Beyond the Barrier

This was one of those books that I bought because I thought it would be a silly read with a cool cover, and instead it ended up being a really engaging read with a cool cover. The plot of the book is well constructed, with just enough science to be satisfying. There are cool aliens, people who are not what they seem, and a narrator who only remembers the past four years of his life. There is also a bunch of 1980 and 20,000 years in the future, both as imagined in 1963. One of my favorite scenes happens when the narrator (due to a variety of difficult to explain circumstances) finds himself in an experimental machine that cuts through matter when it is turned on, but which has no steering capabilities. He naturally ends up falling show more through the Earth at the speed of gravity and, having been a physics professor for the past four years that he can remember, he spends his time calculating how long it should take him to pop out the other side, where exactly he should pop out, and if there is any chance he might survive.

Full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2005/10/superbly-sci-fi.html show less

This book starts off well, and ends well. The middle does tend to drag a bit. At the heart of the novel is a mystery. Who is Professor Gordon Naismith? For the last four years, ever since he survived a plane crash, he has been a professor of physics. He has lost all memory of who he was before that. But an odd encounter with a mysterious female student sets off a chain of events that will take him 20,000 years into the future - a future that may or may not be part of his past. Throughout the book (and its a short one) we are drip fed hints and facts until the big reveal at the end of the book. The problem with this approach is that for large chunks of the book one doesn't really know what is going on, and that makes reading the book show more less compelling. This is partially compensated though by a fairly entertaining and grand finale. show less

I can't put my finger on why but this one worked for me. It was very much in the style of Clifford Simak who I always enjoy. The interesting changes in the story pulled me in. I don't always like Damon Knight's books but this was fun.

This book was such a light and easy read that I almost did not read it. However, I found myself being pulled into the story despite myself and I am glad that I was. This book turned out to be better than it appears at first, and I find the concluding concept quite intriguing. This is worth reading if you are a science fiction fan, but others probably wouldn't enjoy it.

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