Stopping at Slowyear

by Frederik Pohl

Eager for a home of their own, the crew of Nordvik, an antiquated trading ship, decides to set up camp on Slowyear, a rarely visited planet whose population must live underground during bitter winters lasting five Earth years

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

151 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

About the author

Frederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stopping at Slowyear is a short novel by Pohl that is a nice, quick read, but lacks the character development of societal intricacies of his better-known books from around the same time in his career. The setting is quite interesting, a planet with a very long orbital cycle with very, very long seasons, and how the culture developed as a result, and the antiquated trading ship that stops there... it's reminiscent of a Hal Clement exploration of an oddly exotic planet, but the details Pohl lavishes on the place tend to wash out the people. It's a fun, interesting read, but not among his very best.

[Metaphorosis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews

The interstellar trading ship Nordvik stops at Slowyear, a distant and isolated planet with long seasons and unusual traditions.

Frederik Pohl's characters are generally pretty down to earth, though often with jaded quality to them. Stopping at Slowyear follows the pattern. The inhabitants of Slowyear have developed their culture to deal with a difficult landscape in which much of their time is spent avoiding intense heat in summer, intense cold in winter, as well as local illnesses that kill many of the young and elderly. Mercy Macdonald, looking to escape from the limited world of the starship, meets Blundy, a Slowyear native and acclaimed playwright. The novella follows their interaction, and the reactions of Blundy's wife.

Slowyear offers Pohl's usual mix of cynical calculation and impulsive action, but the characters feels more distant than in most of his work. The ending is effective, but somewhat abrupt, despite a good deal of foreshadowing, and not entirely 'fair'. If Pohl had spent a little more time rounding things out, the story would have been more satisfying. For all that, it's an enjoyable read, and worth picking up for Pohl fans.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 1993 booklog notes: "A-," tricky, nasty ending. I should reread it.

[Paulo · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a Frederik Pohl book and for a novella that won the hugo award (1993) it was rather disappointing.
The premise was interesting but unfortunately the book only wandered around (ironically at a slow pace) like a tourist guide of the planet and who's going to sleep with who.
The ending was abrupt, with plot holes and left much to be desired.
Pohl have much better books than this.

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novella published in 1991. It was the perfect length for what it is. It is a story based around the idea of a planet that has a large orbit around it's sun, thus a long "slow year".

The colonists live out on the surface during the spring, summer and most of the fall, and underground during the long cold winter (about five years).

There are some very strange customs and such that make for an interesting story.

I liked the book very much. Well worth looking into.

[Tony P · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is great - suggestive of the (now-old) New Wave, e.g. "Picnic on Paradise", and the concept is good, a world where odd customs arise from a very long year with extreme seasons. The characters are well presented, there are interesting issues including a quite early exploration of the consequences of prion spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease") in humans. It has Pohl's typical sympathetic touch with all his characters. But somehow the length is wrong: a long novella or very short novel doesn't quite do justice to the concept, and as others have commented the ending is rather abrupt. Aldiss worked a similar premise into three quite long novels in his "Helliconia" trilogy, and I wish Pohl had written just a bit more about Slowyear. I enjoyed it, but it doesn't rank with other late Pohl novels such as "Black Star Rising", "The World at the End of Time", or the Heechee series. 3½ stars.

[Charles Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

For some reason this story struck me as excellent. None of the other reviews on it are very good. But, it is well written.

[José GG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um autor respeitado no mundo da ficção científica - premiado pelo prémio Hugo e Nebula - escreve um livro simples de leitura rápida onde os personagens não trazem nada de novo no mundo da FC e onde o ponto de interesse se encontra nas características do mundo onde a história se desenrola. Anoleto o planeta em que um ano corresponde 19 anos terrestres com estações bastantes longas leva-nos a comparações e reflexões curiosas sobre o "nosso tempo" e o nosso planeta.
Com final interessante mas demasiado fulminante, deixou-me a querer mais para um livro premiado.
Quero ler mais títulos do autor.

[Emmalyn Renato · Rating 4 out of 5]

A science fiction novella that was nominated for the Hugo and Locus awards in 1993. It tells the story of an interstellar cargo vessel which runs between out-of-the-way worlds, as it visits a planet called Slowyear after its 19-year-long revolution around its star. I'm usually pretty good at guessing where a story is going, but I didn't expect the ending for this one at all.

[Dave Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old school short novel, I seemed to be moving along with no great conflict, I knew something was hidden but it took me almost until the end to realize what it was and how big. It should have been obvious even without the foreshadowing.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have seen that coming. Damn.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt very much like 60s-70s scifi so was surprised to see it was written in the early 90s. Has me pondering still so that's good I think?

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending did surprise me, in a pleasant way. Not a traditional dystopia/utopia tale.

[KillDeer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the setting but the infidelity made me uncomfortable. The ending was well done but I wish it wasn't so abrupt

[Jüri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eks ma kunagi kirjutan pikemalt, aga praegu siis hinne ja paar lauset...
Kogu lühiromaan oli selline pisut uimaselt kulgev, aga huvitava(te) maailma(de) lugu. Peategelane oma teatava lodevuse ja pideva kepihimuga meenutas mõnd Robert Silverbergi kangelast; kuid see pisut loid, aga parajalt sügav sotsiaalsus oli nii Frederik Pohl kui olla sai.
Lugemishetkel oli tore, aga kui midagi vahele tuli, siis oli üsna raske end uuesti lugema sundida.
Ja siis jõudsin viimase peatükini, mis oli ootamatu ja lajatas täiega ning kogu see varasem ebalus sai hulga selgema värvingu. Tekkis isegi tahtmine viis panna.
Tugev, isegi väga tugev lühiromaan, kuid mitte täiuslik.

[David DeMar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story, revolving around a merchant ship visiting a colony settled on a planet that takes 20 years to revolve around its sun. However the ending was a little abrupt and there was nothing to really draw me in.

[Tc · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book by a great man

[Howard]

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