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All the Lives He Led
Two thousand years after Pompeii’s destruction, a thriller of upheaval—volcanic and political—as only SF Grandmaster Frederik Pohl can write it!
With a keen eye for the humanity in any situation, science fiction icon Frederik Pohl has crafted a compelling new novel of a not-too-distant future we can only hope is merely science fiction.
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. it gave so little warning that Pompeiians were caught unawares, and many bodies were preserved in volcanic ash. Two thousand years later, in 2079, Pompeii is a popular theme park eagerly anticipating Il Giubeleo, the Jubilee celebration of the great anniversary. But Vesuvius is still capable of erupting, and even more threatening are terrorists who want to use the occasion to draw attention to their cause by creating a huge disaster. As the fateful day draws near, people from all over the world—workers, tourists, terrorists—caught in the shadow of the volcano will grapple with upheaval both natural and political.
With a keen eye for the humanity in any situation, science fiction icon Frederik Pohl has crafted a compelling new novel of a not-too-distant future we can only hope is merely science fiction.
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. it gave so little warning that Pompeiians were caught unawares, and many bodies were preserved in volcanic ash. Two thousand years later, in 2079, Pompeii is a popular theme park eagerly anticipating Il Giubeleo, the Jubilee celebration of the great anniversary. But Vesuvius is still capable of erupting, and even more threatening are terrorists who want to use the occasion to draw attention to their cause by creating a huge disaster. As the fateful day draws near, people from all over the world—workers, tourists, terrorists—caught in the shadow of the volcano will grapple with upheaval both natural and political.
349 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2011
12 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
About the author
Frederik Pohl
1,152 books1,061 followersFrederik 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
March 20, 2011
I do have to admit that this book was interesting, espically since Pohl has great skill in writing in the first person which is a form that a lot of authors have trouble with. Unfortunately....his skill in that particular form doesn't even come close to making up for the numerous, puzzling, distracting plot holes. About half way through the book I started making a list:
* Brad (the main character) has a girlfriend who goes to visit family for several days and he mopes about missing her....BUT NEVER ONCE ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT HER. Are you kidding? The dude whines and moans about missing her but at no time does he attempt to contact her or find out why she's been gone for several days more than what she told him she'd be gone for. Just doesn't make any sense AT ALL.
* A pandemic of Pompeii Flu hits the globe and they track it back to the Pompeii theme park but even though record numbers of people are spreading, AND DYING of, this disease THEY NEVER SHUT DOWN THE PARK. Seriously? They never even restrict travel even though the flu is highly contagious AND THEY HAVE NO CURE. I'm sorry but that just made no sense. AT ALL.
* At some point in the book, while having a conversation with another character, Brad mentions that his roommate died three days earlier. THERE IS NO MENTION OF THIS AT ANY POINT PREVIOUSLY IN THE STORY. In fact, Brad's roommate, Jiri, is only mentioned at the beginning of the book and then never brought up again. Except when he's dead apparently. It really disrupted the reading flow because I literally flipped back in the book to scan pages and see if I had missed something. Sloppy writing much?
There was much much more but frankly, it depressed me to list them all out. One thing all of the plot holes seemed to have in common is that they seemed to be necessary for the author to be able to do what he wanted to do storyline-wise. Again, sloppy writing much? I was really disappointed because the premise of the story was great but the plot holes were just too distracting.
* Brad (the main character) has a girlfriend who goes to visit family for several days and he mopes about missing her....BUT NEVER ONCE ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT HER. Are you kidding? The dude whines and moans about missing her but at no time does he attempt to contact her or find out why she's been gone for several days more than what she told him she'd be gone for. Just doesn't make any sense AT ALL.
* A pandemic of Pompeii Flu hits the globe and they track it back to the Pompeii theme park but even though record numbers of people are spreading, AND DYING of, this disease THEY NEVER SHUT DOWN THE PARK. Seriously? They never even restrict travel even though the flu is highly contagious AND THEY HAVE NO CURE. I'm sorry but that just made no sense. AT ALL.
