Book Review: Gateway by Frederik Pohl

When the used bookstore owner, who's read nearly every piece of classic and modern science fiction from Wells to Heinlein to Scalzi, told me that Fredrick Pohl's Gateway was the best sci-fi book that he has ever read...I took his word for it and picked it up right then and there.

The genre of science fiction is an odd beast; you're either Heinlein or you're not. There have been many entries into the canon before and after this man's time, but they're all overshadowed and nearly drowned out. Similarly to the more recent works of fantasy in regards to Tolkien's works, only much more dramatic. At that point, I had never heard of Frederik Pohl, or Gateway and The Heechee Saga for that matter, but after reading his book, I'm convinced that this really is one of the best. It probably won't be remembered for its writing or its pacing, but the fresh ideas and character development therein is some of the best I've ever read.

Even then, it still might not be everyone's cup of tea.

We arrive at Earth's glorious future (only it isn't so glorious) and meet our wonderful protagonist, Robinette "Rob" Broadhead (only he isn't so wonderful; he's kind of a dick). Our planet has become overpopulated and her resources are running dangerously low, to the point where one of our prime food sources has to be mined out of the ground. People are living in the tunnels of Venus and on the harsh surface of Mars, and no one is all that happy. Rob especially, being one of those unfortunate food miners himself.

But one day, his life begins to turn around when he wins the lottery. With that money, he buys himself a ticket to Gateway, an alien relic left behind by an ancient race - referred to as the Heechee - that seems to have all but disappeared from the Solar System. (Sound familiar, Mass Effect fans?!) On Gateway, there are thousands of docked alien spaceships of various sizes; some work, some don't; some can fit five people, some can only fit one. Amazing, to be sure, but there's one glaring problem: No one has every figured out how to work the damn things.

Each of Gateway's ships are preprogrammed to a set destination somewhere in the galaxy. Their course cannot be altered or even predicted, so you might end up spending a month or two at light speed only to pop out in the middle of a black hole or on a collision course with a sun. Needless to say, the mortality rate for those who volunteer to ride one of these ship's to their preset destinations is very high; crewers often come back starved to death, emaciated, dehydrated, or in pieces. But the possible rewards make it nearly impossible to refuse playing this game of intergalactic Russian Roulette.

Should a batch of crewers drop out of light speed and discover ancient Heechee relics or a habitable planet to colonize, it's the equivalent of winning the lottery a thousand times over. You'll be set for life, and then some.

But Rob's story of living on Gateway is only half of the novel, the other half shows him paying visits to an AI psychologist, years after he apparently got rich on Gateway. We don't know how he made his millions on the alien spacestation, nor do we know precisely why he's visiting a psychologist in the first place. Gateway is really a story about personal discovery at the edge of life, death, and insignificance.

When I started reading the book, it was very difficult for me to keep going. A few pages in, and you'll see that Rob Broadhead is a very unlikable character. He's a nymphomaniac and an opportunist, willing to throw other people under the bus for his own gain, monetarily and sexually. By page 100, I was almost ready to put the book down, high sci-fi concepts be damned. But I kept going, little by little, and found myself in awe.

Rob's personality is dissected over the course of the book, through his sessions with the psychologist. Everything he does, the way he acts has an explanation and a painful history behind it. By the end of the book, I still couldn't say that I liked Rob Broadhead, but I really could sympathize with him. And that really is the purpose of the book. There are some really great concepts in Gateway, but you might be disappointed that they aren't given more attention. Knowing this his Rob's story, and his alone, will help you greatly if you give this a try.

And be warned, this is a novel that was written in the 70s. Yeah, those 70s - so expect a lot of sex, drugs, drinking, and trippy imagery.

I would definitely recommend this to any fan of science fiction (and psychology), with the caveat that the prose isn't exactly thrilling and you might find yourself wondering what exactly you've got yourself in to. This is one of those books that you really won't appreciate until you've read its heartbreaking ending. It's all or nothing science fiction at its best, and one hell of a great ride.

12,000 Words

Yes it's another '100 Words.com' post from me. On the plus side, this will be the last one!

After writing exactly 100 Words of fiction / poetry every day in October, November, December and now February - I'm just about done with it. I've hugely enjoyed the challenge of it, and the unusual / difficult experience of writing such short bits. But now I'm out of ideas, I'm repeating myself, and I'm a bit bored of it.

So - here is the last little advert from me. My FOURTH BATCH of 100 word-stories is now done! Because it was February I went with the ingenious and original theme of 'love', and sometimes I even remembered to include it. There seems to be an accidental theme of 'whining misery' in there too, which caught me by surprise when I re-read them.

