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Gateway

(Heechee Saga #1)

Frederik Pohl

4.07 · Rating details · 40,372 ratings · 1,615 reviews

Gateway: an artificial spaceport, full of working interstellar ships left behind by the mysterious, vanished Heechee. They are easy to operate, but impossible to control. Some came back with discoveries which make their intrepid pilots rich; others return with their remains barely identifiable. It is the ultimate game of Russian roulette, but in this resource-starved futur ...more

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Paperback, SF Masterworks, 280 pages

Published March 29th 2010 by Gollancz (first published 1977)

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The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

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May 29, 2012 unknown rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, audiobooks, sci-fi-fantasy, sf-masterworks

Can you like a book when you kind of hate the main character? Especially when that character is the first-person narrator? The answer, for me, for this book anyway, is apparently "not all that much."

Gateway is one of those sci-fi classics that I am supposed to have absorbed if I want to consider myself well read in the genre. It's one of the rare Hugo/Nebula double winners (not to mention the Locus and Campbell awards, which pretty much covers all of them)! It is by one of the stalwarts of geek Can you like a book when you kind of hate the main character? Especially when that character is the first-person narrator? The answer, for me, for this book anyway, is apparently "not all that much."

Gateway is one of those sci-fi classics that I am supposed to have absorbed if I want to consider myself well read in the genre. It's one of the rare Hugo/Nebula double winners (not to mention the Locus and Campbell awards, which pretty much covers all of them)! It is by one of the stalwarts of geek writing, the man who, as an editor, made sure Dhalgren was published, fergoshsakes! (And congratulations to Fred Pohl, by the way, on still being alive and engaging with the fandom at the approximate age of 103!)

A good portion of the book still holds up pretty well. The imagining parts. The setup is pretty simple: Earth discovers a mysterious alien space station built into an asteroid around, I don't remember, Venus or something. It is full of little ships. No one knows how or why the ships came to be there, but they have figured out that if you get inside one and push a button, it will take you somewhere very far away, very quickly. Relatively speaking. It also might take you very, very far away, but not so fast that you don't run out of food and wind up arriving there dead, or with nothing to eat on the way back but your fellow shipmates. But ~~greedy~~ brave souls are still willing to risk these death lottery missions because a rare few of them result in the discovery of yet more alien technology, which can then be reverse-engineered and patented and everyone winds up very rich, most particularly the omnipresent Company (TM).

So, to borrow from nerd parlance, this is your signature BDO (big, dumb object) adventure. Unfortunately, our window into this intriguing world is this total asshole. I read the book a few weeks ago and his name has been lost to the mists of time and sleep deprivation, but I remember one thing: what a douchebag. I mean, ok, he had a shitty childhood, growing up mining some unpleasant crap or another on... was it Venus again? But he gets lucky and wins the lottery, and enough money to travel to Gateway and maybe become really rich. And the book is told in an alternating structure, so we know that while he does (become really rich), it also happens in a pretty miserable fashion, and we have to sit in on his whiny sessions with his robot therapist.

Aside from the fact that I just didn't particularly like the structure (too much ominous foreshadowing!), it requires us to spend half the book with the jerk, before we find out why he's such a jerk. 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. Like (view spoiler)

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. Which just goes to show how hard it is to write a book set in the future that won't sound rather ridiculous once you've arrived there.

This is the first in a series, and I have heard the later books go a long way to explaining the mysterious alien objects, but I like them just fine all enigmatic and obtuse; over-explaining would make them just one more piece of technology, sans the risk associated with their use -- the drive to explore and discover new things that lights a fire under humanity. Well, that and greed. And I don't know if the narrator comes back (probably not) (EDIT: oh wait, I looked it up, and he does), but there's another reason to get out while the gettin's good (EDIT: indeed). ...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Evgeny rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi

Before I began writing the review I searched for images of Gateway. This was the first one in the results:
hamster

I really have no clue about the relevance. When I think about a gateway I think about something like this:
gateway arch

or something like the following which resonates better with any serious reader:
gateway for books

I really have no clue about the relevance. When I think about a gateway I think about something like this:
gateway arch

or something like the following which resonates better with any serious reader:
gateway for books

If you have even passing interest in science fiction you have most definitely heard about this novel. This one is a classic of genre with a lot of awards to prove it. Imagine somebody found a habitable asteroid which had served as a parking lot for a bunch of alien spaceships. There is no sign of the owners who supposedly disappeared around one million years ago, but the ships are still functional. The humanity has no clue how they work, or even which type of fuel they use - the ships are a classical example of a black box. Nonetheless if you poke into navigation controls you might stumble upon a good course and you can actually go there.

Unfortunately a million years is a very long time, even by the cosmic scale. You might end up too close to a new star, a red dwarf, or even black hole - good luck getting out of there. So if your luck holds your remains will be delivered back by reliable alien flying engineering marvels. If you are especially extraordinary lucky though you might stumble upon alien artifacts and sell them for a real nice chunk of money. The future depicted in the book is nice Capitalistic dystopia where people sell their own body parts to support their families, so having money is important enough for people to play Russian roulette with exploring the unknown.