* At some point in the book, while having a conversation with another character, Brad mentions that his roommate died three days earlier. THERE IS NO MENTION OF THIS AT ANY POINT PREVIOUSLY IN THE STORY. In fact, Brad's roommate, Jiri, is only mentioned at the beginning of the book and then never brought up again. Except when he's dead apparently. It really disrupted the reading flow because I literally flipped back in the book to scan pages and see if I had missed something. Sloppy writing much?
There was much much more but frankly, it depressed me to list them all out. One thing all of the plot holes seemed to have in common is that they seemed to be necessary for the author to be able to do what he wanted to do storyline-wise. Again, sloppy writing much? I was really disappointed because the premise of the story was great but the plot holes were just too distracting.
September 9, 2023
Two stars means "it was ok" and that's about all I can say for this book.
I'm not familiar with this author and I suspect this late-in-life book is not among his best. It takes place in the year 2079, in a dystopian future where great swaths of North America have been destroyed by the eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano, and many people in the United States have been rendered destitute and homeless. They have become refugees.
There is much discussion of "indentured" employees here, which is timely, because various forms of economic imprisonment are becoming more common all over the planet.
Our narrator is a young man, 25 years old, a scrambler, hustler, etc. who grew up on the streets of New York.
The big weakness in this novel, and the aspect that dragged the rating down, was its treatment of gender and sexuality. Some young people wore jewelry advertising their availability and preferences, but Pohl chooses to have his narrator act like a sentimental type who can only love one girl (there is a reason for that, which perhaps I missed until 20 pages from the end).
I wanted to toss this book aside so many times, however there are volcanoes and a plague, as well as much history and many other themes, but overall I felt the world-building to be inconsistent and unaccomplished.
I'm not familiar with this author and I suspect this late-in-life book is not among his best. It takes place in the year 2079, in a dystopian future where great swaths of North America have been destroyed by the eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano, and many people in the United States have been rendered destitute and homeless. They have become refugees.
There is much discussion of "indentured" employees here, which is timely, because various forms of economic imprisonment are becoming more common all over the planet.
Our narrator is a young man, 25 years old, a scrambler, hustler, etc. who grew up on the streets of New York.
The big weakness in this novel, and the aspect that dragged the rating down, was its treatment of gender and sexuality. Some young people wore jewelry advertising their availability and preferences, but Pohl chooses to have his narrator act like a sentimental type who can only love one girl (there is a reason for that, which perhaps I missed until 20 pages from the end).
I wanted to toss this book aside so many times, however there are volcanoes and a plague, as well as much history and many other themes, but overall I felt the world-building to be inconsistent and unaccomplished.
March 28, 2012
The fact that we've got a new novel by Pohl (who is in his 90's) is alone worthy of celebration. This may not be Pohl's best work, but it is good - the novel bristles with ideas and on its own merits deserves an audience. I just want to be clear that while I'm writing this review with the utmost RESPECT for a living legend of SF, I won't be giving Pohl's latest work an easy pass either.
The good:
Pohl loves ideas, but he respects his audience enough to focus on people. There's a lot of speculative futuristic ideas, but the reader learns about them through the characters, so it's all rather subtle unless you make an effort to look. And give credit where it's due - don't think these ideas are just tossed in, as Pohl has obviously done research in ensuring plausibility. It's not hard SF, but there's nothing in here that isn't satisfyingly realistic given another 6-7 decades of progress.
Pohl's narrative is insidious, but again done with a subtle touch. The first-person narrative is often quite syrupy-sweetly innocent, and there's an abundance of repetition that almost drones, lulling the reader into thinking that all is calm and normal, and explainable in simple terms. There are countless references to terrorism, but the terrorism itself always seems to affect "somebody else" - the terrorism is sometimes very close but avoids impact on the main characters, so the scrutiny and alertness seems misplaced. But, with precision, Pohl regularly throws a tantalizing snippet of detail that seems odd, and by and by these begin to become alarming, building and building over time until it's obvious that some very bad things have been going on all along behind the scenes.
The okay:
Pohl once again uses a main character that isn't quite smart enough to put everything together as quickly as the reader, similar to his previous work (a collaboration with Arthur C. Clarke), The Last Theorem. The narrative works because of Pohl's skill and craft in writing, but there are limitations to the extent with which the reader will identify with this first-person protagonist. There are times I wondered at Brad Sheridan's denseness, and other times at his misplaced trust, and finally at his decision-making choices... But it was readable and compelling.