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Like I say, I've really got a lot out of this curious online writing game. It's a brilliant website - I urge you to look through some entries (there are some amazing ones hidden in there) or better yet, write a 'batch' yourself.

I maybe might have another go sometime in the future, but for now I'm tapped-out and could do with writing something of decent length for a change. However, I like to think of all 120 of my entries as one piece - or at least four pieces - of writing. They kind of flow together and I even put a (very flimsy, extremely silly, half-arsed) motif in there which connects all four parts!

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One last plug for this.
Here are my 'batches' for October (Halloween theme), November (memory / remembrance theme), December (Christmas / Christianity theme) and February (love theme).

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All right. Thanks. For what it's worth, next time I post a writing update I swear it will be a proper story.

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Japanese: Day 16

Okay, so maybe self-teaching myself Japanese wasn't the grandest of ideas. Certainly, it enables me to learn at my own pace, no matter how slow or quick that pace might be, but it's very hard to actually apply it. You try to learn Spanish in California, and you'll be ready to speak it conversationally in just a few weeks. There are fluent Mexicans everywhere if ever you need help or just want to try your hand at it. In fact, it's almost to the point where Spanish is influencing California lingo.

But trying to learn Japanese in California? Not quite so easy. I don't know anyone who speaks the language, despite the fact that everyone I know has been permanently influenced by Japanese culture, and a decent percentage of those people do nothing but watch anime, read manga, and eat sushi whenever they can. Weird, that.

Almost everyone I've talked to over the course of the last few weeks have kinda winced at me and said, "I hear that language is impossible to learn," or something to that effect. Kinda is, but certainly no more so than any other language, with the outstanding caveat that Japanese isn't very applicable outside the very small island of Japan. Learning the Japanese language doesn't necessarily mean you can read or write any of the nearby Asian languages - Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, etc. Whereas, if you know the English alphabet, then there are a lot of doors open to you, since most of the western world uses the same thing.

And good luck finding many Japanese people where I live: one of several towns that at one point played host to a Japanese Internment Camp during World War II. Good luck, indeed.

Fortunately, there are at least a few, since we do have three (exactly three) sushi restaurants in town. My plan was to go to each of these places and see if they had fostered a good Japanese-themed environment, with the hopes of perhaps honing my abilities...to put it in creepy terms.

The first one, I had been to a few times already and it had made an impression on me. The food was good, the waitresses dressed in traditional attire, space was limited (as all good sushi bars should be!), and everything was served with wasabi, pickled ginger, and Kikkoman soy sauce. The second one...I wanted to destroy the place. Our orders were taken by a nice lady, but everyone else was Mexican. In fact, the guy who checked up on us was some bald guy with tattoos running up his arm. Not only that, they forgot my order and couldn't take credit cards that day.

By that time, I had almost given up, but was definitely making progress with my Japanese. Random words would pop up over the course of the week that I could suddenly recognize as Japanese. For instance: tsunami. It just clicked and I was able to write the word out in Hiragana. Same with words like "mochi" and "miso" and "nori." I was excited.

My sister and I checked out the last restaurant and were just instantly excited. Confined dining area? Check. Actual Japanese running the place? Check. Wasabi, pickled ginger, and Kikkoman? Also check. But there were so many other little things that caught my eye, such as the katana (Oh shit, I can spell that!) on the wall, traditional art pieces, and a real life banzuke. Also, the food was spectacular.

So, the week really did a lot to perk my spirits over the whole thing. My mind can actually apply the language, albeit in little ways here and there, and I have a little place to go to so that I might improve bit by bit. But I did learn something kinda unsettling. "Chopsticks" in Japanese is written as "ha-shee", but it's often written on the paper slip covering that the chopsticks come in as "o-te-mo-to." They have a completely different word for "chopsticks" when its printed on the covering!

I'm scared again.

First Impressions: Two Worlds 2

Let me talk a little about my experience with Two Worlds 2's troublesome prequel: There wasn't one.

During a sale that Gamestop had going on one week, I noticed several used copies of Two Worlds in one of the bins. I had just happened to have gone there that day in the hopes of scoring an RPG to throw myself into, and when I noticed the extremely low price tag (+ tax, it came out to around $3.75) I figured, "Why not?"

Took it up to the counter and asked the guys working there that day if they had ever given it a try. Both of them sorta bared their teeth, as if recalling some harsh memory, and then nodded their heads slowly. I really had not expected a Gamestop employee to tell me I was better off not buying a $4 game. But I brushed their warnings aside and bought the thing anyway. An hour later, I was back home with the game installed on my 360. I was ready to play.