Robinette (Rob) Broadhead made it big. He also has lots of issues. I mean look at his full first name; this is probably where it all started. He also has some kind of PTSD from his last expedition. So the book consists of two alternative plotlines: one is about Rob getting therapy sessions from a robot psychiatrist and another one is about his stay on the Gateway (that parking lot I mentioned above).

I have never been so torn about whether I want to continue reading the series. On one hand the Gateway part can be qualified as great space opera; I was always fascinated with the stories about the exploration of the unknown and human reaction of coming to the contact with that unknown.

On the other hand Rob Broadhead as a character is fairly repulsive and the therapy parts that obviously revolve around his emotions and mental problems are boring. How bad is Rob as a character? Let us just say when it comes to whining he can give Thomas Covenant a good run for his money, but the latter would still beat the crap out of everybody when it comes to whining. At least the former is not a rapist. He did knock out his girlfriend tooth after she hit him in a shoulder though.

Please do not get me wrong. I completely understand why this book received so many literary awards and if I had been a member of one of the award committee I would have given one unconditionally. It does not diminish the fact that therapy parts are boring - but necessary for the book.

If I am still not sure about whether to proceed with reading the series, the rating is easy: 3 stars with some space opera parts climbing as high as perfect 5. ...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Lyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Gateway by Frederik Pohl is good science fiction, I can see why it won the Hugo.

Essentially the story is about a time in the distant future where overpopulation and over consumption of resources have left humans in a regrettable state, but not without some promise. Oil and minerals are mined and then somehow synthetically turned into food. Also interplanetary colonization has spread the burden out some, but life on (or rather in Venus) and Mars is no picnic.

One way out is to become a prospecto ...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Megan Baxter rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Frederik Pohl is still alive? Wow. And won a Hugo as recently as last year, for his blog. That I will have to check out. This is a guy who has been around science fiction for a long time, as a writer and as an editor. And Gateway was my first introduction to his work. Let me just go add him to the list of authors I want to read more of.... (That's not rhetorical - it's on a Sticky on my desktop.) I will want to be reading more of his work.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to t ...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Apatt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I remember reading this when I was 15 or so, I did not like it. I have no recollection of why I did not like it. Now it is years later and I am at the age of (view spoiler), having just re-read the book I can tell you why I did not like it then and why I do like it now. Like my 15 year old self I went in expect a Big Dumb Object fun times, something along the line of Rendezvous With Rama, what I ended up reading turn out to be a fairly slow moving characte I remember reading this when I was 15 or so, I did not like it. I have no recollection of why I did not like it. Now it is years later and I am at the age of (view spoiler), having just re-read the book I can tell you why I did not like it then and why I do like it now. Like my 15 year old self I went in expect a Big Dumb Object fun times, something along the line of Rendezvous With Rama, what I ended up reading turn out to be a fairly slow moving character study within a sci-fi setting.

The story concerns one Robinette Broadhead who went to Gateway, an asteroid where fully functional mysterious alien spaceships with FTL capabilities are found. Each one pre-programmed to an unknown destination, some take the travelers to riches in the form alien technological artifacts, vehicles and devices, some go to unknown destinations never to return, or return with dead crews or even no crew.You would think such a setup would be concerned with the mystery of the aliens gradually unfolding and the aliens eventually showing up to say hello, you would be light-years from the truth.

The story is all about Robinette Broadhead and his experiences on Gateway and on his missions to the unknown. Whatever happened to him scarred him psychologically and he is a man with issues (or even more issues than before he even went on his first mission). The story is told in flashbacks with a present day frame story narrated in the first person present tense, taking place entirely within an A.I.-psychiatrist's office. Even though the book is character-centric a lot of world building actually goes on in the background. The Earth and its single colony on Venus are in a state of dystopia, food is scarce and population is overflowing. Life on the Gateway asteroid (actually a space station) is described in detail, together with some hard sf style discreet little infodumps. The aliens (Heechees) never show up and the the rate of return of the humans flying off in their ships is much less than 50%. The narration is also aided by little advertisements, letters and other types of notices interspersed through out the book.

Clearly what Pohl had in mind was to explore the psychological consequences of the circumstances surrounding his protagonist, who is not even written as a particularly amiable fellow. The amazing thing is it works very well, while Broadhead is more of an anti-hero by the end of the book I came to understand and sympathize with his issues. What makes the book remarkable is that it is an exploration of the human psyche rather than the sci-fi environment. The book reminds me of Algis Budrys' Rogue Moon, but the relentless psycho analyses that go on in that book make it almost unbearable for me, Gateway makes the BDO and the alien tech more relevant to the protagonist's personal problems, and is simply better written. Here is a relevant example passage from Gateway:

There are people who never pass a certain point in their emotional development. They cannot live a normal free-and-easy, give-and-take life with a sexual partner for more than a short time. Something inside them will not tolerate happiness. The better it gets, the more they have to destroy it.

I did not expect that from a BDO adventure! This is a book that demands to be read slowly. I really did not like it because at the age of 15 I just wanted the damn Heechee to show up with some cool alien powers, gadgets and weird body parts, they never actually showed up at all (if that is a spoiler I'm sorry, but I consider it fair warning). Even today I found some description of day to day life on Gateway a little slow going.

