The Voices of Heaven
by Frederik Pohl
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The politics of interstellar imperialism, featuring Barry di Hoa, a technician on a small human colony. The colonists are plagued by a shortage of supplies from an overtaxed Earth and survive by exploiting the indigenous intelligent creatures. By the author of Beyond the Blue Event Horizon.Tags
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Despite being a science fiction reader since the time I could actually read a book, I had not had the opportunity to read any Fred Pohl until this book found its way into my library. I was very impressed and understand why Pohl is counted among the giants of the genre's golden age.
THE VOICES OF HEAVEN is a surprisingly complex novel that deals with the concept of religious strife without actually getting bogged down in dogma and scripture. Pohl shows us a world that many secular humanists fear is already in the making: political parties abolished and theocracy instituted, because everyone votes their religion anyway, right? The consequences of Christian extremism are explored for a change, which is a nice breather from the show more extremist-Muslim-killer stereotripe.
Overall, THE VOICES OF HEAVEN is a worthwhile read that won't take you long to get through, but it will stimulate your mind for a good long time after. show less
THE VOICES OF HEAVEN is a surprisingly complex novel that deals with the concept of religious strife without actually getting bogged down in dogma and scripture. Pohl shows us a world that many secular humanists fear is already in the making: political parties abolished and theocracy instituted, because everyone votes their religion anyway, right? The consequences of Christian extremism are explored for a change, which is a nice breather from the show more extremist-Muslim-killer stereotripe.
Overall, THE VOICES OF HEAVEN is a worthwhile read that won't take you long to get through, but it will stimulate your mind for a good long time after. show less
review of
Frederik Pohl's The Voices of Heaven
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - May 29, 2012
Reading this was just what the doctor ordered, not that I'm likely to follow doctor's orders. In other words, I started reading this yesterday b/c I was dreading working on a review of a much more problematic bk & b/c I wanted to actually enjoy something. & I DID enjoy it. & that's why it was "just what the doctor ordered" b/c I really need a fucking break.
Anyway, Pohl is possibly a writer whose work wd've seemed just a tad too easy to me a few decades ago but now I'm glad for it. I wdn't call The Voices of Heaven a 'masterpiece' but it was well-conceived & well-written enuf to keep me completely engrossed.
The problem w/ writing a review about show more it is that I don't want to create spoilers by addressing the plot too much but that's really what there mostly is to address. Basically, there're thrills & spills, there's nefariousness, a bit of Jim Jones, quite a bit of commentary re religion (hence the title), a nice depiction of an 'alien' society that smacks a little of 'anarcho-primitivism', all sorts of plot-propelling goodies.
The thing is: I read this bk to be entertained, to be stimulated, for its escapist value & I got exactly what I wanted to out of it.. &.. now.. that I'm trying to write the review of it, I'm probably right back to where I might've been 30 yrs ago: it just ISN'T ENUF, even tho I almost gave the bk 4 stars. I LIKE Frederik Pohl!! But I ultimately want MORE out of EVERYTHING than just escape &, oh well, I'm not going to get it out of fiction. But I'll still READ FICTION in preference to going crazy from frustration w/ the 'real world'. show less
Frederik Pohl's The Voices of Heaven
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - May 29, 2012
Reading this was just what the doctor ordered, not that I'm likely to follow doctor's orders. In other words, I started reading this yesterday b/c I was dreading working on a review of a much more problematic bk & b/c I wanted to actually enjoy something. & I DID enjoy it. & that's why it was "just what the doctor ordered" b/c I really need a fucking break.
Anyway, Pohl is possibly a writer whose work wd've seemed just a tad too easy to me a few decades ago but now I'm glad for it. I wdn't call The Voices of Heaven a 'masterpiece' but it was well-conceived & well-written enuf to keep me completely engrossed.
The problem w/ writing a review about show more it is that I don't want to create spoilers by addressing the plot too much but that's really what there mostly is to address. Basically, there're thrills & spills, there's nefariousness, a bit of Jim Jones, quite a bit of commentary re religion (hence the title), a nice depiction of an 'alien' society that smacks a little of 'anarcho-primitivism', all sorts of plot-propelling goodies.
The thing is: I read this bk to be entertained, to be stimulated, for its escapist value & I got exactly what I wanted to out of it.. &.. now.. that I'm trying to write the review of it, I'm probably right back to where I might've been 30 yrs ago: it just ISN'T ENUF, even tho I almost gave the bk 4 stars. I LIKE Frederik Pohl!! But I ultimately want MORE out of EVERYTHING than just escape &, oh well, I'm not going to get it out of fiction. But I'll still READ FICTION in preference to going crazy from frustration w/ the 'real world'. show less
No action, but very realistic, with a good main character and a cool ending. A bit boring in the middle.
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639+ Works 42,805 Members
Frederik Pohl was born in New York City on November 26, 1919. More interested in writing than in school, he dropped out of high school in his senior year and took a job with a publishing company. After serving as a public relations officer in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945, he returned to publishing as copywriter for Popular Science, a show more literary agent for several sci-fi writers, and the editor for the magazines Galaxy and If from 1959 until 1969, with If winning three successive Hugo awards. His first published work, a poem entitled Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna, was printed in Amazing Stories magazine in 1937 under the pen name Elton Andrews. His first science fiction novels were published in the mid 1960's, some written in collaboration with other writers, others created alone. During his lifetime, he won over 16 major awards for his writing (much of which was published pseudonymously) including six Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. His works include Gateway, which won the Campbell Memorial, Hugo, Locus SF, and Nebula Awards, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, and Jem, which won the National Book Award in 1979. He also embraced blogging in his later years, using his online journal as an ongoing sequel to his autobiography, The Way the Future Was. He died on September 2, 2013 at the age 93. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Voices of Heaven
- Original title
- The Voices of Heaven
- Original publication date
- 1994-06
- Publisher's editor
- Frenkel, James
- Blurbers
- Amis, Kingsley; Harrison, Harry; Kelly, James Patrick
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- Members
- 380
- Popularity
- 82,333
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.12)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
