Review: Heechee #3; Heechee Rendezvous, Fredrick PohltThe first two Heechee novels were entertaining and suspenseful. This novel is peppered with the intensity of any given adventure/suspense novel but woven in like a spider web is the story of Essie and Robinette Broadhead whom the novels have been orbiting around. tThere is Klara, Robinette's first love from the first novel still hovering creating a love suspense between Robinette and his wife of 25 years Essie. But this is only one subset of a slew of subplots. tFinally we meet the Heechee and immediately are exposed to the tension of love between Heechee Captain and “Twice” a crew member as they slither out of their hiding place in a black hole to check “what's going on”... although they expect “nothing” they are overwhelmed with everything rather than “nothing”. tIn THIS novel we learn why the Heechee have vanished and there-in is another plot that adds tension to the novel.tRobinette continues to play the “do gooder”. While he was financially unable to “be” a philanthropist, it is in his blood and being to be so once he has money. Being rich and powerful does set limits as well as opportunities for him. The novel does an excellent job at exposing both these anxieties to him. tRobinette's wife “Essie” is rich and brilliant in her own right. The love story between the two is heartwarming.tThe last quarter of the novel has at least one twist, possibly more, that set up future novels but would be major spoilers if I went further. As it is, I suspect I should blank this entire review as a spoiler. Only reason I haven't is I've hope I've been vague enough to create interest but preserve the essential details of the novel.
Después de leer "Pórtico" (un clásico de la ciencia ficción) hace años, quise continuar y acabar la Saga de los Heeche. Ésta 3ª parte me ha gustado más que la 2ª: Tras el incierto horizonte. Hay más líneas argumentales, más interesantes y con mayor intriga. Practicamente la 2ª parte solo nos aportó el personaje de Wan, que en esta 3ª parte evoluciona y tiene cierto protagonismo. Ha pasado el tiempo y la humanidad ha aprendido a dominar y entender, sinó en su totalidad, sustancialmente, la tecnología Heeche. Ha colonizado un mundo extrasolar, el Mundo de Peggy y las naves Heeche ya no son un misterio, gracias a que ahora se entienden los molinetes. La situación terrestre es delicada debido al terrorismo y la superpoblación. Robinette continúa con sus empresas, siempre intentando solucionar o aliviar los problemas de la Tierra. Essie sigue con sus programas de IA. Tenemos a Audee Walters, antiguo amigo de Robinette. Tenemos a un crecido Wan, con sus propias motivaciones. Albert Einstein, el programa de Robinette también es parte fundamental de la trama.En definitiva, esta 3ª parte, El encuentro, aunque no llega al nivel de la original Pórtico, entronca más con los temas tratados en ésta, tras el interludio de Tras el incierto horizonte. Se mantiene la intriga y resuelve todos las tramas satisfactoriamente, cosa que es de agradecer. En ese sentido el título de la novela es revelador. Por otra parte, surgen al final nuevos e interesantes interrogantes y nuevos status, fruto de la evolución de los personajes y las tramas, que animan a al lector a saber lo que ocurrirá proximamente. Así, el punto de partida de la 4ª parte, Los anales de los Heeche, se intuye más que interesante...
What do You think about Heechee Rendezvous (1985)?
3 stars. Would have been 4 as the first two books in the series, but i had the impressions we would find some more about the HEECHEE(it`s Heeche Rendezvous after all), but was dissapointed.And, as to top it off, now they presented two new races, and that shifts a lot the focus in the series...
—Bogdan Dobrescu
More like 2.5 stars. I think I figured out a little bit more about my feelings for this series--interesting ideas, pretty good plot, crappy characters. And if I don't care about the characters, the plot and ideas become less engaging. We finally meet the Heechee in this book, and learn a little more about the threat of the Assassins. It has an interesting ending, when (view spoiler)[Rob dies and his personality is transferred to data storage, but can still function in the real world via hologram and machine-made doppelganger (hide spoiler)]
—Brad
Gateway (1977)Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980)Heechee Rendezvous (1984)Annals of the Heechee (1987)The Boy Who Would Live Forever: A Novel of Gateway (2004)The Gateway Trip (1990) collection of short storiesThis third book in the sequence is a real kitchen sink of a science fiction story. More kinds of alien artifacts are found, and a lot of human adaptation of previously found artifacts is developed. It has first contact with the Heechee, and introduces additional alien species. It has a developing artificial intelligence, as well as a transfer of a human being into a cybernetic life. It is so much, that the speculative concepts begin to just pile up on each other.And then there is the circus-like drama of the characters. The question of who sleeps with who arises, as two male characters are forced to deal with old lover / new lover confrontations simultaneously. Somehow, in the hands of Pohl this seems like just one more engineering problem, and the characters simply cope with it somehow.So, the book is entertaining, but not more than that. It does not measure up to the huge shadow of Gateway, but still, is definitely more than a rehash. I will be reading more.
—Tomislav
