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Station Gehenna
Book is in Very Good + condition. Boards have a tiny bit of shelf wear. Fore edges have a small amount of wear. Interior is clean and legible. Not remaindered. Dust Jacket is in Very Good + condition. Tiny bit of shelf wear/rub. Tiniest bit of wear along the edges. Not price clipped. Dust Jacket is covered by Mylar wrapper. Thanks and Enjoy. All-ways well boxed, All-ways fast service. Thanks.
- GenresScience Fiction
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
27 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Weiner
53 books4 followersAndrew Weiner was a Canadian science fiction writer. He published three novels and over forty short stories. The third of his novels has so far been published only in France.
Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 4, 2024
Station Gehenna by Andrew Weiner is a first-contact story of sorts. It reminds me somewhat of "Solaris" by Stanisław Lem. It is mostly a psychological story with some limited action. It is a slow burn to say the least and really not very original. Unless you liked Soloris, which I did not, I would pass on this one.
July 25, 2020
3.5 stars. Entertaining to read this sci-fi novel by an author trained in social psychology that features a naive psychologist serving a rotten corporation on a dangerous planet.
June 2, 2022
The whole book is just clue but in space.
October 8, 2024
Planet is alive.
Read
July 4, 2012review circa 1989
Part sf, part mystery, it took me about 80 pages to become even half-way hooked, and even then I'm not sure I liked it. Only Harlan Ellison's recommendation on the backcover ("Weiner is a wonderful storyteller, and Station Gehenna is the dreamspinner at the height of his powers"), and my own fanatic nationalism, kept me going for the first third of the book.
Part of the problem is that the first person narrator is an insufferable ass. Let me give you an example:
Irritated with myself, I tried to focus my thoughts on the situation I would be facing at Station Gehenna. It would be a difficult one, no doubt, and likely to challenge my abilities to the fullest. But it would not, finally, prove impenetrable, once attacked with efficiency and rationality, the very qualities upon which I had built my so-far successful career.
This becomes somewhat more bearable as the story progresses and our protangonist begins to redeem himself, but the first third of the book is like having to listen to the worst pompous ass you've ever met. Of course, one can't fault Weiner for what is really a very effective characterization, and it is a refreshing change to have such a realistic portrayal instead of the usual sardonic or superagent narration.
And to be fair, the characterization probably won't annoy you half as much as it did me. Weiner's protagonist is an academic dropout who spends pages rambling on about how much he hates the outdoors, academica, and people who think he has an issue with personal control. As an academic who has an issue with personal control and who hates the outdoors, I was not terribly amused. (If there is one thing more annoying than a pompous jerk, it's pompous jerk who is quoting you verbatim.)
On the other hand, Weiner has two other bad habits that are guaranteed to piss off everyone. First, he constantly has the narrator make pronouncements about upcoming chapters. For example, the passage quoted above continues:
On this score I was quite wrong. But of course I did not know that....
Arrrrgggg! I hate people who do this. It drives me crazy! Not only is this an incredibly crude form of foreshadowing, it is completely self-defeating in a murder mystery where it simply telegraphs who is about to get it, and which clues don't count. Weiner is continually throwing away whatever suspense he's managed to build up by telling us what is about to happen. This almost ruined the last half of the book for me, which was otherwise starting to get fairly interesting.
Second, Weiner has a tendency to belabour even the smallest point, as if his readers were too stupid to follow the simplest developments without this tedious repetition. This may be part of an attempt to hide clues to the mystery behind a barrage of verbiage, but I suspect it is just a lack of control. Take for example this line from page 59:
"I don't understand," I said, completely baffled now.
Presumably the reader could have guessed that our narrator was confused by the fact that he says, "I don't understand" and the added "completely baffled now" is simply redundant and distracting. This is a picky example, but his whole style tends to be overly wordy, slowing the pace of what could have been a much more gripping story.
Similarly, I found the underlying themes of the book spelt out too explicitly, as if Weiner were afraid that we'd miss them unless he underlined them and had various characters debate them for us. I would have preferred a more subtle work.
