Metaphorosis Reviews
Written on Jan 1, 1991
Summary
A collection of short fictional 'essays' and one long story about the Heechee and human interaction with their devices.
Review
Gateway was perhaps Frederik Pohl’s best book, and the series held up reasonably well (unlike, e.g., Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama, which was a great book and poor series). As he neared the end of the series, Pohl evidently wanted to fill in some of the gaps the novels had left behind, and offered this series of sketches and one long story.
It’s satisfying for what it is – a book intended for Heechee fans – but also doesn’t give too much away if read out of turn. The sole real story is a long one set on Venus, which is a nice change for the Heechee universe, and takes place before Gateway is discovered. It’s a pretty good story, though it does lean a little more into 70s ‘male protector’-ism, getting away with it only because of self-aware sardonicism.
The bulk of the book is taken up with loosely grouped sketches of various events and discoveries. It flows smoothly and reads well, but it is mostly gap filling material rather than true narrative.
If you’re a fan of the Heechee and have read all or most of the other books, you’ll enjoy this. If you’re new to the series, this is definitely not the place to start. Go with Gateway instead and you won’t regret it.
Why hasn’t Gateway been made into a series? Admittedly, they’d probably screw it up, but it’s got great potential.