The weak:
The plot really didn't move along as fast as I'd like, and since the main character was apparently merely along for the ride, I wasn't convinced that Brad was important enough to any of the suspected terrorists to be worth their time (that is, if they were truly terrorists). I certainly didn't accept that he could land on his feet (similar to The Last Theorem again). And he seems to be so innocent - oblivious to earlier brushes with terrorism recruiters - that it was perhaps jarring to me how jaded he ended up in the end.
The change in Brad's character, however, is something that Pohl intended, and it is part of the main theme of the book, so I won't judge this too harshly. Brad gets involved in a forlorn love relationship with the complex character Gerda, who has undergone a lot of changes herself, and it's understandable that this would impact him. The final page reveals a lot (and this time in an overtly insidious tone) about the Gerda-inspired Brad.
3.5 stars. Definitely worth a read.
The good:
Pohl loves ideas, but he respects his audience enough to focus on people. There's a lot of speculative futuristic ideas, but the reader learns about them through the characters, so it's all rather subtle unless you make an effort to look. And give credit where it's due - don't think these ideas are just tossed in, as Pohl has obviously done research in ensuring plausibility. It's not hard SF, but there's nothing in here that isn't satisfyingly realistic given another 6-7 decades of progress.
Pohl's narrative is insidious, but again done with a subtle touch. The first-person narrative is often quite syrupy-sweetly innocent, and there's an abundance of repetition that almost drones, lulling the reader into thinking that all is calm and normal, and explainable in simple terms. There are countless references to terrorism, but the terrorism itself always seems to affect "somebody else" - the terrorism is sometimes very close but avoids impact on the main characters, so the scrutiny and alertness seems misplaced. But, with precision, Pohl regularly throws a tantalizing snippet of detail that seems odd, and by and by these begin to become alarming, building and building over time until it's obvious that some very bad things have been going on all along behind the scenes.
The okay:
Pohl once again uses a main character that isn't quite smart enough to put everything together as quickly as the reader, similar to his previous work (a collaboration with Arthur C. Clarke), The Last Theorem. The narrative works because of Pohl's skill and craft in writing, but there are limitations to the extent with which the reader will identify with this first-person protagonist. There are times I wondered at Brad Sheridan's denseness, and other times at his misplaced trust, and finally at his decision-making choices... But it was readable and compelling.
The weak:
The plot really didn't move along as fast as I'd like, and since the main character was apparently merely along for the ride, I wasn't convinced that Brad was important enough to any of the suspected terrorists to be worth their time (that is, if they were truly terrorists). I certainly didn't accept that he could land on his feet (similar to The Last Theorem again). And he seems to be so innocent - oblivious to earlier brushes with terrorism recruiters - that it was perhaps jarring to me how jaded he ended up in the end.
The change in Brad's character, however, is something that Pohl intended, and it is part of the main theme of the book, so I won't judge this too harshly. Brad gets involved in a forlorn love relationship with the complex character Gerda, who has undergone a lot of changes herself, and it's understandable that this would impact him. The final page reveals a lot (and this time in an overtly insidious tone) about the Gerda-inspired Brad.
3.5 stars. Definitely worth a read.
February 10, 2021
I know Pohl wrote some legendary science fiction novels (I've only read Gateway, but Lordy, he's up there with Asimov and Heinlein as far as recognition goes), but this one? It's about as far from legendary as a book can get.
It's not poorly written, nor is it a hot mess; it's just boring. The main character is a milquetoast, and everything seems to happen around him, instead of him being central to the story. It doesn't help that the plot doesn't really get going until about the 60% mark, and it REALLY doesn't help that Pohl, despite having published the book in 2011, holds on to a lot of the thinking and language of the 1950s. The female characters are there simply to prop up the male characters, and there's a tone that suggests disrespect toward women (plus there's a touch of transphobia that, admittedly, could have been a lot worse).
The science fictional element of the book is light, since, though we're in the future where projected holograms are the cornerstone of the entertainment industry, the book is really about terrorism and how horrible people are. The book rambles a lot, and despite the prose being compelling, the story, honestly, isn't. It reminds me a little of later Heinlein; that's either good or bad, depending on what you think of later Heinlein.
