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martyfried's review against another edition
3.0
I read the first books of this series, and they were interesting, although it was starting to get slow at the end. But I wanted to finish the series while I still remembered the characters, so I kept going. Well, I almost regretted that decision.
The book really started to drag, mostly because of the repeated explanations of the difference between time for living people ("meat" people, they called them) and the electronically-stored versions, who interacted in milliseconds rather than seconds or minutes. Not to mention hearing over and over about the protagonist's psychological problems and his worries about everything.
My rating reflects the entire series, and is more of an average than a total rating, because I enjoyed the first parts. But if it were all one book, it might be lower.
The book really started to drag, mostly because of the repeated explanations of the difference between time for living people ("meat" people, they called them) and the electronically-stored versions, who interacted in milliseconds rather than seconds or minutes. Not to mention hearing over and over about the protagonist's psychological problems and his worries about everything.
My rating reflects the entire series, and is more of an average than a total rating, because I enjoyed the first parts. But if it were all one book, it might be lower.
djwudi's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A little action, a lot of interesting playing with AIs and “machine-stored intelligences” generated from people when they die, allowing them to keep on going (a concept introduced in earlier books, but more thoroughly explored here). And, again, an unfortunate subplot involving sexualizing young girls (and in this case, for a little variety, adding a predilection for sexualized abuse as well); thankfully, nothing untoward ever actually happens and this is a relatively minor subplot, but the character’s appetites are made well known, and are an entirely unnecessary addition. The Heechee series has a lot of interesting stuff in it, I just wish Pohl hadn’t felt the need to keep putting these bits in as well.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence
daniel_og13's review against another edition
5.0
De la saga:
Pohl es el tío más inteligente que he leído en el género de la ciencia ficción y no deja de sorprenderme la precisión con que se ha anticipado a un montón de acontecimientos teniendo en cuenta que la saga de los Heechees se escribió a lo largo de la década de los 80’s.
Es decir, la manera en que predijo el desarrollo de tecnologías como la IA, la exploración espacial, internet y los conceptos físicos detrás del viaje hiperlumínico así como las implicaciones del horizonte de sucesos de los agujeros negros entre otras cosas como la extensión de la vida humana y la generación de alimentos con base en sustancias elementales, sigue siendo la manera en que tanto apocalípticos como integrados esperan que estas cosas se desenvuelvan en el futuro.
Y aunque al final creo que me ha hartado un poco la angustia existencial del personaje principal, creo que es una metáfora de la vacuidad de la existencia humana: siempre desearemos entender el porqué de nuestra existencia pero es probable que nunca demos con la respuesta.
Del libro:
Inicialmente el libro plantea un problema primordial. Nuestro personaje principal y narrador es una inteligencia digital y sus procesos mentales se desarrollan en el nivel de los gigabits, por lo que su relación con los “seres de carne” suele ser complicada. El autor no deja de recordarnos el hastío que esto causa al protagonista, siendo a lo largo del libro tan reiterativo que puede llegar a hartarte. Pero creo que esa era la intención. Provocarte ligeramente el fastidio que sufre Robin al vivir revolucionado en medio de seres análogos.
Me parece que la conclusión de la saga se da de forma redonda. Repentinamente los humanos viven armónicamente con los Heechees e incluso desarrollan un ligero tufo de superioridad con respecto a esta raza y otras formas de vida en la galaxia. Muy humano. Y lejos de volverse precavidos por los nuevos desafíos que plantea nuestro nuevo horizonte, la raza humana se lanza de cabeza hacia lo desconocido esperando que lo esencial de nuestro carácter nos libre de la total aniquilación. Nada más humano.
Pohl es el tío más inteligente que he leído en el género de la ciencia ficción y no deja de sorprenderme la precisión con que se ha anticipado a un montón de acontecimientos teniendo en cuenta que la saga de los Heechees se escribió a lo largo de la década de los 80’s.
Es decir, la manera en que predijo el desarrollo de tecnologías como la IA, la exploración espacial, internet y los conceptos físicos detrás del viaje hiperlumínico así como las implicaciones del horizonte de sucesos de los agujeros negros entre otras cosas como la extensión de la vida humana y la generación de alimentos con base en sustancias elementales, sigue siendo la manera en que tanto apocalípticos como integrados esperan que estas cosas se desenvuelvan en el futuro.
