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The Boy Who Would Live Forever
The original novel Gateway, published in 1976, was a Hugo and Nebula award winner and quickly burned itself into the memory of many SF readers. It told the story of the discovery of an asteroid full of alien (the Heechee) ships. The ships are completely functional, but with no way to decode the navigation controls the only possible trips are... well... mysterious. Desperate prospectors from a poverty- and famine-stricken Earth travel to the Gateway asteroid (as it becomes known) to take a trip in a Heechee ship hoping to find something unusual, and perhaps earn themselves a share in the Gateway Corporation. Some never return; some return only after their food and oxygen has long run out; some are sent to destinations that kill the occupants of the craft; a lucky few return to enormous wealth. Later books in the series expanded on the premise and the reasons why the Heechee abandoned many of their vessels and tunnels and vanished.
The Boy Who Would Live Forever is the sixth book in the series. The word 'series' stirs up thoughts of those interminable fantasy or SF series that are pumped out at regular intervals for cash. Gateway books, on the other hand, are pretty rare things:
- Gateway (1976)
- Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980)
- Heechee Rendezvous (1984)
- Annals of the Heechee (1987)
- The Gateway Trip (1990)
- The Boy Who Would Live Forever: A Novel of Gateway (2004)
So a new one is something to look forward to -- at least for me.
The Boy Who Would Live Forever (TBWWLF) begins with the story of Stan, a young man growing up virtually penniless in Istanbul. After his father dies he inherits a life insurance payoff that is just enough to take him and a friend to Gateway. Unfortunately Stan's long-awaited first trip in a Heechee ship comes to nothing. Even worse, he returns to Gateway to find that the secret of Heechee ship navigation has been cracked. No more wild rides into the unknown... and no more big payoffs. But Stan somehow finds himself on a Gateway trip that will make him one of the first humans to find the elusive Heechee.
Other narrative threads involve Gelle-Klara Moynlin: a character from previous books who spent time trapped and frozen in time at the event horizon of a black hole. Marc Anthony: an artificial intelligence, Gourmet cook, and numerous other talents besides. Wan: a rich spoiled psychotic who grew up on a Heechee artifact (the child of stranded Gateway prospectors) and his attempt to get get hold of a weapon capable of destroying a star. Sigfried von Shrink: the A.I psychotherapist from the first Gateway novel makes a repeat appearance. That rarest of things, a mentally unstable Heechee: made that way, unsurprisingly, by having to live with humans. And more details on the Kugels -- or "The Foe" as the Heechee call them -- a race of energy creatures hell-bent on eliminating organic intelligences.
Like most of Pohl's work, TBWWLF has plenty of humour and insight. Cultural misunderstandings between the amiable Heechee and the slightly clueless Stan provide plenty of opportunity for sly jokes, and Wan's obsession with getting back "his" Old Ones (the Australopithecus pre-humans he grew up with on the Heechee artifact) and their lack of personal hygiene are played for a few gags.
Despite being a novel, TBWWLF has been constructed from a number of short stories ("From Istanbul to the Stars", "In the Steps of Heroes", "A Home for the Old Ones", "Hatching the Phoenix") with original material added to tie them together. This is the cause of its only major fault: it is quite disjointed. Some of that is inevitable given that a big chunk part of the novel takes place within a black hole. But even allowing for the difficulties of stitching together a story from threads crossing a time dilation of 40,000:1... in which some of your characters only experience a week or two while others experience a thousands years... the novel still does not hold together satisfactorily as a story. There are entire chapters devoted to a faster-than-light trip to watch the Crab Nebula supernova occur and see the occupants of a planet of that system in its final days. Fascinating it may be (and it is), but it never really feels like part of the novel. The varied threads do eventually come together to provide a conclusion of sorts, but taken as a whole the book is really more of a tour of the Gateway universe.
However, I don't want to give the impression that this is a bad thing. Anyone familiar with the earlier books will find plenty to enjoy. Much of TBWWLF is concerned with filling in the gaps left by previous books -- such as telling the story of humanity's first contact with the Heechee, and some of the religious implications of machine storing humans when their organic bodies run out. New readers, though, might find themselves a bit lost among all the A.Is, downloaded humans, prayer fans, Ones, Twos and Fives.
The Boy Who Would Live Forever does have its faults as a novel, but it is a genuinely enjoyable read and it is a welcome addition to the Gateway series. One can only hope that Pohl is able to continue it.
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Ok, I have to start by saying that I really enjoy Frederik Pohl's writing. Gateway, Annals of the Heechee and now The Boy Who Would Live Forever are all interesting books with unusual twists and refreshing new ideas. This book crosses many genres and should appeal readers of all of them: sci fi, tech thriller, and romance. To start, this book goes into great depth about the computer industry. I have to assume whatever Frederik Pohlis writing about is viable and true because I do not have a deep understanding of computers, programming, and other related fields.