Gateway deservedly won both the Hugo and Nebula award in 1978 but it really is more of a psychological / emotional novel, this one is not for kids. ...more

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Jan 23, 2009 Manny rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 03, 2012 Ania rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Nobody

Recommended to Ania by: goodreads, because I read "Ender's game", "Speaker for the dead" and "the left hand of darkness"

At first I was so excited about this book. I mean think about it: a long gone race of super intelligent beings leave us with an inheritance of a gateway to 1000 locations where unspeakable riches, both financial and scientific, await their rediscovery. The premise sounds great, right? I mean who wouldn't wanna go on an adventure in outer space? To discover just what it is that we've inherited? (And we did, I mean the Heechees left everything in pristine condition, just waiting for us.)

So there I At first I was so excited about this book. I mean think about it: a long gone race of super intelligent beings leave us with an inheritance of a gateway to 1000 locations where unspeakable riches, both financial and scientific, await their rediscovery. The premise sounds great, right? I mean who wouldn't wanna go on an adventure in outer space? To discover just what it is that we've inherited? (And we did, I mean the Heechees left everything in pristine condition, just waiting for us.)

So there I was all excited and quickly found out that at least half the book is all about psychotherapy of some guy who's been "traumatized". Hmmm... ok ok... no biggie, I thought to myself. I'll just, you know.. spend half the book discovering the secrets of a forgotten race, and spend the other half with some old guy on the couch reliving his life's regrets, but... perhaps, he'll have a meaningful epiphany? Perhaps it all will not be useless psychobable?

How wrong I was.

The book started off as a 4 stars for me, but about half way through it quickly regressed to a 1 star novel. What I wanted was an adventure of discovery, where, perhaps, some universal meaning is found, so universal that both the Heechee and humans would better understand their place in the cosmos. Hmmm. All I got is a washed up copy of Charlie Sheen. A guy so messed up that even all the Freudian pop-culture the author read up on could not help him. (view spoiler)

It is hard to follow a character one completely does not care for, at least it is hard for me. I mean the guy is so screwed up! Half the time I found myself just practically poking my eyes out hoping he'll finally come out of the closet already and stop this "nonesense" of playing straight. I mean it's so obvious. He cannot form any attachment to any woman he sleeps with (and there's many!). The one he supposedly "loved" (HA!!) he confronts in his dreams. She is "man like" and smells "musky" which he likes. But even her he doesn't treat well... (view spoiler).

And what do you get in the end? I admit I persisted in this book, naively hoping it would improve. Hoping he'll have an epiphany and hoping I'll learn something remotely meaningful about the Heechees. Nope. First, the whole time Robbie (his childlish name) is fighting the very psychological help he's paying for which leads to no results. Second, you'll find out next to nothing about the heechees.

Yield the warning of all the reviewers so far. This book is at least 50% about a selfish asswipe of a man who struggles with issues he dares not face (primarily his attraction to men). The other 50% you'll read about him on Gateway beeing too chicken-poop to even get on a mission hence just walking around and doing nothing.. and sexing it up... hey, it was the 70s when this was written.

Complete utter waste of time. Don't do it, don't even think about it.

Having tried Pohl, (a 4 star novel!) I pretty much know I'll never read him again. If this is the best he can do, I shudder to think what he is like at his worst.

...more

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Feb 05, 2008 Mark rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: sciencefiction

"Gateway" by Frederik Pohl has long been considered a classic of Science Fiction and deservedly so. It's earned its status honestly and is one of the best books I have ever read.

What separates this from the myriad other science fiction and fantasy offerings out there?

It's the characters.

The Plot

Gateway is an asteroid in our Solar System that was hollowed out and made into a base of operations by the mysterious ancient alien race known as the "Heechee". They abandoned it long before mankind s ...more

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Apr 26, 2019 Paul Bryant rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-novels-aaargh

Old science fiction, what is it, let’s see – 1976. Hmm, kind of quaint, no?

Oh but I like old stuff, new science fiction gives me a headache, all that sensory overload and made up words.

So you admit you can’t take the pace any more. Just settling down with a 43 year old Hugo ‘n’ Nebula winner, kids all grown up, maturing your annuities, undoing one more notch on your belt, I get the picture.

Well, that’s not exactly the way I’d have put it –

So what’s it about, this old classic?

Well, er… it’s kind ...more

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Sep 24, 2011 Jokoloyo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A warning: this novel's main plot is not about Big Dumb Object (BDO) or space opera. This novel is about psychological issue of the main protagonist. The protagonist get the psych problem due to the science-fiction setting.

This novel offers an idea of a psychological/mental problem that haven't happened to human in real-life yet. At final revelation, the author deliver the situation so well, I could imagine the psych (huge) impact to the protagonist. That's all I can say without spoiling anythin ...more

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Feb 18, 2019 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was told to read this book since I've already read Heinlein's Starship Troopers as well as Haldeman's The Forever War. Apparently, these three authors form a triangle of classic scifi views on humanity, space exploration, conflicts with aliens and how we could/would (or not) get through all that as a species.
As you can see from my very first update to this book, I wasn't too enthused. Maybe it had to do with the protocol from the sessions with the shrink bot or with the MC being a crybaby ove ...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-shelf, sci-fi

One of the great classics of SF. On the surface, it seems to be mostly about prospecting for Alien tech and new discoveries about the missing Heechee, but in reality, it's all about psychology, and more than that, about Freudian therapy.

