The Gold at the Starbow's End

by Frederik Pohl

Contents:
The Gold at the Starbow's End (1972)
Sad Solarian Screenwriter Sam (1972)
Call Me Million (1970)
Shaffery among the Immortals (1972)
The Merchants of Venus (1972)

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Short Story Collection, Science Fiction Fantasy, Collections

187 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 1972

About the author

Frederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gold at the Starbow's End is, the cover proclaims, Pohl's ninth collection of science fiction. The man certainly did have a talent for coming up with great titles. The book contains two novellas and three shorter works, one of which appeared in 1970... amazingly, all the rest are from 1972. The title story was expanded into the novel Starburst, but this version is well worth reading. My favorite is The Merchants of Venus, the other novella, though Sad Solarian Screenwriter Sam and Shafferty Among the Immortals are both entertaining stories that originally were printed in F & SF.

[EmBe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine Geschichten-Sammlung von Frederik Pohl, die ich als Jugendlicher in deutscher Übersetzung gelesen habe, und die mich ziemlich beeindruckt hat. Die Geschichte vom gescheiterten Wissenschaftler Shafferty, der ganz anders in die Geschichte eingeht, als von ihm beachsichtigt, ist eine finstere Satire.
"Das Gold at the Starbows End"(eine sehr schöner Titel) erzählt von einer Expedition zu den Sternen in Unterlichtgeschwindigkeit. Die gemischte Besatzung macht eine ebenso erschreckende wie großartige Entwicklung durch, als der Kontakt zur Erde abbricht, auch mit Folgen für die Erde. Später hat Pohl diese Erzählung zu einem Roman ("Starburst") ausgearbeitet.

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this collection back in 2012. I don't really recall the three middle stories, but the first and last: the title story and "The Merchants of Venus" which is the genesis of the Gateway series are two of Pohl's finest works.

[Joel J. Molder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of novellas and short stories. My first of Frederik Pohl. Here’s how a book I had bought on a whim ended up being a hundred-percent worth it and absolutely treasured in my collection.

At first, I thought this was a very middle of the road collection. The first novella, the titular “The Gold at Starbow’s End”, was a hippie’s dream! Dude, if we could just escape into space, away from the government, and consume drugs and free love, then we’d achieve all our biggest dreams!

The next two short stories were nice enough. Neither outstayed their welcome. But then, I read “The Merchants of Venus”. Boy! What a trip! That’s when I fell in love. The characters, the worldbuilding, and the journey to finding alien treasure were so much fun.

I definitely recommend the novella if you’re looking for a good read. Spectacular!

[Paul Bard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't love some Golden age SF!

Funny, free, and fierce, with a glorious hippy flavour in a Cold War backdrop.

I feel like Pohl must have been a young man when he wrote this, it was so eager to delight the reader. Each letter is amusing.

The (spoiler) I Ching, grammar, math is lots of good fun, and kind of prescient in some ways of machine learning and the operational grammar of Curt Doolittle.

I read it for a fun short escape and it delivered. It's not a masterpiece so four stars.

EDIT: I only read the eponymous novella.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining space listening 🎶🔰

Another will written fantasy world 🌎 horror space opera adventure thriller short story by Fredrick Poul. About a space ship sent on a one ☝ way mission by government of officials that screw everything up. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a quick interesting space adventure. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening to Alexa read books 📚. 2022 👒😊

[Matt Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pohl's hagiography is complete and mostly deserved, but that really doesn't justify lauding this truly poor selection. It doesn't.
"The Merchants of Venus" is the novella-length piece that stands up well here. It's the introduction of the Heechee, well-paced, and a nicely constructed future world. Sadly it still suffers, albeit much less, from the toxic attitude that makes the other pieces here hard to read let alone enjoy. What may pass for some as 'cynical humor' reeks to me of pissy misanthropy and a serious case of chauvinistic inability to write female characters. Throughout "Merchants," and it's the best piece here, he constantly calls Dorotha "the girl" instead of her NAME and the narrator forces himself to admit she doesn't cry or scream much and can even be helpful. Wow, how nice. The main character has his problems, sure, but he's a dick.
As for the other pieces, older characters are either manipulative and corrupt or wheedling and stupid; young characters are either eager but ignorant or unwashed and stoned; humans as we exist are too stupid to survive. Great. The stories are really lightweight anyway, but the jaded crankiness leaves them joyless as well.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprised of one novella and four short stories, The Gold at the Starbow's End is a somewhat fascinating collection. The title tale regards a group of astronauts on a very long journey to Alpha Centuari and what they do to occupy the time they spend getting there. They have been sent by a very forward-thinking man who may not really have their best interests at heart. This story was hilarious in regards to the kind of antics the astronauts got up to, and the reaction their handler has to their reports are absolutely priceless in more ways than one.
"Sad Solarian Screenwriter Sam" is one of those stories where extra-terrestrials decide to destroy the human race because we suck. Sam is their one and only test subject. He sucks. Quite a bit of this story is cribbed from Burroughs Martian saga. I was not amused.
"Call Me Million" is a 'what-if' kind of story that is uniquely written, but never really goes anywhere. Charley is a soul sucker. He eats people's souls and they die. There are no people left to eat except other people eaters. What now? There. You've read the story. Skip it.
After reading "Shaffery Among the Immortals" I was hoping that the final story would also feature a complete sad sack so I could say I didn't really like or identify with any of the main characters in these stories. Shaffery is a pathetic loser even compared to Sam and Charley. However, the story was worth reading for the ending. Very fitting.
Probably the best story in the book was "The Merchants of Venus." Pohl did a very good job of world-building in regards to the planet, it's atmosphere, it's previous denizens, etc. without bogging the reader down with exposition. I did not disdain the main character. I was rooting for Audee to find what he was looking for. The fact that he was destined to do so was obvious from the first, but the struggle and journey were quite enjoyable to read about.
Final take: Skip stories two and three and you have a 4 star book.