This was one of those books where I went days between reading it, and the only reason I powered through to the end over a couple of days is because I was just ready to be done with it. It never got better. I don't recommend this book at all.
It's not poorly written, nor is it a hot mess; it's just boring. The main character is a milquetoast, and everything seems to happen around him, instead of him being central to the story. It doesn't help that the plot doesn't really get going until about the 60% mark, and it REALLY doesn't help that Pohl, despite having published the book in 2011, holds on to a lot of the thinking and language of the 1950s. The female characters are there simply to prop up the male characters, and there's a tone that suggests disrespect toward women (plus there's a touch of transphobia that, admittedly, could have been a lot worse).
The science fictional element of the book is light, since, though we're in the future where projected holograms are the cornerstone of the entertainment industry, the book is really about terrorism and how horrible people are. The book rambles a lot, and despite the prose being compelling, the story, honestly, isn't. It reminds me a little of later Heinlein; that's either good or bad, depending on what you think of later Heinlein.
This was one of those books where I went days between reading it, and the only reason I powered through to the end over a couple of days is because I was just ready to be done with it. It never got better. I don't recommend this book at all.
December 12, 2019
I picked this up randomly from library, based on the writer that I'd heard good things about. This is unfortunately my first Pohl.
Incredibly tedious. The main character is a passive bystander/follower for most of the book and everyone who actually does something never seems to have any clear motivation on why they're doing something. The plot is full of holes and inexplicable turns and the structure is a mess. The book was written by a 90-year-old and unfortunately it shows. The social attitudes are very 1950-60's (e.g. the narrator can barely mention a female character without bringing up sex) and some of the scifi-elements were dated even during the time of publishing.
The background and the world are incredibly interesting and the first person PoV is well written, it's just that almost everything else fails.
Maybe I have to pick up Pohl's more classic works sometime.
Incredibly tedious. The main character is a passive bystander/follower for most of the book and everyone who actually does something never seems to have any clear motivation on why they're doing something. The plot is full of holes and inexplicable turns and the structure is a mess. The book was written by a 90-year-old and unfortunately it shows. The social attitudes are very 1950-60's (e.g. the narrator can barely mention a female character without bringing up sex) and some of the scifi-elements were dated even during the time of publishing.
The background and the world are incredibly interesting and the first person PoV is well written, it's just that almost everything else fails.
Maybe I have to pick up Pohl's more classic works sometime.
April 28, 2023
This moves through something like the stages of a bad marriage:
1. Excitement. A fun premise. Where is this headed?
2. Commitment. I’m hooked.
3. Concern. Am I missing something? Why isn’t this fun any more?
4. Stagnation. I’m going along with it but not caring.
5. Anger. This is such a waste of time.
The descent into clunkiness is depressing. Imagine writing a novel where the last 75 pages are the summary of action that happened before the novel that the character watches on videos.
When I’m emperor we will finally have a moratorium on ending chapters with sentences like, “But things were about to get a lot worse.”
1. Excitement. A fun premise. Where is this headed?
2. Commitment. I’m hooked.
3. Concern. Am I missing something? Why isn’t this fun any more?
4. Stagnation. I’m going along with it but not caring.
5. Anger. This is such a waste of time.
The descent into clunkiness is depressing. Imagine writing a novel where the last 75 pages are the summary of action that happened before the novel that the character watches on videos.
When I’m emperor we will finally have a moratorium on ending chapters with sentences like, “But things were about to get a lot worse.”
December 16, 2023
I cannot recommend this book at all.
This is a very disappointing last entry for one of Sci Fis great writers. The story is meandering at best, with a scattershot plot, random plot elements thrown in without description, rationale, or primer, many things left generally unexplained or total head scratchers, and the characters are really shallow and in no way relatable.
Just don't read it. Stick to Pohl's earlier work.
This is a very disappointing last entry for one of Sci Fis great writers. The story is meandering at best, with a scattershot plot, random plot elements thrown in without description, rationale, or primer, many things left generally unexplained or total head scratchers, and the characters are really shallow and in no way relatable.
Just don't read it. Stick to Pohl's earlier work.
August 13, 2013
Disappointing, Frederick, old man. Tedious book with a lot of interaction among characters I didn't care about, with background information that didn't matter, leading up to a climax that comes (if it ever did -- still not sure) a long way from the end of the book, leaving a hundred pages or so of backstory...
Some interesting speculation about a not-so-distant future: a world in which America has been wasted by the eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the nation's role on the world stage diminished. Pohl show us a world of continual terrorist attacks, ecological disaster, virtual reality, outrageous inflation and economic chaos.
The main character works as a low-paid worker in the Italian "Theme Park" of Pompei celebrating the two thousand- year anniversary of the city's destruction by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Somehow he becomes involved with a bio-terrorist woman and her plot to destroy mankind. Sounds pretty horrific, no? Yet, it didn't seem like such a big deal. Maybe it was just the blaah narration, and maybe that was kind of the point -- that the world will eventually become complacent with terror and ecological collapse and panepidemics. Pohl might just be that clever - he's an old pro at science-fiction world-building. But I think it's just a weak novel that goes on and on. Killed time on the airplane, but that's about it.
Some interesting speculation about a not-so-distant future: a world in which America has been wasted by the eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the nation's role on the world stage diminished. Pohl show us a world of continual terrorist attacks, ecological disaster, virtual reality, outrageous inflation and economic chaos.
The main character works as a low-paid worker in the Italian "Theme Park" of Pompei celebrating the two thousand- year anniversary of the city's destruction by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Somehow he becomes involved with a bio-terrorist woman and her plot to destroy mankind. Sounds pretty horrific, no? Yet, it didn't seem like such a big deal. Maybe it was just the blaah narration, and maybe that was kind of the point -- that the world will eventually become complacent with terror and ecological collapse and panepidemics. Pohl might just be that clever - he's an old pro at science-fiction world-building. But I think it's just a weak novel that goes on and on. Killed time on the airplane, but that's about it.
May 28, 2011
I recently scrounged up the coin to pick up Frederik Pohl's latest novel — in hard-cover, no less. And frankly, given my recent experiences with paying good money for one lousy book or another I put down my money kind of nervously.
So I am doubly-pleased to be able to say that All the Lives He Led is one of the best SF novels — best novels — I've read in a while and with nary a rocket ship or time machine in sight.
The full review is at Edifice Rex Online inside, with very little in the way of spoilers.
So I am doubly-pleased to be able to say that All the Lives He Led is one of the best SF novels — best novels — I've read in a while and with nary a rocket ship or time machine in sight.
The full review is at Edifice Rex Online inside, with very little in the way of spoilers.
October 12, 2011
First, name two living authors who are writing near the top of their game, 70 years after their first published sale. Five stars, Mr Pohl.
Now, theres Hemingway 10% good, 90% bad. Pohl is 10% good, 70% ok, 20% bad. This novel falls in the ok category, it woukd be great if te plot line was tightened up and some of the loose threads were removed or resolved.
But, game on overall. Any new novel by Pohl is a good day.
Now, theres Hemingway 10% good, 90% bad. Pohl is 10% good, 70% ok, 20% bad. This novel falls in the ok category, it woukd be great if te plot line was tightened up and some of the loose threads were removed or resolved.
But, game on overall. Any new novel by Pohl is a good day.
June 24, 2011
A huge disappointment. Pohl sets up a world milieu that sees the US greatly reduced in influence due to natural disasters... then does nothing with it. Instead we follow boring narrator Brad (who talks like a mall rat circa 1982) as he wanders through a series on uninteresting encounters working overseas. The book is flat boring and 100 pages too long. Pohl is a SF master but he seriously loses the plot on this one.
April 27, 2011
Pohl is still on the cutting edge of SF writers at 91 with ideas sparking all over the place. As a narrative it gets a little sketchy in the last third as the narrator gives of recaps of things that have happened rather than describing things as they are happening, but I wasn't sorry I read it. It may not be Pohl at his best, but it's still a good, provocative read.
June 5, 2012
Based on the description on the cover, I thought this would be a really interesting book. Instead, to me, it just seemed to be 1/3 about a guy complaining about his job,n and the other 2/3 pining over a lost girlfriend. I mostly skimmed the last 10 pages because I was so ready for the book to be over, which is unusual for me. Personally, I wouldn't recommend this book.