Say... what?

Yep! We've got ourselves something of an anti-hero written in mild shades of The Stars My Destination who we get to know very well on and off the AI therapist's couch as we learn about all the crap that turns him into a real mess. Sure, there's mommy ...more

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Aug 30, 2016 Gavin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

This turned out to be a surprisingly good and entertaining sci-fi tale. When I picked up a copy of the novel I thought I was heading for an Edgar Rice Burroughs type pulp sci-fi story. I'll admit it was the name of the series, the Heechee Saga, that caught me out. It totally sounds like pulp sci-fi! I only realized this was a Hugo and Nebula award winner when it was mentioned by Robert.J.Sawyer in an introduction to the audiobook. That had me a little worried as I've a poor track record with cri This turned out to be a surprisingly good and entertaining sci-fi tale. When I picked up a copy of the novel I thought I was heading for an Edgar Rice Burroughs type pulp sci-fi story. I'll admit it was the name of the series, the Heechee Saga, that caught me out. It totally sounds like pulp sci-fi! I only realized this was a Hugo and Nebula award winner when it was mentioned by Robert.J.Sawyer in an introduction to the audiobook. That had me a little worried as I've a poor track record with critically acclaimed books, but within the first chapter I realized I had nothing to be concerned about with this particular story. Frederik Pohl story was filled with a ton of intriguing concepts and interesting themes but he had an engaging writing style and this was above all else a character driven sci-fi story.

The world Pohl created was an intriguing one. Earth is suffering from overpopulation and a lack of resources. Scientific advancement has led to some level of space travel and colonies have been set up on the nearby planets of Venus and Mars to limited success. The big chance for the humans comes when a human finds an alien mining facility in the depths of Venus. The Heechee are a long gone race who have lead little trace of their existence except from a few abandoned outposts. The most significant discovery is of a space station that has a weird orbit close to the sun. It is filled with almost a thousand ships. The problem is that no one understands the technology behind them. Luckily for the humans most of the ships are set with preprogrammed destinations. Unluckily for the humans the pre-set destinations are not always safe for humans! The ships are also very small. The largest are 5 man vessels and the smallest just fit just one person so are useless for things like colonisation of potential new worlds. The aim of the Gateway travellers is to seek out new Heechee outposts in order to discover more of their ancient technology and to search for anything else that might be useful. The rewards for finding something are huge, so are the risks as almost 2/3 of prospectors are killed or never return from their unknown missions.

We followed the story of Gateway prospector Robinette Broadhead. His story was told in two halves. In the present time through a series of therapy sessions with his AI therapist and through flashbacks to his time as a Gateway prospector. Both turned out to be fairly interesting though I did personally enjoy the space adventuring the most.

Robinette Broadhead was an interesting character. He was not all that likeable a guy but he was a fascinating character to follow.

I found this an incredibly engaging read from the very start and will definitely pick up the sequel as there is more stories to be told in this word for sure.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

Audio Note: The audio was narrated fantastically by Oliver Wyman. ...more

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May 25, 2016 Stevie Kincade rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, audiobooks

As I work my way through the classics of Science Fiction I haven't read, I find most of the classics are considered classics for a reason.

For me, Gateway has a classic premise:

Humans of the future finds a hollowed out asteroid that contains a few hundred small, alien ships. The aliens, called the "Heechee" left the ships, ranging in size from 1 to 5 seaters, half a million years ago. Humanity has no idea how the ships work but they press the coloured buttons and are blasted off at light speed t ...more

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Mar 29, 2017 Lew Watts rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

On this dull, foggy, and cold day, I reluctantly finished this sixth re-read of "Gateway." It's still as fresh as when I first read it in a tent in the Orkney Islands 30 years ago, waiting for the rain to stop for just a moment, for the clouds to raise their petticoats before the hint of a horizon. Eyes-closed wonder. ...more

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Aug 07, 2015 Gary rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This is a well structured sci fi novel, and I can see why it is considered an influential classic, but it has one major problem that I can't get around: the protagonist is a whining, self-absorbed shithead. Since the main story is told in flashback, and he is still a whining, self-absorbed shithead in the frame story, we spend the whole book knowing that he will not grow or change at any point through the adventure he is relating to us, and for all we know his whining self-absorbed shitheadednes ...more

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Nov 22, 2008 Stephen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: to-re-read, award-nominee-campbell, award-winner-hugo, award-nominee-nebula, award-winner-nebula, locus-all-time-science-fiction-poll, audiobook, easton-press, signed-first-or-limited-edition, sf-explore-colonize-1st-contact

4.0 stars. I just re-read this story on May 13, 2010 after having first read it back in 1998. The downgrade from 4.5 stars to 4.0 stars has less to do with the quality of this book (which I still think is excellent) and more to do with the quality of other books I have read since my first reading of Gateway which have caused me to rasie the bar somewhat.

