Gateway (novel)

1977 novel by Frederik Pohl

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Gateway

First edition cover

Author| Frederik Pohl
Illustrator| Vincent DiFate (serial)[1]
Cover artist| Boris Vallejo[2]
Language| English
Series| Heechee Saga
Genre| Science fiction
Publisher| St. Martin's Press

Publication date

| April 1977
(serial from Nov 1976)[1]
Publication place| United States
Media type| Print (hardcover)
Pages| 313 (first ed.)
Awards| Nebula Award for Best Novel (1977)
Hugo Award for Best Novel (1978)
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1978)
Locus Award for Best Novel (1978)
ISBN| 0-312-31780-8
OCLC| 2862581

Dewey Decimal

| 813/.5/4
LC Class| PZ4.P748 Gat PS3566.O36[3]
Followed by| Beyond the Blue Event Horizon

Gateway is a 1977 science-fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. It is the opening novel in the Heechee saga, with four sequels that followed (five books overall). Gateway won the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Novel,[4] the 1978 Locus Award for Best Novel,[4] the 1977 Nebula Award for Best Novel,[5] and the 1978 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[4] The novel was adapted into a computer game in 1992.

Gateway was serialized in Galaxy prior to its hardcover publication. A short concluding chapter, cut before publication, was later published in the August 1977 issue of Galaxy.[6]

## Plot summary

[edit]

Gateway is an asteroid hollowed out by the Heechee, a long-vanished alien race. Humans have had limited success understanding the left-behind bits of Heechee technology found there and elsewhere. The Gateway Corporation administers the asteroid on behalf of the governments of the United States, the Soviet Union, the New People's Asia, the Venusian Confederation, and the United States of Brazil.

Nearly a thousand small, abandoned starships are located at Gateway. By extremely dangerous trial and error, humans have partially learned how to operate them. The controls for selecting a destination have been identified, but nobody knows where a particular setting will take the ship, how long the trip will last, or even if enough fuel is available to get back. Those who choose to risk their lives cram the limited space with equipment and hopefully enough food for the trip, but sometimes it is not enough, and they have to resort first to cannibalism, and if that is not enough, to suicide. Attempts at reverse engineering to find out how the ships work have ended only in disaster, as has changing the settings in midflight. Most settings lead to useless or lethal places. A few, however, result in the discovery of new Heechee artifacts and habitable planets in other star systems, making the crews extremely wealthy. The vessels were made in three standard sizes, which can hold a maximum of one, three, or five people. Some "threes" and many "fives" are armored. Each ship includes a lander to visit a planet or other object if one is found.

Despite the risks, many people on impoverished, overcrowded Earth dream of going to Gateway. Robinette Stetley Broadhead is a young food shale miner who wins a lottery, giving him enough money to purchase a one-way ticket to Gateway. Once there, he is frightened of the danger and puts off going on a mission as long as he can. In the meantime, he becomes romantically involved with two different women, eventually settling on Gelle-Klara Moynlin, his co-enabler in fearful delaying. Eventually, he starts running out of money, and although still terrified, he goes out on three trips. The first, with Klara and three others, is unsuccessful, and afterwards tension rises between them until he gives her a vicious beating. On the second trip, he goes by himself and inadvertently makes a discovery through unauthorized experimentation when he becomes infuriated after reaching Gateway Two, a smaller version of Gateway with only about 150 ships. He is awarded a sizable bonus because his route saves about 100 days of travel time; the windfall is partially offset by the large penalty for incapacitating his ship. On his third trip, the Gateway Corporation tries something different – sending two armored fives, one slightly behind the other, to the same destination, one rejected by most ships' computers; each crewmember is promised a million-dollar bonus. Bob signs up in desperation, along with Klara, with whom he has reconciled.

