Gateway (S.F. MASTERWORKS)

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When the book begins, we meet Robinette Broadhead; a man who has hit it big on Gateway and is living the life of luxury on Earth. Except he was always kind of a jerk, and while his reason for sliding further down into a jerky abyss is ultimately a pretty good one, he also did plenty of stuff earlier in the timeline to evaporate every drop of my sympathy. Con el foco en más en gente normal --casi camisas rojas de Star Trek-- que en gente fuera de serie, Fredrik Pohl nos ofrece una excelente historia de contacto con una civilización alienígena SIN contacto con alienígenas. Everyone is there to strike it rich and improve their lot in life by taking the risk of a Gateway trip. La historia alterna dos tipos de capítulos, los que narran los hechos acaecidos en Pórtico, la estación espacial que los Heechee dejaron para confundir y condenar -es una percepción personal- a los humanos, con las sesiones del protagonista con su psicoanalista, que es una máquina, bautizado como Sigfrid por él mismo.

Why that stupid woman nevertheless trusted him on a mission is beyond me, no matter how much money beckoned. For a sci-fi book, it is also very clearly Of Its Time, what with all the casual references to swinging sexuality and dated therapy movements like primal screaming. Pohl didn't bother with too much science, just a few interesting scientific details here and there to convince us he's, you know - scientific and stuff.Pa dobro ne bih rekao da se ne prica, mozda pre ne ocukujemo tako nesto u knjizi naucne fantastike, ali je upravo to jedan od razloga zasto je ovaj zanr toliko superioran barem kada se radi o polaznoj tacki za pisanje romana. One person devises a desperate escape plan: Move everyone into one ship and thrust the other toward the black hole with an explosion in a lander, thus gaining enough of a boost to escape. La idea de esta novela me parece magnífica y logra transmitir una sensación de desolación y confusión como pocas lo hacen.

But we’re trying, we're organized, fumbling around for it, and desperadoes like our (male) narrator Robinette Broadhead are at the vanguard of discovery, setting out in the alien pre-programmed spacecraft in a gold rush for more abandoned alien technology. Mass market paperback, 244 pages; spine creased and slightly slanted, otherwise gently used, not abused, covers flat, uncreased, very clean and unmarked throughout.Me ha gustado mucho la novela, a pesar de sus defectos y de algunos temas que trata que para alguien como yo, un aburrido y poco actual con algunas ideas, le chirrían. Ojalá Nova siga reeditando clásicos en este formato para que los novatos como yo nos sigamos acercando a estos clásicos. Aside from the fact that I just didn't particularly like the structure (too much ominous foreshadowing!

No idea how to refuel, no idea how far/long it will take or if they have locked in the coordinates to a supernova. Individuals and groups are allowed to depart on these ships, risking (and often losing) their lives in the hope of finding something at their unknown destination that will make them rich. As well as the scenario and setting, the characters and their tales are also naturalistic: they're in constant emotional turmoil. Now obviously the idea is that in these therapy session we peel back the layers of Rob's personality and get to his deepest thoughts and fears and understand who he is as a person.All the elements for a great read: humour, drama, tragedy, great one-liners, a marvellously quirky central character and a great supporting character in the form of a robotic psychologist. Spending so much time listening to Rob avoid his issues and yell at his therapist over and over is just not that interesting or fun. The discovery of an ancient abandoned alien space station together with hundreds of ships is an interesting premiss, but the execution feels terribly dated now – in fact the book feels like it was published early sixties, not the late seventies. A few, however, result in the discovery of new Heechee artifacts and habitable planets in other star systems, making the crews extremely wealthy.