This is still a "classic SF story" that is worthy of the title and one that I recommend to any fan of science fiction. It is not as dated as ma ...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Space rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

I wanted to like this book but ended up annoyed and slightly disgusted. I was hopeful at first because the sci-fi elements were interesting and seems to have potential (the Heechee ships, Gateway, the food mines etc). I'd also recently finished his enjoyable capitalist-dystopian novels The Space Merchants and sequel The Merchants' War.

Sadly there is nothing to like about Pohl's protagonist in this novel, in fact Bob is a despicable human being on all accounts (and not in an intentionally anti-h I wanted to like this book but ended up annoyed and slightly disgusted. I was hopeful at first because the sci-fi elements were interesting and seems to have potential (the Heechee ships, Gateway, the food mines etc). I'd also recently finished his enjoyable capitalist-dystopian novels The Space Merchants and sequel The Merchants' War.

Sadly there is nothing to like about Pohl's protagonist in this novel, in fact Bob is a despicable human being on all accounts (and not in an intentionally anti-hero sorta way either). Bob is a selfish, sometimes violent, womanizing, homophobic prick. What's worse is there's no indication that Pohl is aware of this fact about his hero as no real attempt is made to redeem the lead character. In Pohl's Venus Inc. series the protagonist starts off as deplorable and goes through a redemption arch of disillusionment and discovery. In Gateway this doesn't happen, which is especially odd and vexing considering that a full half of the book is devoted to Bob's lengthy sessions with a computerized psychiatrist.

(Spoilers ahead)

About 2/3rds through the already self-obsessed, sexist and abominable protagonist viciously beats up his lover in a hypocritical fit of jealously and tops it off with a deeply homophobic self-hating crises. The horrific domestic violence incident passes with little comment and pathetically the writer tries to absolve the character of wrongdoing via some ridiculous and offensive Freudian psychobabble nonsense about the animalistic nature of wolves. Earth to Pohl - a simple "I'm really really sorry and want to marry you" does not adequately deal with serious domestic violence!

At this point I wanted to throw the book out the window but I held out hope for some form of redemption. It didn't happen and instead got even more offensive. Thankfully, in the real world, many of Freud's theories have been largely debunked as nonsensical and homophobic so its almost laughable when Pohl attempts to blame the protagonist's homosexual desire (and resulting homophobic reaction) on his mother's nurturing techniques and a rectal thermometer - I say "almost laughable" because its also a deeply oppressive and damaging world view that is sadly still prevalent today. Annoyingly these types of story points are typical when it comes to many straight white male class-privileged sci-fi writers. Sigh.

I'd recommend skipping this book and reading the Venus, Inc. series instead. ...more

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Sep 29, 2020 Charles rated it liked it · review of another edition

A prospector for alien artifacts copes with the losses of his success.

My yellowed, paperback copy of the book, recently found in a tatty, used bookstore was a moderate 313 pages. It was a sixth, 1982 printing. The original US copyright was 1976.

Frederik Pohl was an American author of science fiction novels of short stories. He was also the editor of the defunct Galaxy science fiction magazine for 10-years. He wrote more than 50 novels both standalone and in several series along with hundreds of ...more

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Feb 12, 2008 Nancy Oakes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Highly recommended if you are into the sci-fi of the 70s. It captures the reader from the first page and you just end up wanting to know more and more and more about the understory so you can't stop reading.

I will say this about the main character...I did not like him very much. I don't know if this was the author's intent but to me he came across as a jerk. If I met this guy on earth in the future, I'd be really tempted to beat him up (if I were a violent person).

so here's a brief synopsis with Highly recommended if you are into the sci-fi of the 70s. It captures the reader from the first page and you just end up wanting to know more and more and more about the understory so you can't stop reading.

I will say this about the main character...I did not like him very much. I don't know if this was the author's intent but to me he came across as a jerk. If I met this guy on earth in the future, I'd be really tempted to beat him up (if I were a violent person).

so here's a brief synopsis with no spoilers:
Millions of years in the past, a species known as the Heechee existed throughout space and then just disappeared. As of the time of this book (there are two more to follow), nobody knows why they disappeared, and no one knows even what they looked like. All that is left of the Heechee are legends based on the artifacts of this civilization ... and to find these, one has to first get to Gateway. This is a kind of asteroid-type place discovered totally by accident, and what was novel about this place is that it seems to have been a base of some sort containing over 1000 Heechee ships...each programmed to go to a particular destination and hopefully return. But here's the problem: no one can understand the technology to know where any ship is going to go or how long the trip will take. In some cases, the ship might be out for a few days and return but in others, a ship might never come back. Worse -- a ship might return but the crew dies for some reason, not being aware of the possibilities of what they're traveling to.

So at Gateway, you can take a course on how to be a "prospector" and get into one of these ships and take your chances that it will take you somewhere where you will find the extremely valuable Heechee artifacts. It is to Gateway that the main character, Robinette Broadbent (Bob) comes after winning a lottery that takes him out of the food mines in Wyoming. He has had a Heechee fascination since he was a kid and this was what he really wanted to with his life. So Gateway, the novel, is his story, told in two different settings: with his AI shrink on earth some years after his time at Gateway, and while actually on Gateway. I'm not going to go into any more of this book, because you really need to read it to understand the story.