When the ships arrive, their crews find to their horror that they are in the gravitational grip of a black hole without enough power to break free. One person devises a desperate escape plan: Move everyone into one ship and thrust the other toward the black hole with an explosion in a lander, thus gaining enough of a boost to escape. They work frantically to transfer unnecessary equipment to make room for everyone in one ship, but Broadhead finds himself alone in the wrong ship when time runs out. He closes the hatch so that the plan can proceed. However, his ship is the one that breaks free.

Broadhead returns to Gateway and is awarded all the mission bonuses. He feels such enormous survivor guilt for dooming his crewmates, especially Klara, that he suppresses his memories of what happened, but he is very disturbed and miserable, though he does not understand why, so back on Earth as a wealthy man, he seeks therapy from an artificial intelligence Freudian therapist program, which he names Sigfrid von Shrink.

The narrative alternates in time between Broadhead's experiences on Gateway and his sessions with Sigfrid, converging on the traumatic events near the black hole and Broadhead finally remembering them so he can begin to heal. Sigfrid helps him realize that due to the gravitational time dilation of the black hole's immense gravity field, time is passing much more slowly for his former crewmates and none of them have actually died yet. Broadhead, however, concludes that this means that they will still be alive when he dies, with Klara still believing that he betrayed them to save himself.

Also embedded in the narrative are various mission reports (usually with fatalities), roster openings, technical bulletins, and other documents Broadhead might have read on Gateway, adding to the verisimilitude. The economic side of living at Gateway is presented in detail, commencing with the contract all explorers must enter into with the Gateway Corporation, and including how some awards are determined.

## Reception

[edit]

C. Ben Ostrander reviewed Gateway in The Space Gamer No. 12.[7] Ostrander commented, "I loved this book. I like books that don't solve big problems, but take care of the characters."[7]

## Reviews

[edit]

* Review by Lester del Rey (1977) in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, February 1977[8]
* Review by David Johns (1977) in Galileo, July 1977
* Review by Charles N. Brown (1977) in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Fall 1977
* Review by David Samuelson (1977) in Locus, #203 August 1977
* Review by Jeff Frane (1978) in Delap's F & SF Review, February 1978
* Review by Algis Budrys (1978) in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1978
* Review by Chris Morgan (1978) in Vector 86
* Review by Ed Naha (1978) in Future, April 1978
* Review [French] by Denis Guiot (1978) in Fiction, #291
* Review by Philip Stephensen-Payne (1978) in Paperback Parlour, August 1978
* Review by Andrew Kaveney (1978) in Foundation, #14 September 1978
* Review by Richard Lupoff (1978) in Algol, #33, Winter 1978–1979
* Review by Bruce Gillespie (1980) in SF Commentary, #60/61
* Review [German] by uncredited (1982) in Reclams Science Fiction Führer
* Review [French] by Michel Levert (1983) in Proxima [France], #0
* Review by Gene DeWeese (1985) in Science Fiction Review, Fall 1985
* Review by M. H. Zool (1989) in Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy
* Review by Stuart Carter (1999) in Vector 207
* Review [Spanish] by José Miguel Pallarés (2001) in Las 100 mejores novelas de ciencia ficción del siglo XX
* Review by Darrell Bain (2005) in My 100 Most Readable (and Re-Readable) Science Fiction Novels
* Review by Graham Sleight (2006) in Locus, #551 December 2006
* Review by Rob Weber (2014) in Big Sky, #3: SF Masterworks 1

## Television adaptation attempts

[edit]

In 2015 Variety announced that a Gateway TV series was going to be written and produced by David Eick and Josh Pate for Syfy, although it failed to enter production.[9] In 2017 Skybound Entertainment made an agreement with the Pohl estate for another attempt at making a TV series but it failed to begin production as well.[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Galaxy Science Fiction 37.8 publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
2. ^ Gateway title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
3. ^ "Gateway" (first edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
4. ^ a b c "1978 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
5. ^ "1977 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
6. ^ "Postscript to Gateway". Galaxy, August 1977, pp.30–33.
7. ^ a b Ostrander, C. Ben (July–August 1977). "Books". The Space Gamer (12). Metagaming: 37.
8. ^ "Title: Gateway". isfdb.org.
9. ^ Friedlander, Whitney (August 12, 2015). "Syfy Developing 'Gateway' TV Show with 'Battlestar Galactica's' David Eick". Variety.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
10. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (September 27, 2017). "Robert Kirkman's Skybound Entertainment Options Frederik Pohl Novel 'Gateway' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com. Retrieved September 27, 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Gateway title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
* Gateway at Open Library
* Gateway as serialized in Galaxy Science Fiction parts one, two, and three, at the Internet Archive