I never could have known...

But that's implying a little too much; I couldn't even play the damn thing. After wading through several very confusing cutscenes, I'm eventually dropped somewhere to do something but I couldn't even do that thing on account of the terrible lag I was experiencing. Couldn't get out of that first chamber without my guy running like I was watching him through a zoetrope. Group that with the deplorable voice acting, the non-existent storyline, and the terrible UI...I returned the game the next day.

So, I didn't have a real experience with Two Worlds, but I think it's safe to say that if I had, it would have been a negative one. A terrible one, perhaps. But if I had such a bad time with that game, why did I pick up its sequel, the horribly-named Two Worlds 2? I didn't, I rented it. It was sitting in the Redbox one day, and I happened to check out the game rentals for the first time. Boredom also factored into it. And thus, I was back home with the game installed an hour later, as before. The difference being, I actually have something to write about this time - and it's actually not all that negative!

This is the part where I give a brief overview of the plot of the game to let you know what you're in for. To be perfectly honest, I still do not understand what's going on in this series. Something about how your sister has a demon in her that will bring about the end of the world if it ever gets released? And then a bunch of orcs break you out of prison, so that you can help them get your sister back? I think? Not really sure.

Whatever. Game mechanics. You play (I assume) the same character from the first game, though you can customize him however you please. The character creation isn't very deep, and you can't create a female character. But once you get into the game, you'll notice that the writing and the voice acting have gotten much, much better. The graphics are something more in line with Oblivion this time, as well. The controls are easy to get the hang of, the UI is much more...it actually works, and the combat, while kinda clumsy, is sufficient.

Sounds like a recipe for a good RPG! And you'd be almost right.

Don't get me wrong, Two Worlds 2 is a massive improvement over its predecessor, but seeing how the first game was as down in the dumps as it could get, the improvements only bring it up to "acceptable" levels.

Once you're broken out of prison, the game starts coaxing you through the standard tutorial missions, where you'll learn all that the game has to offer. You might be groaning a few times, at the orcs that look like they've been ripped straight from WoW, at the poor character animations, and how your character sounds like Batman. I certainly did my fair share of groaning, but then I was actually quite excited by several of the features that were presented on Tutorial Island.

Light-footed rogues can approach enemies from behind for critical one-shot assassinations. Rangers can fire several arrows at once. Mages can craft and modify spells by using "magic cards" that can be found throughout the game. Fighting blade to blade, you can block, counterattack, and bust through defenses. In this sense, combat is more like Fable III than Oblivion, with more emphasis on magic and weapon customization.

On the flip side, combat only truly worked for me when I was fighting people much weaker than me. Strong opponents will block and dodge any move you can dish out. It got kind of annoying, watching a silly guard halfheartedly hop out of the way of my attacks, or continuously keep his shield up to block any sort of attack I made. And it's not that uncommon to just completely find yourself swinging at the air, since the targeting system is not as fine-tuned as it could've been. Combat wasn't a complete bust, in the same way combat in Oblivion and Fable III wasn't. Take that how you will.

But the crafting system actually works pretty well. Over the course of the game, you'll be picking up A LOT of loot, which excited me quite a bit at first; RPGs are starting to move away from their loot-whoring origins. Sad panda. After getting over-encumbered for the first time, it was a simple matter of breaking shitty weapons and armor down into their basic elements and subsequently upgrading the weapons and armor I was using with those elements. That was pretty neat, though you will constantly find yourself overwhelmed with a ton of useless loot. Again, take that how you will.

Now, the world itself. I compared it to Oblivion because I think it really deserves it. Sunlight filters through tree leaves, beaches and forests look absolutely gorgeous, there are no loading screens on the mainland, and the world goes on for a very respectable distance. Cities are filled with people, some of them standing around merchant stands, inspecting the vendor's products in their hands. There are town criers, varied (though, often repeated) conversations, guards roaming around. Compared to Oblivion itself, the world actually feels very alive. Whoever designed this world clearly put a lot of hard work into it.

On the flip side (again), everything kinda has that rough-around-the-edges feel to it. Not quite sure how to explain it. Though the game is certainly beautiful, you can definitely see the seams that hold it together...I'll leave it at that.

I compare it to Oblivion, but you'll know you're not playing Oblivion. Though, with the outstanding soundtrack this game has (it really is wonderful), you can be forgiven for forgetting.

When it gets right down to it, "rough around the edges" is really how I would describe this game in the end. It's beautiful, but not seamless. The writing is good, but not great. The voice acting is competent, but not spectacular. The combat is acceptable, but not very refined. Everything about this game screams "It's just okay." Much like Alpha Protocol, you can tell it's trying for greatness, but just doesn't have the tools to get there.

Despite all of that, I played it for a good long time. As another reviewer pointed out, this game's got heart, and I agree. I think it's commendable that this little German game developer took their rather substantial licks from the fallout of Two Worlds, and bounced back to deliver a better product.

I'm gonna go ahead and recommend this game to forgiving RPG lovers, and to the unforgiving provided they can find it at a good price. Two Worlds 2 is a good game, and probably one of the better fantasy RPGs to be released this side of BioWare/Bethesda/Obsidian, but I'm not quite sure it's $60 good.

Almost was for me, though. Count me in for Two Worlds 3.

3 1/2 out of 5

Several Little Book Reviews

My main "New Year's Resolution" for 2011 was to do a lot more reading. I'm not currently in school at the moment, and I have no intention of spending that time in front of my XBox. (Though the thought had crossed my mind.) Thanks to the used book store here in town and the lovely couple who run the place, I'm up to my knees in quality fiction. Not only that, I'm one book away from trouncing my 2010 reading list; I really didn't read much last year.

Here's some of what I've read through so far (I'll post the rest up later):

Star Wars: Dark Rendezvous

by Sean Stewart

I've read my fair share of SW books over the last couple of years (thanks, Buch) but as of now, there are only a few left that I really think I could get some enjoyment out of. Dark Rendezvous was included on that list, along with the last few books of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn series, and the Rogue Squadron series by Michael Stackpole. The only reason I went with Dark Rendezvous was because it wasn't part of a series; at the time, I wasn't too keen on throwing myself into that kind of commitment. It's not you, it's me, and all that.

But I've gotta say, Sean Stewart's book really helped me remember why I love the Star Wars novels so much. The surprise was mostly centered on how it was a book about Yoda and Dooku, a match made in George Lucas's own personal Hell. But this book handled that Master/Padawan relationship the two characters had very, very expertly. Pound for pound, there was just as much humor as there was action and depth. I laughed, awed, and very nearly teared up on parts. Just a really great book all around. Mister Stewart really, really needs to write another SW book, because Dark Rendezvous is certainly one of the best.

The Forever War
by Joe Haldeman

This marked my first attempt at reading some of the sci-fi classics, and classic it should remain. Honestly, I can't attest to the character development or the writing style or anything like that. If this book wasn't so brilliant in concept, there'd be very little left to recommend.

Imagine a war between humans and an alien race, a war that has started to rage throughout the galaxy. On the human side of things: people are being conscripted into the military, trained on an extrasolar planet, and shoved into a war in which they have no idea how to fight their enemy. Not only that, but their FTL jumps are causing time dilation, so by the time they return home at the end of the year to resupply, decades have passed back on Earth. It's really something; the book chronicles a war that rages for nearly 2000 years, though it only seems like ten to the main character.

As it stands, this is one of those books that will just blow your mind with sheer astronomical goodness. If you're a fan of Starship Troopers or Old Man's War, give this a try.

Elric of Melnibone

by Michael Moorcock

One of the members of our forum (kinda) recommended the Elric books to me a while back, though he did supply some caveats to that recommendation - and I can see why. Not to say I disliked this book or anything; I can understand how this book reached "classic status" in a time when the fantasy genre was dominated by only a few authors.

Elric isn't really a hero, he's someone who deals with the realities of running a civilization that has its roots far back into history. He has some problems with the more barbaric methods of justice Melnibone has retained for many years, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can change it; civilized barbarism is the status quo in Melnibone. The moral conflicts like this were interesting, as was the world itself.

Other than that, it left me feeling pretty ambivalent about reading the sequel. The books are short enough to make me reconsider that, but with such wooden prose, uninteresting characters, and a story that sort of bordered on silly (How many times can one man get betrayed by the same person?), not sure if I'll be continuing the series, but I might give it a fair try. This was the debut novel, after all. Improvements are always possible.

Heroes Die

by Matthew Stover

I can safely say that I'll probably read another book quite like Heroes Die until I complete its sequel. It's part sci-fi, part fantasy, and bloody as all hell. It follows an "Actor" named Caine and his exploits in an alternate dimension known as Overworld. This dimension has been exploited for many years by businessmen on our Earth as pure entertainment for the millions of people willing to pay for uncensored violence and adventure.

I've read nearly all of Stover's books, and this is definitely one of his best. If you're looking for a nice change of place in the fantasy genre, give this book a try. From what I've read, the sequels are even better. Check out my full review over HERE.