In this bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books, Alan Brown looks at the front lines and frontiers of the field: books about soldiers and spacers, scientists and engineers, explorers and adventurers. Stories full of what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions”: battles, chases, clashes, and the stuff of excitement. En Pórtico, aprendimos que la humanidad ha dado un salto tecnológico tan espectacular como fortuito gracias a los artefactos que una antigua y ya desaparecida civilización alienígena —los Heechee— ha dejado a su paso por nuestro sistema solar. El único inconveniente es que la utilidad de estos hallazgos escapa por completo a nuestra comprensión y su empleo conlleva una serie de riesgos que resultan letales en la mayoría de casos. No obstante, empujadas por las precarias condiciones en que se halla la Tierra (superpoblación, hambrunas, contaminación, inestabilidad económica, etc.), cada vez más personas se embarcan en misiones suicidas a bordo de estas naves alienígenas con la remota esperanza de realizar nuevos descubrimientos y llevarse un exorbitante botín por ello.

No es esta la única, pero sí quizá la más potente idea que sobrevuela las páginas de Tras el incierto horizonte. Frederik Pohl reflexiona de manera magistral sobre los límites del conocimiento y de cómo este, bajo manos inexpertas o inadecuadas, en realidad se convierte en una monumental fuente de (literales) quebraderos de cabeza. En su insaciable y desesperada búsqueda de la verdad, de los secretos que esconde el universo, el ser humano no concibe la posibilidad de causar más estragos que beneficios con sus acciones, y por eso ejecuta empresas tan ambiciosas como kamikazes sin calibrar correctamente las potenciales secuelas. El resultado, y de ello es buen ejemplo el protagonista, es un lastre de titánicas proporciones que acarreamos bajo la apariencia de arrepentimiento y culpa. Por otra parte, los personajes de Frederik Pohl suelen manifestar sin motivo aparente una sexualidad sin ambages que puede incluso llegar a niveles retorcidos. El resto de la novela, hilvanada de manera sobresaliente a través de diversos puntos de vista, es pura especulación y sentido de la maravilla que empuja hasta sus últimas consecuencias los postulados del autor en materia de astrofísica, ingeniería o inteligencia artificial, sin perder nunca el tono divulgativo. The book opens with a chapter in the present tense, as we find the protagonist, Robinette (or Bob) Broadhead in the midst of a grueling session with a cybernetic psychologist that he dismissively calls “Sigfrid von Shrink.” We learn that Bob lives in comfort with the wealthy under the Big Bubble in New York City, and has a summer place on the Tappan Sea. He is wealthy enough to afford Full Medical coverage, which includes not only basic medical care, but also life-prolonging treatments and transplants. But he is not happy; he is miserable, in fact. His relationships are shallow and meaningless. Somewhere in his past lies not only a discovery that brought him great wealth, but a trauma that scarred him deeply. The Heechee saga is fascinating because of the mystery it presents. It is a story of archaeological exploration and discovery, since everything about the long-vanished Heechee is shrouded in mystery. While more about the Heechee is revealed in later books, the saga is very much a story about exploring and finding mankind’s place in the universe. It also provides an unflinching view of mankind’s weaknesses, and the desperation that often drives explorers and pioneers. Yet the story is absolutely gripping in its escalating intensity. As the narrative switches between the present and the past, the reader spirals closer and closer to the ugly truths that Bob cannot face, drawn inexorably to the tragedy at the heart of this tale.Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award: 1979 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End . Retrieved July 25, 2009.

Literature of Science Fiction lecture". Archived from the original on July 31, 2020 . Retrieved September 3, 2013. As with the first book the characters are far from perfect examples of humanity but most of the time you find yourself routing for them despite their actions. In the mid-1970s, Pohl acquired and edited novels for Bantam Books, published as "A Frederik Pohl Selection"; these included Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren and Joanna Russ's The Female Man. He also edited a number of science-fiction anthologies. Isaac". The Way the Future Blogs. January 25, 2010. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010 . Retrieved March 14, 2011. Other than writings on the unseen world, Frederik Pohl tried to explain how nature works. This concept earned him many scientific honors as his work were an indication of a genius. Some of the things he explained in his publications were occurrences that were wonders for many. For instance, the books, Starchild Trilogy, Starburst, The Reefs of Space and Search the Sky tried to explain how the sky works. His secret was using a language that is understandable to explain his complex concepts.Littleton, Cynthia (September 27, 2017). "Robert Kirkman's Skybound Entertainment Options Frederik Pohl Novel 'Gateway' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com . Retrieved September 27, 2017. year-old Janine gets forced to experience "virtual reality sex", old breeding experiments conducted by the Heechees. Apparently some of that was pretty horrible to live through. And what did she learn from all this? It made her horny for Wan and they "breed" immediately! 🤢🤮🤮