I had this sitting on my shelf for nearly 2 years prior to reading it, and what a mistake that was! Very highly recommended. ...more

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Jun 17, 2020 Nandakishore Varma rated it liked it · review of another edition

I have been tasked with writing a series of posts on SF for one of the FB book groups I administer - and it sort of opened my eyes to the fact that the number of books I have read are much less than the number of books I haven't. While this is quite normal for any genre, the serious lacuna I noticed was the lopsidedness of my reading pattern; I have read almost al books by some authors and none at all by others. This was to be corrected immediately! And Fred Pohl, being one of the greats whose n I have been tasked with writing a series of posts on SF for one of the FB book groups I administer - and it sort of opened my eyes to the fact that the number of books I have read are much less than the number of books I haven't. While this is quite normal for any genre, the serious lacuna I noticed was the lopsidedness of my reading pattern; I have read almost al books by some authors and none at all by others. This was to be corrected immediately! And Fred Pohl, being one of the greats whose novels I have not touched at all, I deemed the correct place to start.

This book, the first one in the Heechee Saga, is as hard as Hard SF can possibly be. We have intergalactic travel, faster-than-light spaceships, alien civilisations... all the usual trappings. But what makes this book different from similar ones by Asimov or Heinlein is the fact that it concentrates as much on the human aspects of the story as on the technology aspect. While we have an exciting tale of space exploration unfold in front of our eyes, it is carried out by weak, broken and extremely flawed human beings.

'Gateway' is a hollow asteroid abandoned by the vanished Heechee civilisation, with a lot of ships which can be manipulated to travel into various corners of the universe - the only problem is, nobody knows how to navigate the ships, which makes these interstellar 'jumps' based on pre-programmed directions. The multinational corporation which owns the Gateway allows 'prospectors' to take these ships out into the unknown. If they discover something, they strike it rich from a share of the loot and royalties: if they don't, well, tough luck. It may even happen that the ship will lose its way, or encounter some untoward incident, or be out too long so that food and water will simply run out... to summarise, the chance of losing one's life on these trips is quite substantial. But the lure of lucre brings more and more prospectors to the asteroid, like moths to the flame - because life has become unattractive for the common man in a universe increasingly driven by the vagaries of market economy. Anyone who wants to get out of the daily grind has to take his/ her chances.

The protagonist of the story is Robinette Broadhead, a screwed-up individual who has made it as a prospector, and who is enjoying his life wining, dining and fornicating. However, there is some deep hurt inside him which he refuses to face - and which makes him rush to the mechanical psycho therapist Sigfrid, who tries to get him to take that inward journey. The novel alternates between Robin's psychoanalytic sessions in the present and his life on Gateway in the past. And as the narrative unfolds, we come face to face with a deeply disturbed individual, who just cannot take that plunge into space to search for his fortune, yet who can't go back to his old life either. As Robin finally moves out and makes his fortune, the personal cost is unimaginably huge.

What I liked about the novel is how much care the author has taken to build up his word and populate it with believable characters. There is no exposition - the reader plunges headfirst into the tale, and the background details are slowly revealed through the protagonist's reminiscences, conversations, and disjointed snippets from notices, advertisements and transcripts of lectures on the asteroid. It is done so skillfully that we are eased into it with the minimum of disruption or confusion.

The Heechee cvilisation is a mystery, like any of the ancient civilisations on earth such as the Indus Valley. This is normal; if we ever discover the traces of a vanished extraterrestrial race, the chances are that we will never be able to figure them out fully, except for tantalising bits and pieces teased out by exo-archaeologists. Pohl has walked the fine line between total blackout and full disclosure masterfully, just giving us enough to keep us interested.

What I didn't like was the pace, and the endless procrastination of Robin and his lady love Klara on Gateway. It was very realistic, but it was also a bit boring. After some time, reading about their lovemaking interspersed with Robin's confessions to his mechanical shrink began to pall. However, it never reached the stage where I wanted to abandon the tale - the author managed to keep me hooked, to see how everything worked out. But the ending, for me, was less than satisfying. ...more

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Sep 19, 2019 Anthony rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, nebula-winners, hugo-winners, locus-award-winners

This is really a 4 1/2 stars book, but I’ve rounded sightly down because what promised to be psychological complexity at the core of the story wound up being just a tad too pat in the end.

So much of this tightly-constructed, deeply-imagined novel is excellent: a case study in economically written, character-driven, atmospheric, darkly funny, and humane science fiction. Our human history is riddled with the corpses of prospectors, explorers, and thrill seekers who are driven by ego or desperatio ...more

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Sep 16, 2019 Jemppu rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Come for a cleverly premised space venture, stay for the intriguingly reluctant, but persistent exploration of self. Close, contemplative and touching - Pohl makes the mysteries of extraterrestrial civilization pale in comparison to the secrets of an individual's psyche and their human experience. ...more

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Jun 13, 2018 David Sarkies rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi

An Interesting Debrief
13 June 2018

There is literally so much to like about this book, particularly since I picked it up from this really cool game that I played something like years ago (and it was also called Gateway, and based on the book). There is a mysterious alien race that has left artifacts scattered across the universe, and there are two strands running through the book that tie up beautifully, and rather unexpectedly, at the end. Then there is that mess that certain stellar phenomena An Interesting Debrief
13 June 2018

There is literally so much to like about this book, particularly since I picked it up from this really cool game that I played something like years ago (and it was also called Gateway, and based on the book). There is a mysterious alien race that has left artifacts scattered across the universe, and there are two strands running through the book that tie up beautifully, and rather unexpectedly, at the end. Then there is that mess that certain stellar phenomena do to your head that pretty much leave you wondering at the end whether a bunch of characters are dead, or not.

The story is about Bob, or Rob, or Robinette, or whatever they happen to be calling him at the time (though it sounds as if he is not particularly thrilled with his first name). Anyway, he is seeing a psychiatrist called Sigfried, though Sigfried happens to be a robot. However, the action jumps between Bob’s past and the present counselling sessions that he is undergoing. So, Bob (or whatever) grew up in the food mines on Venus – they make food out of oil in this future – and managed to escape by winning the lottery. However, his escape takes him to this place called Gateway.

Now, Gateway is an alien base that orbits the Sun. There are a bunch of spaceships in the base, but that is pretty much it – when the aliens left they pretty much took everything with them. However, these ships work, and the corporation that owns the base sends explorers out in these ships to collect scientific data, and any alien artifacts that they might come across. Your rewards basically depend on what you discover, and are also divided amongst any surviving companions. That is the catch, these missions aren’t actually all that easy – if fact a number of them are quite deadly, particularly since nobody actually knows where these ships happen to be going.

This is what is so cool about the setting. In fact I’m surprised that I haven’t seen a roleplaying game that uses this setting (though as I mentioned there were a couple of computer games released quite a while back). The whole idea of exploring the universe, and also following the trail of a long lost, and forgotten, alien race is nothing short of awesome. In fact, since very little is revealed about the race beyond what is hinted at in the book makes it ever more intriguing. There have been a few more books written in this setting, but a part of me is hesitant in reading them because the mystery is what kept me glued to the pages all the way through.

We do know that Bob does eventually strike it rich, since we are told that right through the book, particularly since most of the story is a retrospective look from the future. Yet, we don’t know how he struck it rich, or at what cost, until the end, though Pohl does drip feed us information along the way. However, he holds most of it back until the pretty awesome conclusion.

Bob is an interesting fellow – he clearly prefers being alive (as opposed to dead, even though life isn’t all that great for him). He came to Gateway to strike it rich, but after his basic training he simply potters around doing absolutely nothing and going absolutely nowhere – he is waiting for the golden opportunity. It sort of reminds me of the job snobs – those people that simply wait for the golden job to land in their lap as opposed to going out and actually getting any old job to allow you to hopefully, one day, get that golden opportunity.

Gateway is also clearly a frontier settlement, and Pohl certainly isn’t shy in painting a realistic vision of the place. Remembering that this book was written in the 70s, it is interesting to see how accepting homosexuality is in this time. Yeah, we are told that some of the characters are gay, but that is just by the by. It isn’t like the modern era where we have ‘token’ characters simply to make ourselves appear less biased. Then again, it doesn’t seem as if he is attempting to be provocative either – he is just creating a world that, well, is realistic in his eyes. In fact it comes to pass that there are a lot of drugs floating around Gateway as well, and the fact that people can smoke in the spacecraft sort of points to an earlier era where you could smoke in many more places – like the toilet in the aeroplane, or even in your seat.

In a way, I’m still uming and ahing about whether to actually get my hands on the sequel, particularly since having the Heechee remain a mysterious alien race simply adds to the beauty of the book. Honestly, I’m not really all that interested in heading to Heechee heaven, and further, I’m not entirely sure if Pohl can really top what he has created here. ...more

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Feb 28, 2017 Rob rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, own, author-male, read-2017, sword-and-laser, audio-book

Executive Summary: I had low expectations coming into this considering it was "classic" sci-fi and ended up enjoying it more than I expected. 3.5 Stars

Audiobook: I thought Oliver Wyman did a good job with the book, but nothing spectatular. She spoke clearly and the volume was good.

If you're a purist, I should warn that this is apparently not the full text despite it be listed as unabridged. I don't know exactly what's missing, but I've been told that it's some kind of supplement "documents" that Executive Summary: I had low expectations coming into this considering it was "classic" sci-fi and ended up enjoying it more than I expected. 3.5 Stars

Audiobook: I thought Oliver Wyman did a good job with the book, but nothing spectatular. She spoke clearly and the volume was good.

If you're a purist, I should warn that this is apparently not the full text despite it be listed as unabridged. I don't know exactly what's missing, but I've been told that it's some kind of supplement "documents" that offer additional world building.

For me personally, had I not known they were missing, I wouldn't have suspected. I can't say for certain since I haven't read them, but I didn't feel like the book was incomplete. Your mileage may vary however.

