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Night Walk
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published May 1, 1987
3 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Bob Shaw
213 books103 followersBob Shaw was born in Northern Ireland. After working in structural engineering, industrial public relations, and journalism he became a full time science fiction writer in 1975.
Shaw was noted for his originality and wit. He was two-time recipient (in 1979 and 1980) of the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. His short story Light of Other Days was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987.
Shaw was noted for his originality and wit. He was two-time recipient (in 1979 and 1980) of the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. His short story Light of Other Days was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 10, 2012
'To see ourselves as others see us' was never interpreted more literally, or with greater narrative effect. This is a science fiction thriller that shows Bob Shaw at his ingenious best - deft characterisation, strong plot, intriguing ideas, and that much-prized moment of cosmic revelation at the end. The idea of a blind man escaping from a very secure penal colony is so improbable that one suspects Shaw set himself a kind of ultimate challenge: 'Can I make this credible?' He did.
April 2, 2020
Like most vintage science fiction, a bit outdated and old mentality.
Aside from that, if you can look past the macho BS, it's a fun adventure story.
Aside from that, if you can look past the macho BS, it's a fun adventure story.
April 16, 2016
Born in Belfast in 1931, graduated in mechanical engineering, Robert Shaw began writing fiction in 1954, but in 1975 he left his work as a designer aircraft to become a full-time writer.
Author of scientifically accurate novels, Shaw is one of the most representative of the Anglo-Saxon science fiction, but also one of the most underrated.
Bob Shaw has left us in 1996.
In this novel, the slow colonization of space by mankind, in a not too distant future, is under way. Starships can cross great distances through the portals, singularity points in space where the normal rules of space-time are not longer valid, precursors of the Einstein-Rosen Bridges.
The problem with the portals is that there is no way to know what your destination will be unless you try them, in order to mark safe routes it is necessary to send through the portals million probes, few of which will ever return.
The routes plotted in this way are terribly winding, for example, between the Earth and the planet M Luther there are eighty-thousand portals, each of which must be crossed in a certain way to reach final destination.
The habitable planets being discovered are very few (a fewer number than the ones we know of today), and when the news spread that the ruling theocracy on M Luther has discovered a planet similar to the Earth the government sets its network of spies to work.
Sam Tallon, one of the agents, manages to get hold of the precious coordinates, but is captured by the dreaded secret police of M Luther and, during an escape attempt, loses both eyes.
Completely blind and closed in a prison where escape is impossible, Tallon refuses to give up, and begins to develop a plan to return to Earth with his precious information.
On his way, he will find all sorts of dangers, Cherkassky to name one, the fierce leader of the secret police, and eighty-thousand doors space to go through, but also an unexpected help.
The Irish author is known for his great trilogies and the stories based on the slowglass technology. He works based on great ideas, but Night Walk is not remembered as one of the best novels, but it was a good enough read that perhaps its marks should have been higher than they’ve been.
Indeed, in the history of Sam Tallon, there are all the elements that characterize Bob Shaw, a solid plot, twists and tension, believable characters, and a protagonist with physical problems, but able to accept them and overcome his condition.
The idea of the portals, that justifies the initial situation, although far from fantastic Dyson spheres or weird wooden spaceships in the Orbitsville and Pterpha cycles, is good given it was written in 1967, although it must be said that for Shaw technology and technological innovations and their impacts and changes in society have always been a forte.
Ultimately, Night Walk is a good novel, that will please its readers.
Author of scientifically accurate novels, Shaw is one of the most representative of the Anglo-Saxon science fiction, but also one of the most underrated.
Bob Shaw has left us in 1996.
In this novel, the slow colonization of space by mankind, in a not too distant future, is under way. Starships can cross great distances through the portals, singularity points in space where the normal rules of space-time are not longer valid, precursors of the Einstein-Rosen Bridges.
The problem with the portals is that there is no way to know what your destination will be unless you try them, in order to mark safe routes it is necessary to send through the portals million probes, few of which will ever return.
The routes plotted in this way are terribly winding, for example, between the Earth and the planet M Luther there are eighty-thousand portals, each of which must be crossed in a certain way to reach final destination.
The habitable planets being discovered are very few (a fewer number than the ones we know of today), and when the news spread that the ruling theocracy on M Luther has discovered a planet similar to the Earth the government sets its network of spies to work.
Sam Tallon, one of the agents, manages to get hold of the precious coordinates, but is captured by the dreaded secret police of M Luther and, during an escape attempt, loses both eyes.
Completely blind and closed in a prison where escape is impossible, Tallon refuses to give up, and begins to develop a plan to return to Earth with his precious information.
On his way, he will find all sorts of dangers, Cherkassky to name one, the fierce leader of the secret police, and eighty-thousand doors space to go through, but also an unexpected help.
