kymzii's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
With an amazing premise, this book has great sci-fi potential. Unfortunately, the story was completely ruined by a misogynistic protagonist which actually betrays a misogynistic writer - i.e. there was no comment when the protag beat up his girlfriend. The writer has no feelings of guilt and no-one shuns him. She acts like it never happened when they meet again. It was nauseating. The writer knows very little about psychology and yet the dual narrative of the entire novel is about our protag being in therapy.
There was also too much 'oh look everyone swings in the future'. Also that character is, in the words of the writer, 80% straight, but like to fantasise about shagging his male colleagues because his mum shoved a thermometer up his arse when he was a kid and he found it comforting'. Just WTF.
There was also too much 'oh look everyone swings in the future'. Also that character is, in the words of the writer, 80% straight, but like to fantasise about shagging his male colleagues because his mum shoved a thermometer up his arse when he was a kid and he found it comforting'. Just WTF.
reddrabbbit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ajali's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
spikespiegel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bogdanbalostin's review against another edition
5.0
Simple plot. Lots of sex. No heroes. Psychological questions. Terrifying space exploration. Different than any other SF books of that time.
charlibirb's review against another edition
4.0
I was confused as to how they could travel at light speed but have no time-dilation. Except around a black hole.
Liked the format, liked the world, didn't like the main character, but you weren't supposed to. Loved Siegfried.
Liked the format, liked the world, didn't like the main character, but you weren't supposed to. Loved Siegfried.
chairmanbernanke's review against another edition
3.0
Thoughtful and funny. Interesting that the explorers want to “make it”.
robean_hwallace's review against another edition
challenging
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
doodlefox's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This was a reread and let me tell you, I was horrified that they let 12-year old me out of the library with this book! The amount of sex! I remember none of it, so perhaps I was too naive to notice.
What I can't figure out is whether attitudes were that permissive towards sex and homosexuality in the 70s (I am surprisingly too young to remember) or whether Pohl was trying to shock.
Either way, I actively hated the protagonist. What an asshat. And the psychobabble at his shrink is complete hogwash.
I always wondered what happened next (South African libraries never seemed to have a full series of anything) so I was planning on reading the series. BUT. I am not sure if I want to sit through more of the protagonist's BS.
Overall rating: 3.25
But only because it's supposed to be a classic.
ornithopter1's review against another edition
3.0
The novel follows a prospector hoping to make his fortune within a scenario part goldrush, part deadly roulette. Humans have found a leftover alien station, with hundreds of docked ships – all fully functional. They don’t understand the navigation, but they know enough to get the ships to embark. Humans thus pilot these vessels on blind journeys, unaware of their destination, hoping to make their fortune by discovering a planet with resources or alien tech. The narrator is one such gambler, or will be if he can swallow his fear to sign up to a crew. We learn all of this via two timelines: a present-tense PoV from his time at Gateway; and a PoV looking back some time later, after he has hit the jackpot, but when he is unhappy and in therapy due to some unnamed occurrence.
I’m still struggling to get my thoughts in order after finishing Gateway. My reaction towards the main character? Very negative, really. He has a nasty streak of misogyny, which he doesn’t recognise, and a double-helping of cowardice, of which he is all too readily aware. It’s far from the archetypical swashbuckling hero. Which raises the question: can you enjoy a book written in the first-person when you dislike the narrator? I suspect my usual answer to that would be ‘no’. Somehow though I was always propelled to keep reading in this case.
That is likely due to one of the great strengths of the book: it has an unerring impetus, with a strong sense of building towards a culminating event. So good was that slow build-up in fact, that I’m not entirely sure the ending sufficiently paid off that due. Others will no doubt strongly disagree with me on that. The science fiction elements are well done and have aged well for the most part. Those elements, however, are far from the focus. In some ways the sci-fi is almost irrelevant, a colour painted onto the human story beneath. The character study is good too, but again not entirely successful - as I was somewhat alienated by it because of the character in question.
A very difficult book to rate: my emotional reaction to it and my intellectual one are quite at odds. This isn’t one to read if you expect a typical sci-fi plot, nor is it one to read if you’re just looking for an easy page-turner. It kind of washes over you, but you have to remain engaged with it to get anything out of it. I did find this satisfying and, having adjusted my expectations for future books, I will be reading more from Frederik Pohl in future. I’m just hoping next time I can get a protagonist that I actually like.
I’m still struggling to get my thoughts in order after finishing Gateway. My reaction towards the main character? Very negative, really. He has a nasty streak of misogyny, which he doesn’t recognise, and a double-helping of cowardice, of which he is all too readily aware. It’s far from the archetypical swashbuckling hero. Which raises the question: can you enjoy a book written in the first-person when you dislike the narrator? I suspect my usual answer to that would be ‘no’. Somehow though I was always propelled to keep reading in this case.
That is likely due to one of the great strengths of the book: it has an unerring impetus, with a strong sense of building towards a culminating event. So good was that slow build-up in fact, that I’m not entirely sure the ending sufficiently paid off that due. Others will no doubt strongly disagree with me on that. The science fiction elements are well done and have aged well for the most part. Those elements, however, are far from the focus. In some ways the sci-fi is almost irrelevant, a colour painted onto the human story beneath. The character study is good too, but again not entirely successful - as I was somewhat alienated by it because of the character in question.
A very difficult book to rate: my emotional reaction to it and my intellectual one are quite at odds. This isn’t one to read if you expect a typical sci-fi plot, nor is it one to read if you’re just looking for an easy page-turner. It kind of washes over you, but you have to remain engaged with it to get anything out of it. I did find this satisfying and, having adjusted my expectations for future books, I will be reading more from Frederik Pohl in future. I’m just hoping next time I can get a protagonist that I actually like.