July 30, 2011
All pages and no action -- 300 pages of back story and build up to a conclusion that could have been wrapped up in a paragraph. Should have stuck with a short story on this one...
July 17, 2019
The writng style is unusual, and the treatment of the subject material even more so, but it's a total page turner, and in the end I think I understand the reasons for the style and treatment, and it's really rather brilliant.
If the author hadn't written it the way he did, he wouldn't have been able to discuss and illuminate the topics of the book nearly as effectively. He uses some techniques of satire and farce in subtle and unusual ways to be able to examine ideas and viewpoints that would be unacceptable and too unpleasant to examine in other ways. Pohl then uses more standard science fiction tools to put us in a place where we can examine the issues he presents. There's also a great deal of detail and su btelty
I'm not enough of an expert to say how he could have done this better, but I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because I think it could have been better, and been a truly important and unique look at some of the most important issues, and the human motivations behind these issues, of the early 21st century. So it's not perfect, but is as noted a real page turner, and has a great deal of substance besides.
If the author hadn't written it the way he did, he wouldn't have been able to discuss and illuminate the topics of the book nearly as effectively. He uses some techniques of satire and farce in subtle and unusual ways to be able to examine ideas and viewpoints that would be unacceptable and too unpleasant to examine in other ways. Pohl then uses more standard science fiction tools to put us in a place where we can examine the issues he presents. There's also a great deal of detail and su btelty
I'm not enough of an expert to say how he could have done this better, but I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because I think it could have been better, and been a truly important and unique look at some of the most important issues, and the human motivations behind these issues, of the early 21st century. So it's not perfect, but is as noted a real page turner, and has a great deal of substance besides.
October 5, 2017
Near-future (or maybe alt-universe?) story about life after the eruption of Yellowstone that makes the USA a wasteland and shifts world power in interesting directions. With that interesting setup, however, most of the story is scaled down to "young dude's summer job, summer love," where the young-dude-main-character takes a tourism job in Pompeii, falls in love, and has adventures.
I had a lot of issues with the core of the story, major spoiler I never got the explanation, or any understanding, of Gerde's past, or why she did what she did. I guess we're just supposed to buy that?
I had a lot of issues with the core of the story, major spoiler I never got the explanation, or any understanding, of Gerde's past, or why she did what she did. I guess we're just supposed to buy that?
October 20, 2018
I wish I could have enjoyed this more; the first-person writing style is deftly handled. However, the story doesn't even seem to kick in until 200 pages in...and up to that point, it's been a curious woe-is-me travelogue through a rather dystopian, terrorist-plagued future. Once the story does kick in, it's far too much tell, not enough show...and the end result is a novel that left me struggling to care. In the end, I could barely muster enough enthusiasm to finish the novel.
August 9, 2019
This book was interesting, in that I wasn't really certain what to expect when reading it. Brad, well, as a main character, he was a complete and utter idiot. But one that stumbled into greatness, much like a good portion of the human race. Which is why it made this book a very easy read, as I could relate to him on a typical human level. And like him, I would have chosen exactly as he did, in the end.
May 31, 2021
It falls firmly in between "It was OK" and "Liked it." So 2.5 on the nose. Some things about it were pretty decent (Pohl was a pretty good writer), but the parts that were bad affected the rest pretty severely. The narrator might be the least interesting character in the entire book and the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Oh well, I picked it up at a thrift shop for $.50 so nothing was really lost.
September 6, 2017
A political discorse with mild SciFi trappings. I plowed through the diary of a amusement park employee in what I thought was the calm before the storm but the storm did not arrive. An interesting reveal of the inner workings of self richeous people who continue to deny the reality of the human animal, and who are unique in a terrible ability to include others in their suicidal escape.
Read
May 31, 2023this must be the worst book i've read this year. not one that's excruciatingly painful to read, but one that's with the fluffiest baggiest improbable impossible plot and characters. the pseudo deep philosophical angle is like the icing on the cake.
am not sure why i read this instead of anything else. maybe because i do stuff myself with trash sometimes. and i got baited by pompeii.
am not sure why i read this instead of anything else. maybe because i do stuff myself with trash sometimes. and i got baited by pompeii.
