Gateway

By: Frederik Pohl

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Robert J. Sawyer

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

Gateway opened on all the wealth of the Universe...and on reaches of unimaginable horror.

When prospector Bob Broadhead went out to Gateway on the Heechee spacecraft, he decided he would know which was the right mission to make him his fortune. Three missions later, now famous and permanently rich, Robinette Broadhead has to face what happened to him and what he is...in a journey into himself as perilous and even more horrifying than the nightmare trip through the interstellar void that he drove himself to take!

BONUS AUDIO: In an exclusive introduction, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer explains why Gateway is one of science fiction's all-time greatest novels.

PLEASE NOTE: Some changes were made to the original text with the permission of the author.

©1977 Frederik Pohl (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

• Hugo Award, Best Novel, 1978
• Nebula Award, Best Novel, 1978
• John W. Campbell Memorial Award, Best Novel, 1978

I guess I'm not the right generation for this book

I know 'Gateway' is supposed to be a classic, and that there are all kinds of deep meanings to be found, but the reality of this book is that most of the text is taken up describing some loser's sexual conquests. Maybe the most innovative foundation for a sci-fi universe ever, and we get a lot of one guy having sex on one space station. Yeah, I know people way, way smarter than me loved this novel, but I was to the point where I just didn't care at the end. P.S. I pulled over a year of remote duty while I was in the military, and no, not everybody started having sex with each other on the second day.

A human-focused SF classic

Gateway is a book I’ve read several times since I was a kid, and an old favorite. At eleven, I was more interested in the science fiction aspects (somehow, most of the sex and drug use went over my head), but with repeated readings, I’ve come to appreciate the human elements of the story a lot more.

To be fair, the setup is one of the coolest in science fiction. Humanity has discovered an ancient alien space station near Venus, called Gateway, which is filled with small starships. Nobody knows what happened to the Heechee or why they abandoned their base, but many of the ships are in working order and will travel by autopilot to other star systems and the planets orbiting them.

Too bad there's a catch. Not all of the ships still work perfectly after half a million years, and some of the destinations are lethal. A once temperate star might have supernova-d since the time of Heechee civilization. Nobody has a clue how Heechee technology works. So, the Gateway Corporation recruits "prospectors" willing to risk a fairly high chance of death to take images of different parts of the galaxy and bring back artifacts that the Corporation might study.

People volunteer for this mission because life on an overcrowded Earth has become pretty miserable for most, with quality medical care available only to the wealthy few (sound familiar?). One such volunteer is Robinette Broadhead, a former miner of oil shale (now used for growing foodstuffs -- yum), who wins the lottery.

Bob, as he’s called, is a pretty flawed character, a self-centered, sex-chasing man who’s also somewhat of a coward. But he’s easy to relate to, not really being a bad guy at heart, and his fear is understandable, given the horrible deaths that await many prospectors. His story unfolds in two parts, one of which follows his life and relationships from Earth to Gateway and beyond, and the other of which has the older and now fantastically rich Mr. Broadhead in sessions with an AI psychiatrist, trying to get to the root of a deep trauma that both threads will eventually converge on. (And it is a pretty terrible one.)

Some readers aren’t fans of the sessions between Robinette and the computer psychiatrist, Sigfrid von Shrink, but I loved their relationship and think it’s integral to the story, in a subtle way. I found it fun watching Bob try to trick Sigfrid, only to find that the machine’s programming was nearly always a step ahead of him.

This book isn’t really about the Heechee (see further entries in the series to learn more about them), but about the dirty, messy tension of human desires, fears, and guilt in a place that stands between life and death, known and unknown. Gateway’s a moving examination of the psychology of our existence, of how we, from the personal level up to the species level, neither want to place our hopes on a frightening gamble on the unknown, nor on the ugly, suffering-filled known, but sometimes must make a choice and face what comes.

Still a classic.

Not What I Expected

This is not the typical sci-fi I normally read. In fact, while there is some good sci-fi in there to keep me interested in the story the interaction between Ziggy and Bob have me trapped in the story. I was planning to move on to some other books I've downloaded since starting this one but now I have to finish the series. Just too dang good.

Maybe it was oversold to me

Any additional comments?

I understand that this book won all kinds of awards, but quite a bit of it didn't sit well with me. Who would leave their life behind, go to a space station to fly in a space ship, but not fly in a space ship because they were scared. Lots of convenient casual sex, (totally unnecessary to forwarding plot). Watching other patients seemed odd. Why go to a therapist and lie to the therapist? Whats the point? "We have no idea what the controls do" is so damned dismissive. Maybe I was confused but at the end wasn't he sacrificing himself but through dumb luck he lived? I must have missed something there.

Did I like it when first published?

I kept asking myself, did I like this book when I read when it first came to paperback? I didn't remember one word of it. Must have read it because I remember finishing all Pohl's at one time. I did not like this book in 2015. Tedious in the extreme, building up to a single punch that wasn't really worth it.

Whoa! Inventive and thought provoking.

Gateway wasn't the most action packed book, but somehow still kept my attention. Great story that really makes the listener think. Not another book i can compare this too which makes it very different but still a great book. The main character isn't the most likeable person but this adds to the realism of the characters and the story. Hoping the the next book has a little more action. Could end up being a great series.

more heechee please

Great story and reading. If you like sci-fi, don't hesitate to buy Gateway. Still fresh after 30 years. Interesting premise of space exploration via trial and error with alien technology. Hope to see more of the Pohl's Heechee books and Oliver Wyman's readings.

Amazing Performances for a Great Book

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This novel won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for a reason. The Narrators just about make love to this story, characterizing it. Amazing performances!

What did you like best about this story?

It's a novel about a man, a very normal man, who lived through extraordinary circumstances and has to deal with survivor's guilt.

The ideas here are phenomenal, world class science fiction ideas, but it's about the man, not the ideas. That makes it special.

What about Oliver Wyman and Robert J. Sawyer ’s performance did you like?

They really brought the characters to life. I laughed a lot, and damn near cried at least once. I experienced a novel I have read a dozen times in a new way that I loved.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The universe is now open to humanity, if humans can live through discovering it.

Any additional comments?

This book is well worth the price, and well worth listening to several times. Thank you for making this presentation of it.

Sci Fi masterpiece

One of the best sci fi I've read so far.I was deeply moved at the end of the book. The characters are amazing, and the story focuses much more on their development than on meaningless technological details you see so much in other sci fi works.

I can recommend this to any reader, your credit will be well spent!

At last!

Superb is the only word that suits. I've been hoping for this book to appeat in audio for years now, and happily this recording does not disappoint. One of the best Science Fiction (as opposed to the usual "sci-fi" trivia) books ever, and well narrated too. Hopefully this will sell like hot cakes and encourage Audible to continue with Beyond the Blue Event Horizon and the rest of the series.
Well done Audible.

Great book, shame it's not genuinely unabridged

The book is deservedly known as a science fiction classic, but watch out for this audio version as it is heavily abridged. Although it's title 'unabridged', in fact all the side bars in the text have been removed.

A fantastic story, not at all what I expected.

Remove the Sci-fi elements and all that come with it and this story is still great that is what makes this awesome.

There is little epic about it, no world saving or anything of the sort. No heroes or villains and certainly no angels....but no demons either. The world is fantastical and futuristic but at the same time painted in shades of grey and brown.

Having just read 'Armada' this book is so very different from anything I have read before, it has layers of realism thicker than any other sci fi I have read.

Worth a read (listen).

Also the narration is the best I have heard in a long time. Excellent.

An Absolute Classic

Gateway is my all time favourite sci fi novel. An incredible concept meticulously executed. Robinette Broadhead is a well rendered, complex character who draws you in. Likewise, his constant banter with Sigfried von Shrink is the stuff of science fiction legend.

Classic scifi

I had not heard of the author before, but what an amazing tale. Written so long ago, but still feels fresh. I also hadn't realised that this was one in a series until halfway through, whilst I am pleased there are more to listern to i was also happy that this one had a clean ending.

This was a difficult listen

I had heard so many good things about this book that I had to listen to it - "A Hugo and Nebula award winning masterpiece."

How? Why?

I suppose that back in 1977 this was an absolute ground-breaker, an intellectual examination and critique of one person's fears and failings, but in 2020, it's just... dull.
The novel's subject is a self-absorbed mess, who spends all of his time trying not to do anything because of his fears and insecurities. As another reviewer has said, all he does is whine about his 'situation.'

I wanted to like this book, I really did. The story had a lot of promise.
I kept hoping that all the whining and cowardice would lead up to some amazing conclusion. Whether it be by accident, design, or even (joking here) by him growing a spine, but no... he remains a filleted person to the very end.
There is a small twist, but it really is not worth the wait to get to it.

The prose had promise, it was cleverly done. The story ending however was secondary school level at best.
I am so very disappointed.
I urge you to consider giving this a miss.

Surprisingly Addictive

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

This is by far the best audio fiction book I have ever listened to.

What did you like best about this story?

The story is paced well with a 3 dimensional central character. It is much more of a human story than I expected while being set in a very believable science fiction universe packed with detail.

What does Oliver Wyman and Robert J. Sawyer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The story was very well narrated and, dare I say, very well acted. The narrative brought the characters to life and made them very believable. The pacing and general narrative was excellent throughout.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end. lol. I was sorry to hear the story end as I was very much left wanting more. This is not to say the story was left unfinished, I merely wanted the universe to continue and learn more about this wonderfully imaginative creation of Pohl's.

Any additional comments?

This is the first full fiction book I have ever listened to, as even short stories on audio do not hold my attention for long. However, the narrative was so good, the story was so gripping and the book was so well written that it held my full attention and I even found myself contemplating certain characters when I wasn't listening to the book as though they were real human beings - something which totally took me by surprise when I realised I was doing it. There is also another first for me in that I know which book I will be ordering next as I wish to continue learning more about this universe and its inhabitants (not to mention the Heechee). I am looking forward to listening to the next installment in this series.

Average at best

I found this book a slow burn, I was hoping it would be worth it in the end. Mildly entertaining idea, but lacked the awe inspiring themes and ideas of the great Sci-Fi books. You won't miss much if you don't read it!

overrated in my personal opinion

Struggled through this story. Not sure how it won Hugo and Nebula award. read better H&N novels.

Dated, but still a masterpiece

An excellent performance of a classic. Yes, there are a couple jaw dropping moments that highlight that society has moved on for the better since 1977, but those aside, this is as good as "hard SF" gets.

Recommended!

I thoroughly enjoyed this, and found myself listening to it whenever possible. Having reached the end, I’m now wishing it was twice as long! The narration seemed a perfect fit.