killjoy reviewed Gateway by Frederik Pohl
Atmospheric, but not that deep
3 stars
Sry for grammar, this was written on mobile.
The book is at its strongest when building a world and describing the atmosphere and mindset of the 'star rush'. This works quite well and I never got bored, even though most of the time nothing happens. And even during the peaks of the story, I found myself disappointed at what had been left out.
Sadly, the book suffers from some issues. The sections between the story - where the protagonist goes to therapy - don't have much going for them. The tension between Sigfried (therapist) and Rob (protagonist) is uninteresting and not very complex either. It is, however, fun to see the story unfold from two points in time. Furthernore, the only interesting character in the book is the protagonist. The other characters are flat and provide little challenge to his perspective. Even his lover whom he beats up …
Sry for grammar, this was written on mobile.
The book is at its strongest when building a world and describing the atmosphere and mindset of the 'star rush'. This works quite well and I never got bored, even though most of the time nothing happens. And even during the peaks of the story, I found myself disappointed at what had been left out.
Sadly, the book suffers from some issues. The sections between the story - where the protagonist goes to therapy - don't have much going for them. The tension between Sigfried (therapist) and Rob (protagonist) is uninteresting and not very complex either. It is, however, fun to see the story unfold from two points in time. Furthernore, the only interesting character in the book is the protagonist. The other characters are flat and provide little challenge to his perspective. Even his lover whom he beats up comes back for no reason.
The depiction of women in this book is questionable. The general flatness of the characters combined with the characterisation of women mostly through intimacy with the protagonist makes for a weird aftertaste. (Add to that the aforementioned violence and the book shows its age)
The final revelation the book builds up to would be very interesting if characters felt real. But the only realistic character is the narrator and protagonist himself. This puts the sotlight on the inner workings of Rob which are kept from the viewer most of the time and - when revealed - not that big of a deal for the story imo.
I can somewhat recommend this book. It is not a demanding read and does have some nice world-building ideas. Its not a must-read.