Lancaster University (July 24, 2020). "Sci-fi foretold social media, Uber and Augmented Reality, offers insights into the future - Science fiction authors can help predict future consumer patterns". EurekAlert! . Retrieved July 26, 2020. Pohl began writing in the late 1930s, using pseudonyms for most of his early works. His first publication was the poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna" under the name of Elton Andrews, in the October 1937 issue of Amazing Stories, edited by T. O'Conor Sloane. [1] [22] [23] (Pohl asked readers 30 years later, "we would take it as a personal favor if no one ever looked it up". [24]) His first story, the collaboration with C.M. Kornbluth "Before the Universe", appeared in 1940 under the pseudonym S.D. Gottesman. [4] Editor and agent [ edit ] Ashley, Mike, Transformations: The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970, Liverpool University Press (2005), ISBN 0-85323-779-4, p.207. A German-language edition of the first three novels was published 20 years later as "The Gateway Trilogy": Die Gateway-Trilogie (Munich: Heyne Verlag, 2004). [3] The Boy Who Would Live Forever incorporated three previously published stories: [4]In July 2020, an academic description reported on the nature and rise of the " robot prosumer", derived from modern-day technology and related participatory culture, that, in turn, was substantially predicted earlier by science fiction writers, most notably by Pohl. [43] [44] [45] Collaborative work [ edit ] a b "Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award: 1985 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End . Retrieved March 28, 2009.

Exploration in one such planet brings a Heechee 'computer' which makes him rich; however, after being analyzed by the Gateway Corporation, it reveals that a hostile alien race, dubbed the Assassins threatens all advanced civilizations in the universe, and the Heechee managed to evade them. Leonard Worden, the deputy chief of the exploration program, informs the player that even after all those years, reactivation of the Heechee technology by humans would only make them detectable to the Assassins. However the same computer provides coordinates to an interplanetary shield device. On board the giant Heechee Heaven station, the explorers interrogate the Dead Men, finding them barely sane and mostly useless. The Old Ones capture Wan, Janine, and Lurvey. They are each subjected to a device like the dreaming couch, where they relive memories of dozens of dead Old Ones, with the oldest memory being that of a creature that is not a Heechee, but rather one that was captured by Heechee scientists more than half a million years ago for study on Earth--an Australopithecus, an ancestor of modern man. The missing Heechee left a colony of Old Ones onboard Heechee Heaven in the care of a machine intelligence of an ancient Old One, hoping that further intelligence would evolve in the species if shepherded carefully. The Old Ones are gentle and intelligent, possessing language and rudimentary culture, but are relatively dimwitted compared to men, and live in fear of the mechanical Oldest One, who they consider a god. It's a very honest and real portrayal of a character, and even if parts of the psychotherapy scenes — Bob's Freudian slip, his willful inability to recognize blatant symbolism in his dreams — feel a little forced, it's forgivable. I heard some SF writers speak a couple weeks ago, and one was talking about how science fiction gets short shrift as "real" literature because mainstream fiction critics look at stories as resting somewhere on a spectrum: focusing either on characterization (which is laudable) or on plot (which is common and simple — and which is what most genre fiction does). He said there was a third coordinate to consider, which was setting, and that that was actually where SF shined. The old geezer Peter was a member of the Hitler youth when he was young. Because of course he was, he's German! I don't know how that is supposed to fit into the time line of Gateway ... but ... he was a Nazi ... and maybe still is?

Ardai, Charles (October 1992). "Pohl Position: Legend's Gateway". Computer Gaming World. No.99. pp.32–33 . Retrieved 4 July 2014. He was a great author and editor with a taste of creativity and imaginary aspects. His most recent novels are The World at the End of Time, Outnumbering the Dead, Stopping at Slowyear, The Voices of Heaven, O Pioneer, and The Siege of Eternity.