The Irish author is known for his great trilogies and the stories based on the slowglass technology. He works based on great ideas, but Night Walk is not remembered as one of the best novels, but it was a good enough read that perhaps its marks should have been higher than they’ve been.
Indeed, in the history of Sam Tallon, there are all the elements that characterize Bob Shaw, a solid plot, twists and tension, believable characters, and a protagonist with physical problems, but able to accept them and overcome his condition.
The idea of the portals, that justifies the initial situation, although far from fantastic Dyson spheres or weird wooden spaceships in the Orbitsville and Pterpha cycles, is good given it was written in 1967, although it must be said that for Shaw technology and technological innovations and their impacts and changes in society have always been a forte.
Ultimately, Night Walk is a good novel, that will please its readers.
July 4, 2025
4.5/5 Superb book and my first from Bob Shaw but will surely not be my last. In just 160 pages Shaw manages to take you on a journey of personal struggle, imminent intergalactic war, and technological achievement. This book is exciting and flows in a way that makes it extremely easy to read with simple prose that communicates complex ideas in a digestible format. The character of Sam Tallon is great and his journey feels fully realized with no fat added. A clean, crisp sci-fi book that gets right down to business from the beginning and doesn’t stray for the entirety of the book. Loved it and am excited be picking up another Bob Shaw soon!
November 4, 2018
This is a short book, but not really a quick read. Tallon, an agent from Earth, is imprisoned by the government of a former colony planet. He has stolen the jump coordinates to a habitable world, and the two planets are about to go to war because of the mechanics of FTL travel make finding new worlds incredibly difficult.
Full of almost unbelievable coincidences, but Shaw still manages to pull it off because his ideas are first rate, and the book moves too fast to give you time to question the coincidences.
Full of almost unbelievable coincidences, but Shaw still manages to pull it off because his ideas are first rate, and the book moves too fast to give you time to question the coincidences.
April 23, 2017
This one was a bit off the beaten track of classics for me, it looked set to be a rather average read with a little bit of weirdness thrown in. What really redeemed it was the complete change of scale at the end. I can't quite justify a higher star review as it was a long time coming but it really ticked the clever universe box which I am a sucker for. All the little details picked up through the book suddenly make sense. The plot had a slight tendency to jump around and the hero was a little too lucky in places but a solid read.
January 4, 2016
This novel built a world very well - and the characterisation of the main character was good. However, I felt that it suffered from the classic sci-fi problems of 2D secondary characters (their only motivations were to help or hinder the MC) and co-incidences (ie meeting people who can take him directly to where he needs to go / know the person he needs to see - on the scale of an entire city this is unlikely.)
September 16, 2012
I loved this when I read it, and for years I've wanted to read it again. All I could remember was the idea of the blind man breaking out of prison with special glasses, and only managed to discover it again early this year. It certainly has faults, but I love the inventiveness and the vision. Definitely old-school sci-fi, but that's why it's great.
August 26, 2022
Enjoyable overall, but not particularly memorable. Definitely explored some interesting concepts about space travel, and the resolution was pretty unexpected. I felt the characters, particularly the women, were very one-dimensional, and seem to just fall in love with the main character for no reason.
January 10, 2023
I give this five stars not because it’s the best book ever. Which it is not but sure is a lot of fun and super creative and the my book cover is cool.
The length of the book is not to long not to short. There’s no cursing of any kind, not perversion of any kind. Super creative and the guy gets the girl in the end and they live happily ever after. Hshahahah. It was great!
The length of the book is not to long not to short. There’s no cursing of any kind, not perversion of any kind. Super creative and the guy gets the girl in the end and they live happily ever after. Hshahahah. It was great!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2013
Four stars for being an old favourite that stood the test of time. It's dated, but still delightful. All the more wonderful for reading it in an old Gollancz yellow jacket edition given to me by a friend. (Thanks, Jeff!)
January 3, 2017
3.5
Initially interesting, got a bit weird in the middle, picked up again towards the end.
Initially interesting, got a bit weird in the middle, picked up again towards the end.
December 20, 2017
I read this years ago - now just adding it.
This is one of Shaw's lesser efforts, and while it works well as a man on the run story, the idea of using a cat (or any other animal) to see for you never quite gelled with me.
This is one of Shaw's lesser efforts, and while it works well as a man on the run story, the idea of using a cat (or any other animal) to see for you never quite gelled with me.
January 14, 2012
À découvrir, un bon classique de la S.F.
April 24, 2013
Wonderfull book even in re-reading
September 24, 2014
A wonderful tale of space and spies.
April 29, 2015
1977 grade A (pretty sure I read it twice)
June 3, 2020
Dated, but with some interesting twists.
March 26, 2022
This book has no right being as good as it is. Creative, gripping, immersing, and an excellent example of scifi pulp written with love for the craft. Loved every page.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews