Heechee Rendezvous

De: Frederik Pohl

Narrado por: Oliver Wyman

Duración: 11 h y 30 m

Resumen del Editor

After millennia had passed, Mankind discovered the Heechee legacy (an alien culture that fled to the relative safety of a black hole) - in particular an asteroid stocked with autonavigating spacecraft. Robinette Broadhead, who had led the expedition that unlocked the many secrets of Heechee technology, is now forced once more to make a perilous voyage into space - where the Heechee are waiting. And this time the future of Man is at stake....

©1984 Frederick Pohl (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Essential listening

Enjoyable performance of 3rd installment in Frederick Pohl's timeless Heechee saga. Old school science fiction, no wizards / zombies.

all fizzle, no bang

lacked the mysterious aspects which I enjoyed so much in the first two in the series. plot timeline felt off and didnt build much tension for me personally.

Great production

Third in the series by the same narrator. Very enjoyable and the different voices really makes the story come alive

Still good

Usually I lose interest after the author spent most of their energy on the initial world building in the first book but the series continues to intrigue me.

I Enjoyed It ...

Where does Heechee Rendezvous rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Probably in the middle. This is more of a traditional space opera story, and fits neatly into that genre. Pohl was an editor before becoming a writer and his familiarity with the genre shows here. This is a tightly plotted story that moves along nicely. Parts of it are a little "wordy' but overall it is traditional Sci Fi and a good third book in the series.

What did you like best about this story?

Understanding the Heechee, their intentions and the reasons for their retreat was interesting.In many ways the story is a backdrop to Pohl's fascination with physics and I enjoyed the argument between a pro-Einstein version and a pro-Quantum version of astrophysics.

Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I thought he was great. He has done all three int his series and I thought it was interesting how he made Robin "sound" like he had aged (from the first book). Also his representation of Albert was great.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No I rarely do that, but it doesn't diminish that this was a good book.

Any additional comments?

The first book in this series was a ground breaking book, no doubt about it. The second and third books are more conventional in their plot and storyline.Some readers might not like this, adn stopping after the first book might make sense. I enjoyed finding out what happened to Robinette after the first book, and adjusted my expectations during books two and three. It doesn't mean they are not as good, just that they are different in narrative, story and tone. Pohl is a traditional Sci Fi writer like Clarke and Asimov and readers of those authors will enjoy this book and this series.It is entertaining and interesting.

Great book!

I very much enjoyed this one. I think it took a little longer to get to the Heechee than I wanted, but, the back and side stories helped develop the plit, immensely.

slow burn with rushed end

I have a feeling this was originally supposed to be much longer until an editorial mandate came down that it couldn't be more then a certain amount of pages. it has a very slow first 2/3rds wasting time with frankly irrelevant characters that i can see why they might have been there but it was never followed up on. then everything that was building up literally happens in the last 30 minutes of the audiobook and is told in a very abridged way. so much wasted time delivering a very weak payoff. haven't yet gotten the opportunity for the last book but I am assuming that this is by far the weakest link in the saga.

The Payoffs Begin

The world of the Heechee Saga continues to progress at a brisk pace always growing, and in this Heechee Rondezvous things that I'd wondered about for the first two books begin to be answered. It seems like these aren't popular or common books, but they are fun and Heechee Rondezvous does not disappoint.

Finally, meeting the Heechee

Frederik Pohl’s Heechee Rendezvous is his third installment in his Gateway series. Charaters from the first two books are still around. Broadhead is dragged back when an old acquaintance arrives with a bizarre tale of a message from the Heechee. At the same time, the individual who grew up on Gateway is in the hunt but being his narcissistic self. Robin’s old girlfriend stuck in the black hole makes a comeback and together they learn the reason for the Heechee disappearance.

Pohl has fun with this story, including an AI deepfake to pull off a prison break. He was particularly insightful in terms of AI adopting specific personas as well as digital uplift. There’s also some background on the Heechee and the basis for their more recent disappearance that sets up the next installment.

The narration is quite good with excellent character distinction, although with a host of accents. Pacing is smooth.

Good ideas in haphazard story with endless discussion

Third story in the series and far from my favorite. There are some great SF ideas related to artificial computer intelligences, black holes, manipulating the laws of the universe, etc. But the characters seemed to spend much of their time either in annoying personal conflicts or pondering what is going on. Even after it was revealed to the reader what is going on, some characters continued speculating about what is going on! Together with a somewhat haphazard plot line, it started to feel like a chore to reach the end. I am probably not going on to number four, which is disappointing having really enjoyed the first two.