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jefferz's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A Hugo award winner, this novel is classic sci-fi through and through and a fond callback to when sci-fi stories were less focused on immense world-shattering or convoluted epics and were instead more grounded while presenting various "what if's". While there is a plot involving the status and future of Way Station, an intergalactic stop/rest point similar in purpose to a bus transfer station, the bulk of the book is more abstract in nature.
Rather than immediately delving into Enoch Wallace's tale of an "immortal" Civil War veteran chosen as a caretaker for this Way Station, it presents various short stories of Enoch's counters with both the extraterrestrial and (surprisingly more threatening) humans that encourage you to think about what it is that makes up the human existence and frame of mind. As an 120+ yr old veteran (returned my library copy, can't recall exactly what yr this took place) who has had more interactions with intergalactic travelers vs humans, there's a lot of interesting commentary layered with each story that cover topics from language, isolation, culture, bits of existential crisis, and the self-destructive nature of of human kind and war. Despite the topics, Simak's writing style is still an easy read that has an understated yet hopeful tone despite Enoch's difficulties at keeping the Way Station operable against mounting opposition both from the prying eyes of the CIA and neighbors as well as political factions from other parts of the galaxies.
What I found particularly surprising was how well elements of this book aged from 1963. Written during the height of the Cold War, the story of mankind's impending doom and mass civilian casualty in the 60's hits very close to home drawing many parallels to recent international conflicts and warfare that I will not be delving into for obvious reasons. The "cure" Enoch is faced with to avoid the end of mankind and planet Earth is a fascinating and refreshing alternative to mass genocide or Utopian dystopia all too common for the genre. There are also so many concepts that were innovative and unheard of at the time that are also quite relevant to technology developing today. Enoch is given a space that is 100% an equivalent of Virtual Reality and the "Shadowpeople" that appear partway through are eerily prophetic to AI technology. It's impressive how close these "alien items" in the 1960's are to developments today 60 years later.
Despite how impressed I was with this novel in concept, majority of the novel is taken at a slow, thought-provoking pace that will not be to all sci-fi tastes or even worse for those who want a clean cut read. There are also elements like the aforementioned Shadowpeople that are fascinating predictions to the future, but provide little or detract from the core story itself. There elements towards the end such as a missing Talisman and the politics of the Way Station that are also very rushed, condensed and quite honestly random which conflict with the otherwise collected and restrained pace. This book asks the reader a lot of questions and could serve as perfect material for a philosophy discussion, but it leaves most of them open-ended on purpose and that can be frustrated if you a straightforward concise narrative; if you don't want to think than this is not for you. We all have different reasons for reading or experiences so Way Station will not be to everyone's tastes, but it worked for me.
Rather than immediately delving into Enoch Wallace's tale of an "immortal" Civil War veteran chosen as a caretaker for this Way Station, it presents various short stories of Enoch's counters with both the extraterrestrial and (surprisingly more threatening) humans that encourage you to think about what it is that makes up the human existence and frame of mind. As an 120+ yr old veteran (returned my library copy, can't recall exactly what yr this took place) who has had more interactions with intergalactic travelers vs humans, there's a lot of interesting commentary layered with each story that cover topics from language, isolation, culture, bits of existential crisis, and the self-destructive nature of of human kind and war. Despite the topics, Simak's writing style is still an easy read that has an understated yet hopeful tone despite Enoch's difficulties at keeping the Way Station operable against mounting opposition both from the prying eyes of the CIA and neighbors as well as political factions from other parts of the galaxies.
What I found particularly surprising was how well elements of this book aged from 1963. Written during the height of the Cold War, the story of mankind's impending doom and mass civilian casualty in the 60's hits very close to home drawing many parallels to recent international conflicts and warfare that I will not be delving into for obvious reasons. The "cure" Enoch is faced with to avoid the end of mankind and planet Earth is a fascinating and refreshing alternative to mass genocide or Utopian dystopia all too common for the genre. There are also so many concepts that were innovative and unheard of at the time that are also quite relevant to technology developing today. Enoch is given a space that is 100% an equivalent of Virtual Reality and the "Shadowpeople" that appear partway through are eerily prophetic to AI technology. It's impressive how close these "alien items" in the 1960's are to developments today 60 years later.
Despite how impressed I was with this novel in concept, majority of the novel is taken at a slow, thought-provoking pace that will not be to all sci-fi tastes or even worse for those who want a clean cut read. There are also elements like the aforementioned Shadowpeople that are fascinating predictions to the future, but provide little or detract from the core story itself. There elements towards the end such as a missing Talisman and the politics of the Way Station that are also very rushed, condensed and quite honestly random which conflict with the otherwise collected and restrained pace. This book asks the reader a lot of questions and could serve as perfect material for a philosophy discussion, but it leaves most of them open-ended on purpose and that can be frustrated if you a straightforward concise narrative; if you don't want to think than this is not for you. We all have different reasons for reading or experiences so Way Station will not be to everyone's tastes, but it worked for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse and Violence
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