Way Station (novel)
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''Way Station'' is a 1963
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
novel by American writer
Clifford D. Simak Clifford Donald Simak (; August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror Wr ...
, originally published as ''Here Gather the Stars'' in two parts in ''
Galaxy Magazine ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...
'' in June and August 1963. ''Way Station'' won the 1964
Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...
.


Plot summary

Born in 1840, Enoch Wallace is an
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
veteran who fought at the
Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...
. He is recruited by an
alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
, whom Enoch names Ulysses (after
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
), to operate a way station for interstellar travelers for Galactic Central. The equipment is installed in his house, while he lives in a small adjoining shed. His job is to monitor the machinery, including the regular and emergency "materializers", and make sure the biological needs of the wide variety of travelers are met. Enoch tries to communicate with them, with varying degrees of success, and befriends some of them. He does not age while he is inside. His neighbors are aware of his longevity, but he keeps to his family farm, and they mind their own business. He has only a few friends, including old mailman Winslowe Smith and a woman in her early twenties,
deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have som ...
neighbor Lucy. Almost a hundred years later, the
US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
becomes aware of him, and
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
agent Claude Lewis is sent to investigate. Lewis and his team secretly keep him under surveillance for two years. Enoch realizes he is being watched, but is not overly concerned. One day, Lucy comes running to Enoch. She shows him her back; she has been whipped until she bled. When he sees her pursuers approaching, he takes her into the house on impulse, breaking his rule of letting no human inside. Hank Fisher (her
white trash White trash is a derogatory racial and class-related slur used in American English to refer to poor white people, especially in the rural southern United States. The label signifies a social class inside the white population and especially a ...
father) and her brother come. Lucy tried to stop her brother from training his new
coon Coon may refer to: Fauna Butterflies * Coon, common name of the butterfly ''Astictopterus jama'' * Coon, species group of the butterfly genus ''Atrophaneura'', now genus ''Losaria'' * Coon, common name of the butterfly '' Psolos fuligo'' Ma ...
dog using a live animal, eventually paralyzing first the dog, then his master, with her mind. Her father then started whipping her, so she temporarily blinded him and ran away. When the men accuse Enoch of harboring her, he invites them to search. Hank tries to enter the house, but cannot, even with an axe. Enoch tells them to leave and never come back. Ulysses shows up. Years before, an aged
Vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...
had died at the station, and in accordance with Vegan custom, Enoch had buried the body in the family plot. The authorities dug it up and took it away, upsetting the Vegans. Alien factions opposed to expansion in this direction seize upon the incident to force the tolerant Vegans to deliver an official protest to Enoch as representative of the Earth and have the station shut down. Ulysses gives Enoch the option of remaining on Earth (and aging normally) or manning another station. Enoch tells Lewis it is vital that the body be returned. Lewis agrees. However, Ulysses does not believe it will change the decision. Ulysses gives Enoch further bad news. Long ago, a mystic had created the Talisman, which enables people to make contact with the universal "spiritual force". It is unique, and with the death of the mystic, nobody has been able to create another. Very few possess the sensitivity or rapport to activate the device, perhaps one in many billions; the custodian took it from planet to planet for others to see and use. The Talisman was lost, misplaced or possibly stolen several years before. Despite the news being kept secret, Ulysses suspects the unusual unrest in the galaxy is somehow linked to its disappearance. Enoch reveals that he has used the "
Mizar Mizar is a second-magnitude star in the handle of the Big Dipper asterism in the constellation of Ursa Major. It has the Bayer designation ζ Ursae Majoris ( Latinised as Zeta Ursae Majoris). It forms a well-known naked eye d ...
system of statistics" to determine that war is looming on Earth. Ulysses informs him that there is a drastic, reliable method to stop it, but Enoch alone can apply for its use. It creates the mental inability to operate or understand machines for several generations before gradually wearing off. Enoch is undecided. He starts packing his journals and alien artifacts he has been given by travelers, having decided to remain on Earth, but is interrupted when a "ratlike creature" emerges unannounced from the official materializer. The intruder takes out what looks like a gun, but Enoch grapples with it. The creature flees outside. Enoch chases after, and luckily his quarry runs into a dead end. The alien fires at him. Lucy and Ulysses arrive separately, and the latter tells Enoch that the intruder has the Talisman. Then they see Lucy struggling with the creature. Ulysses tells Enoch to shoot, and Enoch finally does, killing the alien. As Lucy comes to them with the Talisman, Ulysses joyfully tells Enoch that she is its new custodian, perhaps the best custodian in centuries. A mob, incited by Hank Fisher's lies, comes for Enoch, but Ulysses has Lucy use the Talisman to calm them down. Afterward, Enoch "borrows" Lucy and the Talisman to attend a scheduled peace conference, before she leaves to take the Talisman around the galaxy. Ulysses states that Earth will become part of the galactic community because of her.


Awards and nominations

* ''Way Station'' won the 1964
Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...
. * ''Way Station'' placed 27th in the 1966 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll * ''Way Station'' placed in a tie for 25th (with
Rendezvous with Rama ''Rendezvous with Rama'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1973. Set in the 2130s, the story involves a cylindrical alien starship that enters the Solar System. The story is told from the ...
by
Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...
) in the 1987 Locus All-Time Poll * ''Way Station'' placed 31st in the 1998
Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Entertainment * Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front * ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine ** ''Locus Award' ...
All-Time Poll


Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In 2004, Revelstone Entertainment optioned the film rights to ''Way Station''. In September 2019,
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
announced plans to produce and distribute a film based on the novel. , there seems to be little to no news available about the status of this project.


References


External links

* * * ''Here Gather the Stars'
parts one
an
two
on the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
{{Authority control 1963 American novels 1963 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Hugo Award for Best Novel-winning works Novels by Clifford D. Simak Works originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction Doubleday (publisher) books