science fiction, fantasy literature, horror, YA, comics, book and audiobook reviewsGateway by Frederik Pohl science fiction book reviewsGateway by Frederik Pohl

At heart a psychological drama which explores one man’s attempts at dealing with the negative aspects of existentialism (what Sarte called “nausea”), Gateway nonetheless utilizes the tools of science fiction for effect. Less than 300 pages, the tropes of each are blended perfectly in succinct fashion so as to satisfy the readers of both genres.

After finding an abandoned alien base deep in an asteroid, humanity has learned the basics of piloting the remaining spaceships. Emphasis on the word “basics,” not all the important details of light speed have been mastered, with the result that people are sent shooting into space as “prospectors,” not knowing where the coordinates they’ve set will lead or if they’ll even make it back to the base. For those who do come back, reward is not a guarantee, either. Alien artifacts can help a person become rich, but as so few come back with any, is it worth the risk of dying alone in space?

Into this roulette wheel lifestyle comes the protagonist, Robinette, a man who feels he has nothing to live for on earth, so why not take a chance in the stars. Told in alternating chapters, the reader takes turns absorbing the third person details of Robin’s time on the base and in space and his sessions with a computer psychologist that take place an unknown time after. Not as corny as it sounds, Pohl plays the computer psychologist/A.I. off well — nothing predictable or preachy about technology in the machine’s nature. So unimportant to the story, the question could be asked whether it was not human after all. The third person narrative and flashback style sessions moving closer as the book progresses, the climax offers a satisfying conclusion to the story.

Feeling lost and purposeless, Pohl’s tale of a man lost is as human as stories come. The fear and paranoia Robin experiences not knowing whether this will be the end each time he launches in one of the alien vessels serves to drive him deeper into uncertainty regarding life. His love life, sense of direction, and even grip on reality all become drastically skewed the more time he spends in space. A parody on the state of affairs in the US when the book was written (1977), Pohl’s post-modern story of a man equivocating in an increasingly subjective world transcends the science fiction setting to comment directly on a state of affairs, that, if anything, has only become more relative in the decades since.

As such, Pohl took aim, fired and hit a bulls-eye from a thematic point of view. Robin, the blue-collar anti-hero caught in a web of his own design — alcohol, sex, drugs — and his attempts to free himself from the world of choice strike a chord with modern society. Despite the spaceships flying around and alien artifacts, this is what makes the story true literature. Secondary themes include the value of pain and suffering and exploitative nature of capitalism.

Short and sweet, Gateway comes recommended for those enjoying science fiction with depth and purpose.

~Jesse Hudson


Gateway by Frederik Pohl science fiction book reviewsIntense, dramatic, emotional, exciting. The audio edition read by Oliver Wyman and introduced by Robert J. Sawyer is excellent.

~Kat Hooper

Published in 1977. Gateway opened on all the wealth of the Universe… and on reaches of unimaginable horror. When prospector Bob Broadhead went out to Gateway on the Heechee spacecraft, he decided he would know which was the right mission to make him his fortune. Three missions later, now famous and permanently rich, Robinette Broadhead has to face what happened to him and what he is… in a journey into himself as perilous and even more horrifying than the nightmare trip through the interstellar void that he drove himself to take!

 

Authors

  • Jesse Hudson

    JESSE HUDSON, one of our guest reviewers, reads in most fields. He lives in Poland where he works for a big corporation by day and escapes into reading by night. He posts a blog which acts as a healthy vent for not only his bibliophilia, but also his love of culture and travel: Speculiction.

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  • Kat Hooper

    KAT HOOPER, who started this site in June 2007, earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology at Indiana University (Bloomington) and now teaches and conducts brain research at the University of North Florida. When she reads fiction, she wants to encounter new ideas and lots of imagination. She wants to view the world in a different way. She wants to have her mind blown. She loves beautiful language and has no patience for dull prose, vapid romance, or cheesy dialogue. She prefers complex characterization, intriguing plots, and plenty of action. Favorite authors are Jack Vance, Robin Hobb, Kage Baker, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Richard Matheson, and C.S. Lewis.

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