Interesting idea, very well written. Oddly unsatisfying, but I can't define quite why. ( )

Good but not great book by Simak. Good writer and interesting story. Not as good as some of his other works. ( )

3.5

Not Simak's best, but I found the concept intriguing enough to keep me reading and overlook its flaws; the writing generally gets better as you get further into the book, as if it were a first draft that Simak was just settling into, and there are some nice pastoral passages reminiscent of some of his other, stronger work.

Lots of themes are covered in the book, some felt very apt and others a bit forced. The most prominent being religion, faith, life after death, which was often explored through minor characters, thier stories interwoven throughout the main plot.

The closing chapter felt like a bit of a strange note to end on. Maybe I just didn't get it, but I don't see why Simak chose to end the story on the line that he did. Generally though, the overall experience is pretty satisfying - which is more than can be said for a lot of Simak's work. ( )

3.9

Parts of this are possibly Simak at peak clunky, and the dialogue can be very expository, but the premise is fantastic. The larger narrative and themes explored elevate this above its shortcomings.

On initial reading, I think I was thrown by the structure of the novel, how it bounces between different perspectives that don't necessarily have a larger part to play in the story. Going in with a better understanding of their thematic role made for a better experience. The representation of gender and technology is dated, but this is a small thing in contrast to the big questions Simak asks: the nature of faith and the capacity for the spiritual to survive in a world where flesh may obtain a premature immortality.

What role does an afterlife play in a world where physical existence need not be terminated? What encouragement can a man of faith give to a convicted man who has been denied his right to a second physical existence? What value does that faith have when the religious too invest in the promise of a physical immortality? What value does the first life hold, when its entire focus becomes a preparation for eternity? And is our notion of eternity as real and secure as we think it is?

The main narrative "wrap-up" feels pulled straight out of an old b movie, sickly quaint and convenient with a romance begging soft filter and melodramatic strings. But the closing chapter, the "true" ending, is a haunting reflection on an unresolved question. The matter of faith and the search for truth. ( )

I read this as part of my ongoing investigation of life extension in science fiction. In this book's future, everyone is frozen upon death; the society hasn't figured out resurrection yet, but they're sure that bit is coming.

What really works are the novel's various ideas about how society would change around such a development. People live very frugally, saving all their money for the second life; preventing someone from being frozen, even inadvertently, is a crime because you're essentially killing them; investors buy swampland because they know the Earth will need tons of room for all these people upon resurrection so even worthless land ought to have value.

It's very 1950s/60s sf: kind of off-kilter, a dose of spiritualism, a lot of discussion of marketing, an ending that doesn't quite come together. We follow a group of parallel characters in this future society, but I felt like their stories petered out in the end. Simak had great worldbuilding, but I am not entirely convinced he really knew what the book was about thematically.

It is short, and probably would be pretty fun to teach in my putative course, but hasn't been in print since 1988! There's an ebook from Gollancz, but you can only get it in the UK.