Full Review
So if you read my reviews, you'll probably know I read a lot more fantasy than Science Fiction. I love Sci-Fi, but I tend to prefer Space Opera or Space Fantasy to nearly anything else. I also have a pretty bad track record with older Sci-Fi.

This book has won a lot (all?) of awards. That often doesn't mean much to me with regards to how much I like it. Some books I love wouldn't even sniff a nomination. Some award winning books I've been very bored by. This one fell somewhere in between. I enjoyed it, but it's not going to be something I rush out and recommend to others.

I was also a bit concerned because it was published 40 years ago. It definitely shows it's age at certain points. For me that was less about the science that may not hold up than it is about the social things. In particular the attitudes towards domestic abuse. However I guess for a book written in the 1970s, the attitude toward homosexuality while not exactly great, seemed far more progressive than I would have expected. Still the parts dealing with these things definitely pulled me out of the story.

At the start of the book I wasn't thrilled by the framing device. Our protagonist is seeing a robot psychiatrist and discussing his issues of guilt. Through this we learn what happened to him and about the place they call Gateway. As the book went on however, I warmed up to this device, and found it a pretty good mechanism for "info-dumping" to the reader.

I struggled to like the protagonist, especially later in the story, but I found his journey fairly enjoyable. I probably would have given this book another half of a star had I liked him better.

It's my understanding that this was originally conceived as a stand alone novel, and only after it was so successful was it expanded into a series. I'm content to stop here. I'm glad I read this, because I probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own, so another thanks goes to Sword & Laser ...more

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Sep 20, 2019 Gabi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hugo_winners, locus_winners, books-in-my-shelf, nebula_winners

This story has a lot ingredients I love:

It is told in hindsight by a protagonist during psychological therapy sessions. The MC is fighting against some revelations and so the story unfolds slowly with forebodings and suspense - one of my favourite forms of storytelling.

The SF plot is of the space opera sort rooted in a future earth with a relatable, and not so terribly dated, development of Earth. Adventurers seek greener pastures in dangerous, albeit profitable - if successful - flights with s ...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Banner rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: alien, sci-fi, reread

It just goes to prove that timing has a lot to do with one's enjoyment of a book. I read this several years ago and was not impressed. I think I was being generous when I gave it a three. After getting the audio version on sale I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book.

Mankind is in desperate shape when we discover the alien space station long ago abandoned. Through the ships left in dock we can explore the far reaches of the galaxies, the only problem is we don't know how to operate the s ...more

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Dec 15, 2014 Alina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Space opera combined with Freudian psychology, set in two parallel timelines. Even if the main character, Rob (Robinette) was not a likeable person, he was definitely interesting, and I totally loved 'Sigfrid' (kind of an advanced ELIZA).

Almost forgot, this comparison marked me (even though men aren't like wolves, they don't stop when seeing submission):

"It isn't a matter of what's rational or justified, it is a matter of signals. It was the wrong signal to give me. The reason wolves don't ki

...more

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Jul 12, 2007 Abe rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I read this book in 2006 — 30 years after it was first published — and it immediately shot up to my top 10 list of science fiction books. It is highly original, entertaining and thought provoking. It loses none of it's wow! even 30 years after it was written. ...more

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Aug 20, 2019 Daniel Villines rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Gateway is what I would consider to be a true science fiction novel. Everything about this book comes across as serious commentary that can be tossed around in the reader’s head for possible relevance in the present world, as well as contemplations of Fredrik Pohl’s world 40-plus years ago.

The tone of the book is reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft (Mountains of Madness) or Stanislaw Lem (Solaris). It’s narrated in the first person by the main character, Robinette Broadhead. As such, everything that c ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
SciFi and Fantasy...: "Gateway" by Frederik Pohl (BR)	42	52	Sep 26, 2019 05:57PM
The Evolution of ...: July 2018 Group Read - Gateway	21	38	Sep 26, 2019 01:26PM
Tertulia de cienc...: Tertulia de abril - Pórtico	2	3	Apr 25, 2019 10:14AM
Goodreads Librari...: correct page count ISBN 9780345346902	2	13	Jan 31, 2018 05:31PM
Science Fiction &...: Gateway by Frederik Pohl (August)	11	19	Aug 30, 2017 11:49PM
The Sword and Laser: S&L Podcast - #287 - You Do Like Your Alternate Londons	17	129	Apr 11, 2017 09:04AM
The Sword and Laser: * GW: March 2017 Pick: Gateway by Frederik Pohl	70	344	Apr 05, 2017 06:04AM

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About Frederik Pohl

Frederik Pohl

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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.

Other books in the series

Heechee Saga (6 books)

Books by Frederik Pohl

Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (Heechee Saga, #2)

The Space Merchants (The Space Merchants, #1)

The Annals of the Heechee (Heechee Saga, #4)

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Quotes from Gateway

“They were two lovely choices. One of them meant giving up every chance of a decent life forever...and the other one scared me out of my mind.” — 60 likes

“Anyway, that's what life is, just one learning experience after another, and when you're through with all the learning experiences you graduate and what you get for a diploma is, you die.” — 17 likes

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