* v
* t
* e

Heechee Saga

Books|

* "The Merchants of Venus" (original novella)
* Gateway
* Beyond the Blue Event Horizon
* Heechee Rendezvous
* The Annals of the Heechee
* The Gateway Trip
* The Boy Who Would Live Forever

Video games|

* Gateway
* Gateway II: Homeworld

* v
* t
* e

Hugo Award for Best Novel

Retro|

* The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White (1939)
* Slan by A. E. van Vogt (1941)
* Beyond This Horizon by Anson MacDonald (1943)
* Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber (1944)
* Shadow Over Mars by Leigh Brackett (1945)
* The Mule by Isaac Asimov (1946)
* Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein (1951)
* Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1954)

1950s|

* The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (1953)
* They'd Rather Be Right (aka: The Forever Machine) by Mark Clifton and Frank Riley (1955)
* Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein (1956)
* The Big Time by Fritz Leiber (1958)
* A Case of Conscience by James Blish (1959)

1960s|

* Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (1960)
* A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1961)
* Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (1962)
* The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (1963)
* Here Gather the Stars (aka: Way Station) by Clifford D. Simak (1964)
* The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber (1965)
* Dune by Frank Herbert / ...And Call Me Conrad (aka: This Immortal) by Roger Zelazny (1966)
* The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein (1967)
* Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (1968)
* Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner (1969)

1970s|

* The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1970)
* Ringworld by Larry Niven (1971)
* To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer (1972)
* The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1973)
* Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1974)
* The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975)
* The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1976)
* Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (1977)
* Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1978)
* Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1979)

1980s|

* The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke (1980)
* The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (1981)
* Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh (1982)
* Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov (1983)
* Startide Rising by David Brin (1984)
* Neuromancer by William Gibson (1985)
* Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1986)
* Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1987)
* The Uplift War by David Brin (1988)
* Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh (1989)

1990s|

* Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1990)
* The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (1991)
* Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold (1992)
* A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge / Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1993)
* Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1994)
* Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold (1995)
* The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (1996)
* Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997)
* Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman (1998)
* To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (1999)

2000s|

* A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (2000)
* Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (2001)
* American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2002)
* Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer (2003)
* Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2004)
* Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2005)
* Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (2006)
* Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (2007)
* The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2008)
* The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009)

2010s|

* The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi / The City & the City by China Miéville (2010)
* Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2011)
* Among Others by Jo Walton (2012)
* Redshirts by John Scalzi (2013)
* Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2014)
* The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu (2015)
* The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (2016)
* The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (2017)
* The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2018)
* The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019)

2020s|

* A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (2020)
* Network Effect by Martha Wells (2021)
* A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (2022)
* Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (2023)
* Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Locus Award for Best Novel

* Ringworld by Larry Niven (1971)
* The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin (1972)
* The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1973)
* Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1974)
* The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975)
* The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1976)
* Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (1977)
* Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1978)
* Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1979)
* Titan by John Varley (1980)
* The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (1981)

* Best Novel (1971–1981)
* Best SF Novel (1980–present)
* Best Fantasy Novel (1978–present)
* Best First Novel (1981–present)
* Best Horror Novel (1989–1997, 1999, 2017–present)
* Best Young Adult Book (2003–present)
* Best Novella (1973–present)
* Best Novelette (1975–present)
* Best Short Story (1971–present)

* v
* t
* e

Nebula Award for Best Novel

1965–1979|

* Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)
* Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany / Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1966)
* The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany (1967)
* Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin (1968)
* The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)
* Ringworld by Larry Niven (1970)
* A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg (1971)
* The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1972)
* Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1973)
* The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1974)
* The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1975)
* Man Plus by Frederik Pohl (1976)
* Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1977)
* Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1978)
* The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke (1979)

1980–1999|

* Timescape by Gregory Benford (1980)
* The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe (1981)
* No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop (1982)
* Startide Rising by David Brin (1983)
* Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984)
* Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1985)
* Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1986)
* The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy (1987)
* Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (1988)
* The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (1989)
* Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (1990)
* Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick (1991)
* Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1992)
* Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1993)
* Moving Mars by Greg Bear (1994)
* The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer (1995)
* Slow River by Nicola Griffith (1996)
* The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre (1997)
* Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman (1998)
* Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (1999)

2000–2019|

* Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear (2000)
* The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro (2001)
* American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2002)
* Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (2003)
* Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2004)
* Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (2005)
* Seeker by Jack McDevitt (2006)
* The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2007)
* Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin (2008)
* The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (2009)
* Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2010)
* Among Others by Jo Walton (2011)
* 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (2012)
* Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2013)
* Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (2014)
* Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2015)
* All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2016)
* The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2017)
* The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2018)
* A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker (2019)

2020–present|

* Network Effect by Martha Wells (2020)
* A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (2021)
* Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang (2022)
* The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (2023)
* Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Works by Frederik Pohl

Undersea Trilogy
(with Jack Williamson)|

* Undersea Quest (1954)
* Undersea Fleet (1956)
* Undersea City (1958)

Heechee Saga|

* Gateway (1977)
* Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980)
* Heechee Rendezvous (1984)
* The Annals of the Heechee (1987)
* The Gateway Trip (1990)
* The Boy Who Would Live Forever: A Novel of Gateway (2004)

Eschaton trilogy|

* The Other End of Time (1996)
* The Siege of Eternity (1997)
* The Far Shore of Time (1999)

Mars series|

* Man Plus (1976)
* Mars Plus (1994) (with Thomas T. Thomas)

Saga of Cuckoo
(with Jack Williamson)|

* Farthest Star (1975)
* Wall Around a Star (1983)

The Starchild Trilogy
(with Jack Williamson)|

* The Reefs of Space (1964)
* Starchild (1965)
* Rogue Star (1969)

Space Merchants series|

* The Space Merchants (1953) (with Cyril M. Kornbluth)
* The Merchants' War (1984)
* Venus, Inc. (1985 Omnibus) (this is a two-in-one volume containing The Space Merchants and The Merchants' War)

Other|

* Search the Sky (1954) (with Cyril M. Kornbluth)
* Gladiator-At-Law (1955) (with Cyril M. Kornbluth)
* Preferred Risk (1955) (with Lester del Rey)
* Slave Ship (1956)
* Presidential Year (1958) (with Cyril M. Kornbluth)
* Wolfbane (1959) (with Cyril M. Kornbluth)
* Drunkard's Walk (1960)
* A Plague of Pythons (1964)
* The Age of the Pussyfoot (1965)
* Day Million (1970)
* The Best of Frederik Pohl (1975)
* Jem (1979)
* The Cool War (1981)
* Syzygy (1981)
* Starburst (1982)
* The Years of the City (1984)
* Black Star Rising (1985)
* The Coming of the Quantum Cats (1986)
* Terror (1986)
* Chernobyl (1987)
* Land's End (1988) (with Jack Williamson)
* The Day the Martians Came (1988)
* Narabedla Ltd. (1988)
* Homegoing (1989)
* The World at the End of Time (1990)
* Outnumbering the Dead (1990)
* Stopping at Slowyear (1991)
* The Singers of Time (1991) (with Jack Williamson)
* Mining the Oort (1992)
* The Voices of Heaven (1994)
* O Pioneer! (1998)
* The Last Theorem (2008) (with Arthur C. Clarke)
* All the Lives He Led (2011)

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