent and the story is well developed. The chapters dealing with the psychiatric sessions are not nearly as entertaining however, and almost amount to filler. This brings us to the length of the work. At 275 pages, the book is relatively short to begin with, however, fully 60+ pages are comprised of “exhibits” which are interspersed throughout the story. These exhibits take the form of Gateway bulletin board postings, pages from what appears to be a Gateway orientation manual, and various trip reports and scientific findings. Many of these are largely filler, the remainder deserve only cursory attention. In addition, there are roughly thirty chapters, each of which begin and end in the middle of a page. You are left with what is actually a book with 150-175 pages of text. Throw out the psychiatric sessions and you are largely left with what could easily be compressed into a lengthy short story. The book can be read in its entirety in 5-6 hours.

There are several sequels to Gateway and I will possibly follow up the story, but suspect that two or three could have been combined into one standard length science fiction novel. ( )

I enjoyed this book immensely. It was a bit dated, but I think that the book captures space exploration much better than other books, that its a crapshoot and theres not guarantee. My one complaint, and its not so much about the book, is that it took the narrator so long to actually go out exploring! I started reading it an hour before bedtime, and I kept going one more chapter, just waiting for something to happen (the waiting was very interesting, and the story wouldn't be what it was without it). Needless to say, I finished the book that night and was not a pleasant person the next morning ( )

This is the second book in a row that I've read in the science fiction genre that included a psychologist main character. The book did not fascinate me as much as I'd hoped it would. However, I gave it a pretty strong rating because of the very end which was quite clever.

One of the reasons that I picked up the book is that it seemed to be a book that would include a lot of space travel which I ordinarily enjoy reading. However, it actually has much less space travel and more pre & post space travel elements. This was a let-down for me.

The author spends a lot of the book dealing with psychology. Through the analysis of the main character the reader learns more of the plot. I wish that the psychology portion of the book had been shorter. In fact I found myself wishing I could just skip those chapters and "get to the good stuff!"

Based on this book, I probably won't continue to read this series of books. However, I did find the book compelling at times.

My biggest quibble is that at around the penultimate chapter, the author dallies in a few mature themes. I don't think that it added to the story much. I got the feeling like you get in a movie when the main character says a few bad words just to get the proper rating. But, in the case of this book, I was a little mystified at the inclusion. Like I wrote, it didn't add much. ( )