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Gateway by Frederik Pohl
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Gateway (original 1977; edition 1977)

by Frederik Pohl

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4,6311002,432 (3.94)152
The Heechee gateways, remnants of an ancient civilization, provide instantaneous passage to the far reaches of the universe but do not ensure destination, return, wealth, or survival.
Member:ptarmigal
Title:Gateway
Authors:Frederik Pohl
Info:Del Rey (1977), Paperback
Collections:Your library
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Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1977)

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English (89)  Spanish (3)  French (2)  Danish (2)  Italian (2)  Finnish (1)  Hebrew (1)  All languages (100)
Showing 1-5 of 89 (next | show all)
Really enjoyed this classic. ( )
  roguelike | Feb 4, 2024 |
An amazing work exploring the experience of being an astronaut or explorer. I really thought this would make my top 10 science fiction book list, except every other chapter is not very interesting and the ending is a bit of a let down. Still an important read. ( )
  MXMLLN | Jan 12, 2024 |
A very prescient sci-fi novel that essentially predicts the rise of smartphones, no kidding.

It deals with the discovery of a hyperspace network developed by a race of precursor aliens. Its strength is that it's very character-driven - it is mostly told in flashback by the main character in counselling sessions with a sarcastic robot. There are pages that are supposed "realia", helping to flesh out the world. The story is drip-fed to you, slowly foreshadowing the twists at the end when everything comes together, and I liked that.

The hyperspace ships left by the aliens only travel to preprogrammed locations, meaning that every trip is a gamble - will they have enough fuel or food for the journey? where will they end up? will they be able to profit? (since the future world is apparently the worst excesses of capitalism on steroids) - and even then crewmembers have to travel in close quarters for months, making it an emotional toll. Given all that, a lot of what happens in the story is unsurprising.

Some of the revelations aren't so savoury - the m.c. turns out to be a violent closet case, and beats up his girlfriend. But the book reveals this while being careful to condemn his actions and make the story one of guilt. The final revelation that he left his girlfriend to be sucked into a black hole - meaning it's his guilt that she is, due to time dilation still in that situation and will be long after he dies, and he has no way to tell her it wasn't actually his fault - cements that. Unreliable Narrator is handled well, basically.

And yeah, for 1977 the future predictions are astounding honestly. Pohl never quite accurately predicts the internet, for example, but capitalism has been going the way of this book for decades, and the book's p-phones are basically smartphones. ( )
  finlaaaay | Aug 1, 2023 |
Creative and well written, but I just cannot read this genre for fun and enjoyment. ( )
  LivelyLady | Mar 6, 2023 |
The only reason I read this book is that the dude lived on the same block as my Mom in Illinois. In retrospect I thought it was okay, not terrible, not great. His house had a sign in front that said "Gateway." I never sought out any more of his books because this was supposed to be his masterwork and I thought it was just average. He was an actual well known writer when I was into more science fiction, so I was impressed and sort of in awe. I should probably read something else by him so if you have any suggestions pass them on. ( )
  Gumbywan | Jun 24, 2022 |
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» Add other authors (28 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Frederik Pohlprimary authorall editionscalculated
Meistermann, ChristianTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Reynolds, AlastairAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sleight, GrahamIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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My name is Robinette Broadhead, in spite of which I am male.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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The Heechee gateways, remnants of an ancient civilization, provide instantaneous passage to the far reaches of the universe but do not ensure destination, return, wealth, or survival.

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