Let me move on here to the characters. I had a real problem in the beginning of the story. Stan was just so far out there that I had no sympathy with him at all. It took a long time to drag me back around to appreciate him and even then, in the end, I am still not sure that this was accomplished. Marc Anthony on the other hand was an incredible character. Every scene he was in, he stole the show. I kept reading to see his character develop and mature.
My biggest problems come about with the relationship that grows between these two characters. It kept crossing my mind that Stan looks at this relationship as a mother/child one. (At least at first). That they get romantically involved, brings up some issues I was a little uncomfortable with. I have to say, if nothing else, this book is thought provoking. I enjoyed reading it.
The reviewer decides to bash book series that come out more frequently than once every four years, implying that they are just out for money.
Now, Robert Jordan is one thing. But if you can manage to get past that you will find some great series fantasy that does go to print more frequently. Some great examples are:
(1) George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. This is my favorite series of all. The characters are realistic, the story draws you in, and the outcome is anything but expected. I could only wish that these books came out every month.
(2) Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Tales of Alvin Maker series. Card is a great storyteller who dreams up tales that capture your imagination with stories of what might have been or what might be.
(3) David Duncan's Tale of the King's Blades series mixes swordplay with interesting storylines. The books are truly exciting recounts of great adventures.
I'd just like to point out that some of the "other" series out there are more than just cash cows.
When will Robert Jordan ever finish his series?
The gateway series is genial. Period.
Once, I readed that Pohl asked Asimov permission to continue the Foundation Saga (in the 70's decade), and Asimov considered this offer, and finally denied it.
Seeing how Pohl has become a better writer with the years, and the crap that it is anything Foundation written after the original trilogy, I think this is the single greatest lost opportunity of the science fiction,
--
Wiki de Ciencia Ficcion y Fantasia
I read this book last weekend and found it a light read, and somewhat disappointing. More detail could have been added to "Wans'" Vastening, in that I wished that we could have seen further into his hastily done procedure and also more into his adaptation and development of his surroundings, instead of jumping into the Kill the Heechee, right off the bat scenario. I dunno, it seemed to be more of a get-er-done than a really good wrap up, like all of the other books. I mean I have read the other Heechee books several times, and they were page turners all the way through, and the stories made you want to jump right into the next novel in the series. I didn't getthe feeling with this one.
My cat's picked up a Hammer. HEY! Put down that Hammer. Put Down that Hamm...THUNK!
Man I hated that book. They go through the whole mission thinking how blessed they all are and when things go to pot the survivor never considers that there might not be a god, only that God has betrayed him.
Don't blame me, I voted for Durga.
Niven is about twenty years younger than Pohl.
I last saw Pohl in '97: Wrinkled, moved slowly, bad spine, but still full of piss and vinegar. (We'd put him on a panel with Vinge about the Singularity. Pohl thought the idea was as dumb as a bag of hammers, although I believe he anticipated the idea in his 1966 short story "Day Million.")
Last saw Niven around 2000. (He was plugging _Ringworld Throne_, which would nail the date down.) Looked late middle age.
If Niven's later Ringworld stuff is crappy, it's perhaps because he's not all that interested in the setting any more. Just going through the motions to keep the franchise going.
Now, Niven and Pohl are pretty much on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Pohl was a boy communist (mostly for the dating opportunities) and a Democratic party worker. Niven . . . well, he's a Mulholland on his mother's side of the family. As in Mulholland Drive and old oil money. Niven's co-writer for many years was Jerry "Ghengis Khan was a damned liberal!" Pournelle.
At this last appearance I caught, someone in the audiance asked Niven what SF authors he think should be put on a Presidential advisory panel in the case of alien contact. Paraphrasing: "I'd have to think about it, but to begin with it sure as hell should include Frederick Pohl."
I thought that was pretty neat.
Stefan
And BTW, Franz Schubert wrote "Ave Maria" for his supper. He was invited to eat with a wealthy patron and then told he had to produce a piece of work before he could sit down. Writers and artists work for money. Hard to pay the bills with sunshine.
Too lazy to create a sig...
Never before have I read a series (and listened to the audio books) which made me suffer through such awful tripe to experience a small core of good ideas, story telling and fantasy. It is as if parts of a book geared towards 7 year olds were pasted in a book for folks at least in or past high-school. The recurring theme of the juvenile 'battle of the sexes' ruins the story and is out of place!
oh... the audio aooks really are much better than just reading the paper books.
I feel much better now...
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.