On the positive side, Weiner is a much better storyteller than he is a writer. He uses flashbacks to good effect, and the mystery did have me going there for a while. I agree completely with Asimov's introduction in which he compares this book with his own Caves of Steel; Station Gehenna is at least as good and Weiner's psychological insights are a good deal sounder. Furthermore, while perhaps lacking in subtly, Weiner did have a few things to say and went beyond the standard who done it to address some fairly universal issues. In spite of its flaws, this is a respectable first novel. I look forward to Weiner's next book, which presumbably won't hit the same annoying buttons for me.
Part sf, part mystery, it took me about 80 pages to become even half-way hooked, and even then I'm not sure I liked it. Only Harlan Ellison's recommendation on the backcover ("Weiner is a wonderful storyteller, and Station Gehenna is the dreamspinner at the height of his powers"), and my own fanatic nationalism, kept me going for the first third of the book.
Part of the problem is that the first person narrator is an insufferable ass. Let me give you an example:
Irritated with myself, I tried to focus my thoughts on the situation I would be facing at Station Gehenna. It would be a difficult one, no doubt, and likely to challenge my abilities to the fullest. But it would not, finally, prove impenetrable, once attacked with efficiency and rationality, the very qualities upon which I had built my so-far successful career.
This becomes somewhat more bearable as the story progresses and our protangonist begins to redeem himself, but the first third of the book is like having to listen to the worst pompous ass you've ever met. Of course, one can't fault Weiner for what is really a very effective characterization, and it is a refreshing change to have such a realistic portrayal instead of the usual sardonic or superagent narration.
And to be fair, the characterization probably won't annoy you half as much as it did me. Weiner's protagonist is an academic dropout who spends pages rambling on about how much he hates the outdoors, academica, and people who think he has an issue with personal control. As an academic who has an issue with personal control and who hates the outdoors, I was not terribly amused. (If there is one thing more annoying than a pompous jerk, it's pompous jerk who is quoting you verbatim.)
On the other hand, Weiner has two other bad habits that are guaranteed to piss off everyone. First, he constantly has the narrator make pronouncements about upcoming chapters. For example, the passage quoted above continues:
On this score I was quite wrong. But of course I did not know that....
Arrrrgggg! I hate people who do this. It drives me crazy! Not only is this an incredibly crude form of foreshadowing, it is completely self-defeating in a murder mystery where it simply telegraphs who is about to get it, and which clues don't count. Weiner is continually throwing away whatever suspense he's managed to build up by telling us what is about to happen. This almost ruined the last half of the book for me, which was otherwise starting to get fairly interesting.
Second, Weiner has a tendency to belabour even the smallest point, as if his readers were too stupid to follow the simplest developments without this tedious repetition. This may be part of an attempt to hide clues to the mystery behind a barrage of verbiage, but I suspect it is just a lack of control. Take for example this line from page 59:
"I don't understand," I said, completely baffled now.
Presumably the reader could have guessed that our narrator was confused by the fact that he says, "I don't understand" and the added "completely baffled now" is simply redundant and distracting. This is a picky example, but his whole style tends to be overly wordy, slowing the pace of what could have been a much more gripping story.
Similarly, I found the underlying themes of the book spelt out too explicitly, as if Weiner were afraid that we'd miss them unless he underlined them and had various characters debate them for us. I would have preferred a more subtle work.
On the positive side, Weiner is a much better storyteller than he is a writer. He uses flashbacks to good effect, and the mystery did have me going there for a while. I agree completely with Asimov's introduction in which he compares this book with his own Caves of Steel; Station Gehenna is at least as good and Weiner's psychological insights are a good deal sounder. Furthermore, while perhaps lacking in subtly, Weiner did have a few things to say and went beyond the standard who done it to address some fairly universal issues. In spite of its flaws, this is a respectable first novel. I look forward to Weiner's next book, which presumbably won't hit the same annoying buttons for me.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews