Gateway by Frederik Pohl

[Montmorency]

I finished reading this a couple of weeks ago and found it really good. Usually i am not one for the whole spaceships thing, but I really enjoyed it.

 

This is how amazon describes it:

 

"Wealth ... or death. Those were the choices Gateway offered. Humans had discovered this artificial spaceport, full of working interstellar ships left behind by the mysterious, vanished Heechee. Their destinations are preprogrammed. They are easy to operate, but impossible to control. Some came back with discoveries which made their intrepid pilots rich; others returned with their remains barely identifiable. It was the ultimate game of Russian roulette, but in this resource-starved future there was no shortage of desperate volunteers."

 

Highly recommended!!!

 

I am about to start "do androids dream of sheep"

[Karsa Orlong]

I nearly bought this the other day. Thanks for the recommendation, it's one I shall definitely get, now.

 

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is superb, I hope you enjoy it.

 

Have you read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, or The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, or anything by Iain M. Banks? If you haven't, they're all highly recommended as well.

[Reid]

i picked up Gateway in waterstones the other day but was in a bit of an undecided mood so I didnt buy it.

I will add it to my to read list!

thanks

[greeeen]

I read this thread earlier and was interested in the book. But when I went to the bookstore, I couldn't find it. I guess I'll put it on my to-read-list

[Lemon Crisis]

I picked this up in Waterstones a couple weeks back, along with The Forever War, but I couldn't bring myself to buy them. I love my sci-fi (although admittedly I've never really ventured outside the Black Library book-wise), but I'm a bit wary of the older sci-fi books. I guess I'm worried about how outdated they'll seem.

 

Are they as outdated as I suspect? I'm really craving sci-fi atm, and with no decent new series to watch I've turned to books

[Karsa Orlong]

Are they as outdated as I suspect? I'm really craving sci-fi atm, and with no decent new series to watch I've turned to books

I guess it depends what kind of sf you're looking for. Are you looking for something that's like a particular tv series?

 

I bought Gateway but I haven't read it yet, so I can't comment on that, but I've read The Forever War recently and it is fantastic, and a book that no self-respecting sf fan should be without, imo. Is it dated? Only in that it initially postulates a future set in the 1990s, but it soon goes far beyond that.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with reading the classics, really - the stories are no less brilliant for having been written years ago, and are usually far more inventive and exciting because of it. As mentioned in my earlier post, this one - along with The Stars My Destination - are truly great reads.

 

If you really do want something that was written more recently, though, you could (must!) try Iain M. Banks and Peter F. Hamilton, if you haven't already done so. Neal Asher, Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds are worth a look, too.

[Lemon Crisis]

I guess it depends what kind of sf you're looking for. Are you looking for something that's like a particular tv series?

 

Not really! I just usually stick to tv series as I wasn't quite sure whereabouts in the sci-fi genre to dive in for books. I'd rather read something thats not like a tv series tbh (unless its as epic as BSG).

 

Thanks for the list of authors to try! I'd heard of them before but now I'll give them a go, and I'll see if my library has Gateway or The Forever War.

 

[Karsa Orlong]

Finished Gateway last night. Have to say, I thought it was excellent. Without spoiling anything, the narrative device that Pohl used worked really well and had a real pay-off at the end that I thought was brilliant.