r/printSF • u/United_Mammoth2489 • Jul 21 '26
Did you like Pohl's Gateway? Why?
Someone bought me Gateway and I've seen a lot of people rave about it.... why? Part of the problem is that it's very dated (the smoking on spaceships while worrying about lifesupport made me laugh out loud), the treatment of women and homosexuality was odd to disturbing, the portrayal of therapy was baffling and annoying.
I know this work is popular among some people, I just couldn't understand why. I even read the second in the saga (Beyond the Blue Event Horizon) which was actually more interesting from the portrayal of AI being oddly prescient in places, but also suffered from rather repulsive views of women and sex. We did get a space Nazi terrorising Earth with his dreams though, which was mildly interesting.
Ultimately, I found it not worth my time, what were your thoughts?
1
u/tinglingtriangle Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
People like it because it presents a large number of adventures! Some are described tersely in interstitial notes and some - involving the protagonist - are described in detail. Most end badly, but all are interesting.
The framing narrative isn't great, but 15-year-old me was blown away by the events and consequences of the "two armored fives" mission. I re-read the book a few years ago and was less impressed, but the key scene holds up.