I returned to read the gateway trilogy after a 15-year absense (!) and I found this one to be the most disappointing. Gone is the sense of mystery and struggle, in this third book Robinette seems like an annoying Richie Rich character surrounded by exotic Heechee toys and and annoying friends and helpers dredged up the first two books in the series plus a few new ones. Klara even makes a comeback, but it's disjointed, unbelievable and emotionless. Pointless, even; I'd say Robinettes longing and guilt for Klara is best left unresolved. I recommend Gateway (the best) and Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (quite interesting, especially when you figure out what the artifact is and its history), but then stop it there because this book is pretty much a loser.

The purpose of the last half of the Gateway series, it seems, is to explain all of the mysteries acumulated over the space of the first two books. There are a mountain of them, but sometimes such mysteries are much more facinating as such: mysteries.

If you are not interested in what becomes of the universe at large, but rather the band of travelers we have all come to know through Gateway and Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, the last two books may not be what you are after. For those who want final answers to the questions of who the Heechee are, and where they went, this book will provide those answers. Unfortunately, stopping here may not be an option. New questions which simply cannot be hung out to dry as "unsolvable mysteries" arise, compelling one to read the final book, The Annals of the Heechee.

Less time is spent on character development and psychology in this work than the previous two books, which was a bit of a dissapointment. Still, for those who want the answers and want to see the final destination of the Gateway series, this is a gate that must be passed through.

Heechee Rendezvous is a gripping continuation of Pohl's Heechee Saga. Once again, Robinette Broadhead returns as the main character, this time within a world that suffers from strife; from frequent terrorist activities, to mass hunger, the world is detailed as flawed, in light of the advancements made possible by the technology of the Heechee. However, the main thrust of the book lies in the greater revelation of the Heechee. In Gateway, not much is known about this mysterious race, but much is explained in Heechee Rendezvous. Gone are the Herter-Halls of the previous book, replaced by a few new characters. Besides Broadhead and his wife, whose relationship is wonderfully developed, a couple of older characters return. One of these 'characters' is Broadhead's computer generated advisor/confidant/friend, Albert Einstein. Suffice it to say that Pohl does a good job at developing the theme of artificial intelligence, to the point of trying to bring people back from the dead via computers. Each book in the Heechee Saga is a direction continuation of its predecessor, so reading book 4 is a must after this one is finished. Unfortunately, this leads to an unsatisfying ending since the book reads like a cliffhanger. My first inclination is to pick up the next book to see what happens.

This was one of the first sci-fi's I read as a child, and it whet my voracity for the genre. The scenario was plausible at the time of its writing (1980's), and depicts a post-apocalyptic world in which Communist China and India are the world powers. An unexpected plot twist juxtaposes an idealized remnant of American civilization with the reality of the post-war Earth.

This book is humorous as other Pohl novels (although this is a bit more light-hearted as well). The novel takes place in a nearish-future world, where the US and Russia pretty much left each other defenseless after years of warring; because they no longer had defense, and other countries were affected too, the densely populated China and India took over the world easily (in a non-ridiculous kind of way).

Thus the stage is set; I don't feel like just ripping of the back of the book's summary so I'll just say this: Pohl's humorous touch adds spice to this Sci-fi novel with an interesting look on the future. The back cover said it's also an important message to mankind, but I don't know... judge for yourself, if you can find this book at a used bookseller. Four stars, because I don't want to give it a "perfect rating."

"Report from Paradise" is Mark Twain's last published book and it took him over forty years to finish it. It has also been reported that it was the only story Twain aka Samuel Clemens actually enjoyed writing.

Twain's description of the afterlife as seen through the eyes of a sailor is quite original and there are many interesting aspects to Twain's at times taunting writing, with clear implications to social criticism tetectable.

"Report from Paradise" is a short and light read, and despite it's many inconsistancies it manages to relay a fun quality to it with the expence of blindly followed religious beliefs and ways of thinking.

Tired of tedious, if earnest, pseudo-philosophizers who will give you all the secrets of universal happiness in ten minutes a day? Tired of smug pulpit-pounders who somehow, while still human, seem to "know" as much as any divinity you can think of? Then it's time to spend an hour with Mark Twain. Come on: you haven't given the old guy a minute since you had to read "Huckleberry Finn" in high school or college, and it's about time you did. Captain Stormfield's "Extract" is just the tonic your overburdened soul needs. Stormfield's heaven seems to let everybody in, and to do its best to fulfill every one of their dreams, until-- you guessed it--their expectations conflict. How can Moses, for example, be expected to greet every faithful Jew, Christian and Muslim, with hugs and kisses without 1] getting soaked with slobber, and 2] getting disgusted with his lack of free time? "[The patriarchs] are kind and gentle old Jews, but they ain't any fonder of kissing the emotional highlights of Brooklyn than you be." Enough said.

Sandy is young adult who loves basketball and hanging with his friends. The only problem is none of his friends are human. Aliens found him as an infant and raised him as they slowly crossed from Earth to Alpha Centauri and back to Earth at sub-light speeds. In the meantime, the rest of humanity has more or less destroyed themselves through war, famine, nuclear power, AIDS, global warming, Styrofoam happy meal containers, and all the other things people worried about back in the 1980's. How will the rest of humanity react to Sandy? And are the aliens really friendly?

This book is very readable and is mildly interesting. There is a good deal of suspense over whether or not the aliens really are friendly. However, the page after page of environmentalism gets old. Also, the ending is a pretty weak. All in all, it's a decent book to pick up if you read a lot of Sci-Fi and want a quick read.

Too bad this one's out of print! The protagonist is fascinating, and the story poigniant. One of Pohl's best. Compares very favorably with his more well known works.

I liked this novel. The new planet Jem and its strange new lifeforms were written very well. Jem orbits a tiny, not-very-hot star the same way our Moon orbits Earth. That is, with one side always light and the opposite side dark. Three sentient species inhabit the planet: mole-like Creepies who live underground in burrows, crab-like Krinpit on the surface, and flying Balloonists who never land. If the story had been more about the interesting animals, I would have enjoyed the book better. I did not like any of the human characters. By the second hundred pages, I was already hoping they would all die. But of course they don't. People on Earth bomb each other to bits and the related factions on Jem almost follow suit, being stopped only by a natural disaster. The resulting civilization is an utopian parody; it reminds me of "Animal Farm". Everything is "freely given" or not given at all. The native sentients of Jem work for the humans because they can't do otherwise after their planet is subdued by humans. It's repulsive, but realistic, to imagine that humans would do no better with a new planet than they have with their first one, even after all their experience and knowledge. I prefer happier fantasies.

Not many authors can "build" a planet in enough detail to make it seem realistic to the reader. If they can, however, their names are often spoken with reverance among SF fans for their brilliance and ingenuity. Herbert, Niven, Robinson, and now Pohl.

But JEM is more than just the detailing of a planet, it is the creation of a civilization, where Earth can no longer support people and so they have to move on and try to start again, only our petty human disagreements get in the way and we almost risk utopia for the sake of being superior to someone else.

There is so much going on in this novel that it's almost impossible to discuss, but Pohl handles everything perfectly, from the charactization of the humans, to the imaginative aliens that inhabit the world of Jem. Yes, there are setbacks, there are fights, and the people almost fail, the black night bearing down on them, but the novel ends with a ray of light, the final few lines certain to resonate long after the novel has been closed (that's a cliche thrown around a lot, but here it is completely applicable.) It's a must for anyone and everyone.

This conglomeration of Lester Del Rey's stories was wonderful. I had never him before, but after this book, I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. A must have!

A totally gripping book. Written a very short time after the Chernobyl accident, this novel is a wonderful story about the people of that doomed town. I loved the way Pohl, a great SF writer, mixes the engineering details with the human drama.

The political stuff in the book has been overshadowed by the unrealness what *really* happened in Russia after it has been written; but it's still a must-read, in my opinion.

Unitarian minister Reverend Hornswell "Horny" Hake is forced to join a secret government cadre of dirty tricksters called "the Team" in this wry, futuristic spoof of a spy novel. Hapless Hake's total incompetence becomes apparent almost immediately when he is abducted by the mysterious Leota, who works for an underground organization dedicated to fighting the Team. This doesn't stop Hake from carrying out his first assignment: escorting an unruly bunch of teenagers on a tour of Europe in order to reduce worker productivity. This campaign is typical of the "Cool War" Pohl envisions in which nations engage in covert operations designed to make the opponent significantly less competitive economically without the kind of national culpability that might generate a military response. Hake finds himself well rewarded for his pains, but is troubled by the moral implications of his actions. In particular, he worries that the minor annoyances caused by the Team are hurting innocent people more than their governments. The intentional wastefulness of the Team goes against his long-ingrained distaste for what this resource-starved society calls "piggery", and in several subsequent encounters Leota asks him how he justifies his part in activities that seem so morally abhorrent and at the same time so politically meaningless. As Hake begins to act more independently, he falls afoul of the Reddi brothers, a pair (literally) of professional mercenaries who sometimes work with the Team, and other times work against it. Will Hake make his final stand for the Team, against the Team, or for himself? There are few enough really likable characters in this cynical, but still amusing novel, and Hake in particular is so easily dominated by whomever he happens to be with at the time, that readers may want to shake him and shout "Why are you doing this"? The story seems to imply that any attempt to interfere with the lives of strangers (for whatever reason) is ultimately both immoral and self-defeating. Even the seductive Leota comes to realize this eventually, at what may be thought of as the turning point of the novel. The Cool War has eliminated violent military conflict, but still espouses a spirit of competition and mutual degradation, which in the end, can't be good for anyone. Although this book addresses some serious issues, the tone is light and comedic, so it doesn't leave much of an impact. The combination of sci-fi spy thriller and romantic comedy, while unusual and even refreshing, just isn't that effective, so while this book is likable and even amusing, there may not be enough substance to satisfy everyone.

Access to the minds of human beings has been granted to a clique of scientists by means of a supercomputer able to hack into the astral plane. Wearing a skullcap transmitter permits one to navigate this spirit realm freely. Upon entering the body of a given person, complete control over his movements is possible.

Not surprisingly, this newly-achieved power proves to be a catalyst for corruption as people suddenly begin to slaughter each other apparently at random. Believing there to be a pattern behind this carnage, and armed only with a copy of Gibran's _The Prophet_, protagonist Chandler embarks on a quest to discover the operator of this mind-controlling demon.

Originally introduced in his groundbreaking 1965 novel _A Plague of Pythons_, Frederik Pohl's concept of technologically-induced mind control is hereby taken into our era with this up-to-date remake, issued two decades after its predecessor.

I thought the overall theme of this book was conceptually very interisting. Basically, as you may be able to guess from its title, it has to do with more not always being better. Once the human race has developed a virtually limitless source of energy, they had everything they could ever need... and more.

In this new world, robotic factories produce vast amounts of luxuries, and in order to consume them all, every person is given a ration of things they must consume, and only the rich are able to afford to live the simple life, with a nice five room cottage, while the poor have no choice but to live in 26 room mansions, constantly go to operas, have dinner at the club, wear fancy clothes etcetera.

Granted the economics of this whole idea are kind of screwy, but this book isn't really trying to be realistic, but it is trying to make a point about the almost axiomatic belief people seem to have that more is better.

Although it is nowhere near realistic, it is a very good read and quite thought provoking. I would recommend it to any science fiction fan.