[Tweeting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best SF short story I've read. Do the ends justify the means? What if the amazing results themselves don't think the price was worth it?

[Fred Kiesche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. But whom ever did the OCR on this eBook edition should have their license revoked.

Seek out a paper edition. Do not waste money in this electronic version.

[Kevin Kuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I'm only reviewing "The Gold at the Starbow's End" novella here.

This 1973 winner of the Locus Award for Best Novella later became a full-length novel named “Starburst.” It was first published in March of 1972 in an issue of “Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact.”

The story opens with a log entry from the U.S. Starship Constitution on day 40 of their mission to a recently detected planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. The story alternates back and forth between these log entries and narrative of events that occur back on Earth. The Constitution crew is encouraged to study number theory to pass the time. Due to their isolation and resulting focus, along with the crew’s experimental drug use, they rapidly advance their thinking, not only in number theory, but also in language, philosophy, and other capabilities. Meanwhile, Earth degrades into a dystopian society that’s a little too close to 2024 current and directional reality for my tastes.

I enjoyed the tale, which includes some excellent plot twists and developments I won’t reveal here. I would have enjoyed it more if I could have more details about the crew of the Constellation, instead of the occasional log communication back to Earth. The characters back on Earth are pretty awful and deserve their dystopian fate, and I would have rather spent the time with the rapidly evolving Constellation crew who becomes a bit rebellious and bohemian.

Four rainbow stars (or Starbows . . .) for this rapid paced exploration of the simultaneous devolution and evolution of humanity.

[Howard Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of five short stories from Frederik Pohl. My main interest was the last story, "The Merchants of Venus" which is the precursor for his Heechee or Gateway book series. I have read the series before except for the fifth and final book. Very much enjoyed the series. Recently decided to read them again (third time) but complete with original short story and final book.
It is very good. Wonderful introduction to the discovery of alien artifacts and the mystery of who they were and why they disappeared. Gritty view of a future where everyone is struggling to earn a living and stay alive. Well thought out and written to keep you interested.

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

"After Frederik Pohl (1919-2013) left his editorial position at Galaxy and If in 1969, he set his pen towards a productive vein of form in the 70s that would culminate in his Hugo and Nebula-winning Gateway (1977). The Gold at the Starbow’s End contains five short stories–including the first of his Heechee sequence–from this period. Two of the best stories, the titular “The Gold at the [...]"

[Vorik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dieser Band enthält die folgenden Kurzgeschichten:

Jenseits der Sonne – Bewertung 3 Sterne
Das Urteil ist gefällt – Bewertung 2 Sterne
Nennt mich Million – Bewertung 3 Sterne
Shaffery unter den Unsterblichen – Bewertung 4 Sterne
Die Kaufleute auf der Venus – Bewertung 5 Sterne

Qualitativ sind die Erzählungen sehr gemischt. Lesenswert sind die beiden letzten Geschichten. Die Anschaffung des Bandes lohnt wohl nur für Fans der Werke von Frederick Pohl.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starbow vs typos

Excellent story, crappy ebook riddled with typos. Thirteen more words now only eight whoops six hey now five stupid system.

[Peter Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you just need to relax with a great Science Fiction short story collection. I loved the concept of the starbow in the title story. I didn’t realise before buying the book that it actually contained Pohl’s first ever Heechee story. Indeed I didn’t realise this until I actually started reading that very story. A very pleasant surprise and you can see how it spawned the successful Heechee novels. Highly recommended for just those two stories alone.

[Dániel Darabos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've only read "The Merchants of Venus", not the whole collection. (I came upon it outside of the collection.) It is a nice little novella. Good world building, good characters, good narrative. Nothing to really set it above others, but it's a short, entertaining read.

[Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Marko]

I have the german edition: Jenseits der Sonne