Y aunque al final creo que me ha hartado un poco la angustia existencial del personaje principal, creo que es una metáfora de la vacuidad de la existencia humana: siempre desearemos entender el porqué de nuestra existencia pero es probable que nunca demos con la respuesta.
Del libro:
Inicialmente el libro plantea un problema primordial. Nuestro personaje principal y narrador es una inteligencia digital y sus procesos mentales se desarrollan en el nivel de los gigabits, por lo que su relación con los “seres de carne” suele ser complicada. El autor no deja de recordarnos el hastío que esto causa al protagonista, siendo a lo largo del libro tan reiterativo que puede llegar a hartarte. Pero creo que esa era la intención. Provocarte ligeramente el fastidio que sufre Robin al vivir revolucionado en medio de seres análogos.
Me parece que la conclusión de la saga se da de forma redonda. Repentinamente los humanos viven armónicamente con los Heechees e incluso desarrollan un ligero tufo de superioridad con respecto a esta raza y otras formas de vida en la galaxia. Muy humano. Y lejos de volverse precavidos por los nuevos desafíos que plantea nuestro nuevo horizonte, la raza humana se lanza de cabeza hacia lo desconocido esperando que lo esencial de nuestro carácter nos libre de la total aniquilación. Nada más humano.
pjmurphy3's review against another edition
4.0
I think coming into a story in the fourth book of the series, made it harder to get into and enjoy right from the beginning. Plus the style of the writing which exhibited a vast amount of showing and not telling made it harder to enjoy. It was almost like a journal that took some time to get used to. We are given a vast amount of information that isn’t needed in the story. Although this does help us form the bonds of the characters.
Once I felt that I was getting into the plot of the actual story I felt like the book moved to a much better place. We got to explore and experience the universe at large, and when I say universe I do mean that. Since the book is a classic Sci-Fi adventure piece, we are given the thematic elements of a Space Opera with augmented humans, advanced Artificial Intelligence, and space travel.
I couldn’t help but see the similarities between this book and other well known Sci-Fi works, like The Matrix, I am Robot, Space Odyssey 2000.
When we first open in the book the characters Robinette and Elsie are preparing for a lavish party. But this no ordinary party, the party is in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the settlement of an asteroid. Now you may be thinking so what is so special about that? Well let me tell you, you see Robin and Elsie were part of the original settlers of the asteroid, putting them well over 100 years old. They can do this by storing their essence as Machine People. They were digitized and it allows them to “live forever”. They can eat, drink, and party as much as they want with no fear of repercussions. And believe me, they do. Plus due to their billionaire status, they can rub elbows with the upper echelons of society. Thus they gain a vast amount of influence and power. The first few chapters give us an understanding of how our MCs, remember the party-goers both of the meat and non meant verity. We are given a lot of history of the start of the colony, space exploration, and the contact with non-human life.
The alien species called the Heechee are shown to be great explorers of the galaxy. Having sought out intelligent life, the Heechee worked to study and interact with being they felt they could. But out of the three species they understood to be intelligent, humans were the only ones to be able to talk back. Thus once the human race was able to form the necessary tools to begin space travel, they discovered the remits of the Heechee fleet and the two were the two able to meet. Using a complicated system of ancient Heechee technology the two races learn to co-mingle.
We also looked at an advanced artificial intelligence cleaver named Albert Einstein. This was probably my favorite character in the whole book. He was snarky, intelligent but also compassionate and caring. With a few simple commands, he was able to provide anything for his masters, from a beach house with little fruity drinks, to advanced astronomical theories. I think the thing I liked the most was that he could explain the science behind the big bang theory that made it easy for one to understand. This is great for a reader that might not have the understanding of those theories, and even the ones that do will understand it better.
The third set of people we are given to look at. Is a newly formed friendship between three adolescents; One human girl, one human boy, and one Heechee boy. Having already known each other the human boy and Heechee boy are tossed into unknown territory with the addition of the girl. It is a nice break to get to see how they interact with each other. And how their lives are changed when they are sent back to earth, they must each try to find their way in the new environment, school, and planet, while also staying together.
Finally over the times together the Heechee cultures teach the humans to fear a race they call the Assassins. The assassins are a formless void that works to devour the rest of the universe. As a formless void, it is unable to vocalize, materialize or visualize any sort of demands or endeavors, thus making it the perfect enemy. How can you stop something that has no face, voice, or mind? I felt like this is a great existential question that gave the characters something to strive for.
Overall I did like the book. It gave a nice view of the crises one might face if they were to be able to live forever and how that would affect the people and places one interacted with. The look at the scientific theories, law, and practices was a nice way to understand them and figure a way they could be taught to those who might not understand them. The author did his research into the topics. While we did get several classic Sci-Fi Tropes, we were also given some great twists and turns. I gave this one four out of five stars only because of the beginning. Once we got into the main body, and the plot advanced along it did save it.
I would recommend the book to anyone that likes classic Sci-fi stories, especially those who like the idea of augmented humans, space travel, artificial intelligence, and the combination of human and non-human species.
Once I felt that I was getting into the plot of the actual story I felt like the book moved to a much better place. We got to explore and experience the universe at large, and when I say universe I do mean that. Since the book is a classic Sci-Fi adventure piece, we are given the thematic elements of a Space Opera with augmented humans, advanced Artificial Intelligence, and space travel.
I couldn’t help but see the similarities between this book and other well known Sci-Fi works, like The Matrix, I am Robot, Space Odyssey 2000.
When we first open in the book the characters Robinette and Elsie are preparing for a lavish party. But this no ordinary party, the party is in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the settlement of an asteroid. Now you may be thinking so what is so special about that? Well let me tell you, you see Robin and Elsie were part of the original settlers of the asteroid, putting them well over 100 years old. They can do this by storing their essence as Machine People. They were digitized and it allows them to “live forever”. They can eat, drink, and party as much as they want with no fear of repercussions. And believe me, they do. Plus due to their billionaire status, they can rub elbows with the upper echelons of society. Thus they gain a vast amount of influence and power. The first few chapters give us an understanding of how our MCs, remember the party-goers both of the meat and non meant verity. We are given a lot of history of the start of the colony, space exploration, and the contact with non-human life.
The alien species called the Heechee are shown to be great explorers of the galaxy. Having sought out intelligent life, the Heechee worked to study and interact with being they felt they could. But out of the three species they understood to be intelligent, humans were the only ones to be able to talk back. Thus once the human race was able to form the necessary tools to begin space travel, they discovered the remits of the Heechee fleet and the two were the two able to meet. Using a complicated system of ancient Heechee technology the two races learn to co-mingle.
We also looked at an advanced artificial intelligence cleaver named Albert Einstein. This was probably my favorite character in the whole book. He was snarky, intelligent but also compassionate and caring. With a few simple commands, he was able to provide anything for his masters, from a beach house with little fruity drinks, to advanced astronomical theories. I think the thing I liked the most was that he could explain the science behind the big bang theory that made it easy for one to understand. This is great for a reader that might not have the understanding of those theories, and even the ones that do will understand it better.
The third set of people we are given to look at. Is a newly formed friendship between three adolescents; One human girl, one human boy, and one Heechee boy. Having already known each other the human boy and Heechee boy are tossed into unknown territory with the addition of the girl. It is a nice break to get to see how they interact with each other. And how their lives are changed when they are sent back to earth, they must each try to find their way in the new environment, school, and planet, while also staying together.
Finally over the times together the Heechee cultures teach the humans to fear a race they call the Assassins. The assassins are a formless void that works to devour the rest of the universe. As a formless void, it is unable to vocalize, materialize or visualize any sort of demands or endeavors, thus making it the perfect enemy. How can you stop something that has no face, voice, or mind? I felt like this is a great existential question that gave the characters something to strive for.
Overall I did like the book. It gave a nice view of the crises one might face if they were to be able to live forever and how that would affect the people and places one interacted with. The look at the scientific theories, law, and practices was a nice way to understand them and figure a way they could be taught to those who might not understand them. The author did his research into the topics. While we did get several classic Sci-Fi Tropes, we were also given some great twists and turns. I gave this one four out of five stars only because of the beginning. Once we got into the main body, and the plot advanced along it did save it.