August 5, 2021
The story started slow, picked up a bit in the middle, then completely fizzled out at the end. I couldn’t stand the protagonist, and there really wasn’t anyone I could sympathize with. All in all… meh.
September 1, 2017
Started out good. Got really, really weird. Excellent writer, super-strange plot.
July 13, 2018
Gave up 2/3 of the way through. An unending tale of woe. Frederick Pohl did better books; read them instead.
July 25, 2023
The last novel of a Sci-Fi Great. Great storytelling. He weaves several plot lines together to create an enjoyable read.
July 30, 2023
buhahahaha
August 1, 2024
The Master's last novel. Interesting with some unique plot twists. Good, but could have been better developed. Sad that was his last one....
May 27, 2012
First, I must say that Frederik Pohl is one of my top ten authors. I loved the Gateway series, Venus Inc., Man-Plus among other novels and the many short stories he wrote over his seventy year career.
I enjoyed very much "The Last Theorem" he completed with Arthur C. Clarke a few years ago.
I was really looking forward to this one. I ran right out and bought the hard cover edition. I was so pleased to learn Mr. Pohl was still writing novels. If someone wants to continue working at 92 years of age, I will support him.
I was surprised seeing this new full length novel because Mr. Pohl puts so much work into his excellent blog - that I am loyal in checking out at least once a week. But, this novel was just, in my opinion, so bad. I struggled to finish it but, eventually, did.
Pohl has often included an element of cynicism within the lead characters in his stories and novels, but this Bradley Wilson Sheridan fellow was utterly unlikeable. All the way through this book, you never warmed up to, or felt sympathy for, him. Mostly, he deserved his crappy life for it was what he has made of it. He was a derelict, often victimizing paying customers. What ever bad things happened to him was simply the result of bad karma. As Mr. Pohl told his story in first person via this jerky character, you felt as though it was being told to you by a serious "bull-flinger" in any given local watering hole. I did not care about most of what he talked about, I simply wanted him to get on with it and be done already. The story was full of holes and unconvincing.
All I kept saying was: "Why would he... and Why would he..." Over and over again.
I still don't understand why the Bradley character gets paid so much for...ah!(I won't say it, but it doesn't make any sense to me.)
I was quickly got sick of the constant whining about this girl he was supposed to be so in love with, for no apparent reason I could relate to. Except maybe for "she" was just as unlikeable as he was. Again, I was utterly unconvinced about just about everything that was going on in this novel. Even all the groundless acts of terrorism and needless torture they employed to interrogate someone openly willing to tell all, was unbelievable to me. Mr. Pohl goes through the trouble of explaining that the brain feels no pain but that the scalp will. So if you have to stick pin-probes in someone's head, why would you not at least apply a local anesthetic on the cranium? Remember, this character is willing to talk. You're bound to get much more cooperation that way, I would think. The description of this scene was far from Stephen King, it wasn't even near Koonzt territory.
On the positive side, I much liked learning more about Pompeii and how the "Roman's do." I trusted the thorough research Pohl would have done and how he implicated it into the story and there were an occasional sparks of good old SF ideas. I liked the mile long Zeppelins the rich foreigners traveled in and the sophisticated virts used to enhance the ruins for the tourists.
I respect Mr. Pohl greatly, so I won't say more. If this was an experiment with an untried writing style or what have you, I missed it, and consider this novel a failure. Mr. Pohl has had a long career as an editor. I can't help but feel that if this manuscript had been presented to him by a first time author, he would have instantly rejected it. At least he might have advised the writer, with much potential, to reconsider a whole list of aspects before re-submitting it in the future.
I'm hoping that there is an other novel in the works so that Mr. Pohl can redeem himself. I would definitely give him an other fair chance.
I enjoyed very much "The Last Theorem" he completed with Arthur C. Clarke a few years ago.
I was really looking forward to this one. I ran right out and bought the hard cover edition. I was so pleased to learn Mr. Pohl was still writing novels. If someone wants to continue working at 92 years of age, I will support him.
