''The Gateway Trip'' is a collection of science fiction "tales and vignettes", including a novella,
[ ] by the American writer
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satelli ...
. It was published in 1990 by
Del Rey Books
Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It ...
. It involves one of Pohl's recurring creations, the
Heechee
The Heechee Saga, also known as the Gateway series, is a series of science fiction novels and short stories by Frederik Pohl. The Heechee are an advanced alien race that visited the Solar System hundreds of millennia ago and then mysteriously d ...
universe. The Heechee are a fictional alien race which developed advanced technologies, including interstellar space travel, but then disappeared.
The book consists of nine new short stories published in the first three 1990 issues of ''
Aboriginal Science Fiction
''Aboriginal Science Fiction'' was a high-circulation semi-professional science fiction magazine started in October 1986 by editor Charles Ryan. After releasing 49 issues it ceased publication in the spring of 2001. In 2002 the rights to ''Abor ...
'', and "
The Merchants of Venus
"The Merchants of Venus", also known by the title "The Merchants of Venus Underground", is a science fiction novella by American writer Frederik Pohl published in 1972 as part of the collection '' The Gold at the Starbow's End''.
It is a satir ...
". It is illustrated by
Frank Kelly Freas
Frank Kelly Freas (August 27, 1922 – January 2, 2005) was an American science fiction and fantasy artist with a career spanning more than 50 years. He was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists" and he was the second artist inducted by ...
.
Contents
The book includes anecdotes and "...meditations on planetary and stellar physics, evolution, sociology, and the future of the human race" that "fill in the background of his Heechee novels".
The story ''
The Merchants of Venus
"The Merchants of Venus", also known by the title "The Merchants of Venus Underground", is a science fiction novella by American writer Frederik Pohl published in 1972 as part of the collection '' The Gold at the Starbow's End''.
It is a satir ...
'' is about Audee Walthers, an "airbody driver and tour operator", who scams Earth tourists who visit Venus. He needs a new liver, so he is seeking a rich client to profit from. He is pleased to meet the seemingly well-off Boyce Cochenour. However, Walthers finds out that Cochenour also needs money.
Reception
''Kirkus Reviews'' states that the book is "
re history text than story", as the "...characters of the vignettes are barely seen shadows, a background for pure speculation."
''Kirkus Reviews'' states that "
spite the one novella and interesting science, ...this is only the skeleton of something better".
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gateway Trip, The
1990 American novels
1990 science fiction novels
Novels by Frederik Pohl
Del Rey books