I would recommend the book to anyone that likes classic Sci-fi stories, especially those who like the idea of augmented humans, space travel, artificial intelligence, and the combination of human and non-human species.
zegim's review against another edition
3.0
En el cuarto libro de la saga de los Heechee por fin conocemos al Adversario, Robin Broadhead se pasa a ser uno con la internet, vuelven los terroristas y los Heechee pierden toda el aura de misterio de los libros anteriores. Esto último es quizás lo que más me decepcionó de este libro, después de que en las partes anteriores te cuentan de los increíbles logros tecnológicos de los Heechee en esta historia se reducen a ser los vecinos nuevos de los humanos. Es más, son mostrados como incompetentes para lidiar con el Adversario en comparación con los humanos.
Aún así hay cosas interesantes. Que Robin viva como una inteligencia almacenada en el equivalente a la Iinternet es una idea intrigante, aunque Pohl describe una y otra y otra y otra vez cómo Robin y las demás inteligencias almacenadas superan las posibilidad de un ser humano de carne, hueso y tripas. El origen del Adversario es ingenioso y justifica que esta entidad sea temida como una amenaza para todo el universo. Las aventuras en la escuela primaria espacial son adorables aunque se sienten fuera de lugar en esta serie de libros.
Es una conclusión decepcionante a la historia de los Heechee y casi opuesta en tono a Pórtico. En el lado positivo la inteligencia Albert Einstein tiene una vez más un rol importante en la historia.
Recomendable solo si de verdad quieres saber en qué terminan los asuntos de los Heechee y el Adversario.
Aún así hay cosas interesantes. Que Robin viva como una inteligencia almacenada en el equivalente a la Iinternet es una idea intrigante, aunque Pohl describe una y otra y otra y otra vez cómo Robin y las demás inteligencias almacenadas superan las posibilidad de un ser humano de carne, hueso y tripas. El origen del Adversario es ingenioso y justifica que esta entidad sea temida como una amenaza para todo el universo. Las aventuras en la escuela primaria espacial son adorables aunque se sienten fuera de lugar en esta serie de libros.
Es una conclusión decepcionante a la historia de los Heechee y casi opuesta en tono a Pórtico. En el lado positivo la inteligencia Albert Einstein tiene una vez más un rol importante en la historia.
Recomendable solo si de verdad quieres saber en qué terminan los asuntos de los Heechee y el Adversario.
photonqyv's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
smcleish's review against another edition
3.0
Originally published on my blog here in April 2001.
The Heechee series, which begins with [b:Gateway|218427|Gateway|Frederik Pohl|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320431534s/218427.jpg|1668837], is a classic. It is very traditional science fiction, but the quality of the ideas and the writing raise it well above the commonplace. I remember reading the first three novels for the first time when this was published, which is when I bought it; for it to have left as strong an impression on me as that, I must have found it an inspiring read.
The other thing I can remember is that The Annals of the Heechee was comparatively disappointing. Re-reading it now (without re-reading the others first), I can see both why this was and what I found impressive about the series as a whole.
The plot is rather difficult to summarise without completely ruining the earlier novels. The central character and narrator, Robinette Broadhead, is in some ways dead; he is now a machine stored personality. A lot of the novel is about the interaction of human beings and computer programs, a relationship which is clearly going to become closer and closer as time goes on in the real world.
Another theme of the novel - and of much hard science fiction - is the nature of the universe, and quite a large proportion of it is given over to descriptions of the big bang and string theory. This is a little unhelpful for plot development, but is probably needed for many readers to understand what is going on. (The descriptions are very clear, and do not appear to have gone out of date particularly badly.)
The Annals of the Heechee is quite a slow novel - partly a deliberate effect to emphasise the difference between machine stored and "meat" people - and its ending is anti-climactic. However, it succeeds on the ideas and characters sides, and provides a definite conclusion to a great series.
The Heechee series, which begins with [b:Gateway|218427|Gateway|Frederik Pohl|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320431534s/218427.jpg|1668837], is a classic. It is very traditional science fiction, but the quality of the ideas and the writing raise it well above the commonplace. I remember reading the first three novels for the first time when this was published, which is when I bought it; for it to have left as strong an impression on me as that, I must have found it an inspiring read.
The other thing I can remember is that The Annals of the Heechee was comparatively disappointing. Re-reading it now (without re-reading the others first), I can see both why this was and what I found impressive about the series as a whole.
The plot is rather difficult to summarise without completely ruining the earlier novels. The central character and narrator, Robinette Broadhead, is in some ways dead; he is now a machine stored personality. A lot of the novel is about the interaction of human beings and computer programs, a relationship which is clearly going to become closer and closer as time goes on in the real world.
Another theme of the novel - and of much hard science fiction - is the nature of the universe, and quite a large proportion of it is given over to descriptions of the big bang and string theory. This is a little unhelpful for plot development, but is probably needed for many readers to understand what is going on. (The descriptions are very clear, and do not appear to have gone out of date particularly badly.)
The Annals of the Heechee is quite a slow novel - partly a deliberate effect to emphasise the difference between machine stored and "meat" people - and its ending is anti-climactic. However, it succeeds on the ideas and characters sides, and provides a definite conclusion to a great series.
rafalreadersinitiative's review against another edition
3.0
Nieco rozczarowujące zakończenie serii, zwłaszcza w pierwszej, nazbyt rozwleczonej, pierwszej połowie. Po raz kolejny Pohl wprowadza postaci, obdarowuje je obszernym, rozpisanym na wiele stron dossier, by potem wykorzystać ich w marginalnych - choć z wyjątkami - wątkach, a w każdym bądź razie wątkach, które znajdują nazbyt szybkie, niewspółmierne do żmudnego ich rozwijania i, rzekłbym, wymagające od czytelnika, pewnej dozy naiwności, rozwiązania.
Druga połowa zdecydowanie lepsza. Autor konsekwentnie - co wynika z tego, jak prowadził wątki sztucznych a.k.a. "mechanicznych" inteligencji w tomach poprzednich - skupił się na nieco "matriksowym" rozwiązaniu opowieści, i przyznam, że przypadło mi to do gustu. Oczywiście, pozostawił masę furtek i niedopowiedzeń, co może trochę irytować, ale mi akurat absolutnie nie przeszkadzało.
Podsumowując: bardzo dobry cykl science-fiction. Pohl to zdecydowanie jeden z tych pisarzy, którzy musieli odcisnąć swoje piętno na autorach tego nurtu. Czuć u niego trendy, które na dobre zagościły się w fantastyce dopiero od końca lat dziewięćdziesiątych ubiegłego stulecia a które obecnie eksploatują autorzy tacy, jak Ian McDonald, czy (nawet bardziej) Charles Stross. Jeśli nieobca jest Wam twórczość tych dwóch panów, a Pohla jeszcze nie znacie, to czym prędzej powinniście nadrobić - jako i ja - zaległości.
Druga połowa zdecydowanie lepsza. Autor konsekwentnie - co wynika z tego, jak prowadził wątki sztucznych a.k.a. "mechanicznych" inteligencji w tomach poprzednich - skupił się na nieco "matriksowym" rozwiązaniu opowieści, i przyznam, że przypadło mi to do gustu. Oczywiście, pozostawił masę furtek i niedopowiedzeń, co może trochę irytować, ale mi akurat absolutnie nie przeszkadzało.
Podsumowując: bardzo dobry cykl science-fiction. Pohl to zdecydowanie jeden z tych pisarzy, którzy musieli odcisnąć swoje piętno na autorach tego nurtu. Czuć u niego trendy, które na dobre zagościły się w fantastyce dopiero od końca lat dziewięćdziesiątych ubiegłego stulecia a które obecnie eksploatują autorzy tacy, jak Ian McDonald, czy (nawet bardziej) Charles Stross. Jeśli nieobca jest Wam twórczość tych dwóch panów, a Pohla jeszcze nie znacie, to czym prędzej powinniście nadrobić - jako i ja - zaległości.