I was surprised seeing this new full length novel because Mr. Pohl puts so much work into his excellent blog - that I am loyal in checking out at least once a week. But, this novel was just, in my opinion, so bad. I struggled to finish it but, eventually, did.
Pohl has often included an element of cynicism within the lead characters in his stories and novels, but this Bradley Wilson Sheridan fellow was utterly unlikeable. All the way through this book, you never warmed up to, or felt sympathy for, him. Mostly, he deserved his crappy life for it was what he has made of it. He was a derelict, often victimizing paying customers. What ever bad things happened to him was simply the result of bad karma. As Mr. Pohl told his story in first person via this jerky character, you felt as though it was being told to you by a serious "bull-flinger" in any given local watering hole. I did not care about most of what he talked about, I simply wanted him to get on with it and be done already. The story was full of holes and unconvincing.
All I kept saying was: "Why would he... and Why would he..." Over and over again.
I still don't understand why the Bradley character gets paid so much for...ah!(I won't say it, but it doesn't make any sense to me.)
I was quickly got sick of the constant whining about this girl he was supposed to be so in love with, for no apparent reason I could relate to. Except maybe for "she" was just as unlikeable as he was. Again, I was utterly unconvinced about just about everything that was going on in this novel. Even all the groundless acts of terrorism and needless torture they employed to interrogate someone openly willing to tell all, was unbelievable to me. Mr. Pohl goes through the trouble of explaining that the brain feels no pain but that the scalp will. So if you have to stick pin-probes in someone's head, why would you not at least apply a local anesthetic on the cranium? Remember, this character is willing to talk. You're bound to get much more cooperation that way, I would think. The description of this scene was far from Stephen King, it wasn't even near Koonzt territory.
On the positive side, I much liked learning more about Pompeii and how the "Roman's do." I trusted the thorough research Pohl would have done and how he implicated it into the story and there were an occasional sparks of good old SF ideas. I liked the mile long Zeppelins the rich foreigners traveled in and the sophisticated virts used to enhance the ruins for the tourists.
I respect Mr. Pohl greatly, so I won't say more. If this was an experiment with an untried writing style or what have you, I missed it, and consider this novel a failure. Mr. Pohl has had a long career as an editor. I can't help but feel that if this manuscript had been presented to him by a first time author, he would have instantly rejected it. At least he might have advised the writer, with much potential, to reconsider a whole list of aspects before re-submitting it in the future.
I'm hoping that there is an other novel in the works so that Mr. Pohl can redeem himself. I would definitely give him an other fair chance.
October 7, 2013
Science Fiction in the classic style: All the Lives He Led by Frederik Pohl, an author who pioneered classic science fiction, has won every science fiction award, and has been doing this for over 70 years. What is classical science fiction? A dystopic world and a narcissistic male. In this case it is 2079 and the world ecology has been destroyed by the re-eruption the the Yellowstone super volcano - a pleasant respite from the traditional evils of malevolent governments, aliens, and out-of-control technology. But, the protagonist, Burt Sheridan, is quite traditional - a loner against the world, more interested in self-preservation and sex, than saving the world, which, as usual, is both unsavable and unworthy.
Pohl, a science fiction master, manages the technology with out bogging down the in the swamps of explanation and explanatory digression. However, he does not overcome the challenge of a protagonist who is basically a self-obsessed loner. However, if you miss the heyday of Heinlein and Pohl (!) and the others, this is the book for you.
Pohl, a science fiction master, manages the technology with out bogging down the in the swamps of explanation and explanatory digression. However, he does not overcome the challenge of a protagonist who is basically a self-obsessed loner. However, if you miss the heyday of Heinlein and Pohl (!) and the others, this is the book for you.
April 30, 2011
...Although I generally enjoy Pohl's writing, I don't think this is a particularly strong example of his work. There is the slightly satiric tone that is his trademark of course. It reads quickly but when it comes to the plot and the first person narration I'm not terribly impressed. The scope and impact of the events Brad describes seem to be a bit of far-reaching than the first person point of view can carry. All the Lives He Led is an entertaining read but doesn't reach the level of some of Pohl's other novels. Maybe something a real completest will want to read but I very much doubt it will end up on any of the year's best lists...
Full Random Comments review.
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