The Siege of Eternity

Eschaton Sequence #2

by Frederik Pohl

The aliens aren't coming. They're here.

We've captured some of them. Are they our saviors, or are they out to destroy us? We've seen no spaceships, received no ultimatums--but the aliens may have a more insidious plot....

Government agent Dan Dannerman and astronomer Patrice Adcock were kidnapped by the aliens and have been returned in altered states, cloned and implanted with strange devices. To what end?

Before the reasons behind their abduction can be made clear, a wave of extremist threats and terrorist attacks sweeps the globe. Are the attacks a reaction to the aliens' arrival--or a part of their plan? A race around the earth and into space begins, as humankind desperately tries to prevent the aliens from establishing a beachhead no Earth.

The siege has begun.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow. About 320 pages of not much happening for 30 pages of payoff. Definitely no Gateway.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Dan Dannerman and crew of the orbiting Starlab return to Earth thay have had bugs implanted in them and one has been killed. On Earth an alien Dopey (a placeholder name) with its supporting Doc alien reveals that the bugs are enabling thoughts and actions to be monitored by different aliens - possibly the dangerous Horch. Amazingly the entire Starlab crew has been duplicated on board, some up to four times, by a type of matter transporter that uses virtual particles and these ‘humans’ also transport back to Earth. The UN is having difficulty trying to share the alien tech found on Starlab amid a multitude of nutjob terrorists. If this sounds confusing…it is. Middle book of a trilogy, I found myself wondering throughout why in hell the crew had been duplicated and where the plot threads were headed. Don’t expect any of them to be resolved in this book. For a Pohl book it is haphazard and confusing.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm guessing at a rating, as I kept no notes. I'm pretty sure I read it.

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has little to recommend it over the first book in the series. On the one hand, more actually happens and the few interesting ideas present in the first book get developed a bit. On the other hand, the author's prose devolves into strangely detailed obsessions regarding the characters' sex drives. I'm torn between thinking that Pohl is just a highschool fanfic writer and suspecting that he has some other agenda.

Either way, the answer was not revealed in this book. Maybe there'll be something in the third book which makes me appreciate the meandering asides about the dating life of a middle-aged woman. I haven't gotten there yet, that's for sure.

[Bradford D · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 2nd book in the Horch series takes place mostly on Earth and would be most aptly described as a procedural thriller. The science is mostly CSI-type rather than cosmic as the NBI, sort of a hybrid FBI/CIA, takes center stage. It leaves you on a bit of a cliff-hanger so reading the next book is almost mandatory.

[Ram · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Siege of Eternity" is the second installment in Frederik Pohl's series, and it dives deeper into a world where power, politics, and the press intertwine in complex and often sinister ways. The narrative seamlessly weaves these elements together, highlighting the precarious place of the individual amidst these overwhelming forces. What stands out in the book is how Pohl critiques the influence and interplay of these societal pillars, making the reader reflect on their own world.

One of the intriguing aspects of the book is its somewhat old-fashioned feel, which is surprising given its 1997 publication date. This characteristic inadvertently underscores how drastically our world, especially in terms of technology and media, has evolved in the last 27 years. It's almost nostalgic, a reminder of the pre-digital explosion era, where the internet and social media hadn't yet reshaped the landscape of information and communication.

The book's pacing is steady, and Pohl's writing is engaging, though it does occasionally feel dated in its technological references. Nevertheless, this doesn't detract from the core themes and the compelling storyline. The characters are well-developed, and their struggles resonate deeply, making it easy to get invested in their journeys.

Overall, "The Siege of Eternity" is a thought-provoking read that captures the tension between personal agency and the formidable forces of power and media. It's a fascinating continuation of the series, offering a reflective look at a not-so-distant past that has quickly become almost unrecognizable. If you enjoy a blend of science fiction with a keen insight into societal structures, this book is worth your time.

[Antonio Santana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book continues the Eschaton series, yeah you going to see that in the header. There really isn't much to say in this second book. All we know that two civilization is at war and the earth is just one of many civilizations where it has been targeted for assimilation to the "Beloved Leaders" empire. the interesting part is thru out the series is the Eschaton. I decided to look it up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_time

At least 2 advanced races/species are fighting to see who will rule... eternity. Frederick Pohl apparently believed in the Big Crunch theory and expressed his concept in this series the advanced species have given religion to the subjected races or species the other side's beliefs are not so credible. Their religion is very similar to Human beliefs of an afterlife which are present in the majority of cultures on our planet. In the end, the winning species and their allies or subjected race will rule over the other.

Another aspect of the novel is about the lives of the clones/copies. they have diverged into having different personalities depending on the assignment they received, they still believe they are the original and everyone else is the copy.
Off to the third book and last book.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Siege of Eternity is a close sequel to The Other End of Time. Its protagonists, agent Dan Dannerman and astronomer Pat Adcock, have been captured by aliens and cloned by a matter transmitter. They, or copies of them, have been returned to Earth with implanted alien technology. Slavery seems routine across the galaxy, so learning what the various alien species are up to is vital.

Siege has some middle-child issues. In a different publishing world, Pohl might have squeezed the sequence into a long one-volume saga. Since trilogies were the order of the day, the novel requires some slow repetition at the beginning and too many unresolved issues at the end. Pohl adds depth to the world-building by breaking up the narrative with news clips, a la John Dos Passos. They lighten the tone, but they also slow the pace. 2.5

[Cristian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decido oggi di sospenderne la lettura.
Sarà che dopo aver letto “ Gli ostaggi dello Starlab”, storia molto bella e adrenalinica, leggere oggi, a distanza di dieci anni circa, pare che tutto si sia incredibilmente rallentato. Dalla stessa narrazione di Pohl che ho sempre amato, anche se ad oggi mi accorgo di aver letto davvero poco.., sino a una intera struttura/trama che rende la lettura di quasi noiosa.
Però nel caso io possa avere scelto il libro sbagliato nel momento sbagliato, ne abbandono la lettura con riserva futura, visto che l’autore lo merita ad oltranza.
E vedremo...

[Juan Sanmiguel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humans, their clones and aliens return from a space station. With them they bring advance technology and a war between two alien races fight for control the eschatron, the moment of the big crunch (the end of the Universe). Earth tries to decide the best way to deal with this situation. The second novel of a series. It holds its own but ends on cliffhanger. A good first contact story which shows the problems connected with a world government.

[Earl Truss · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a waste of time. It answered a few questions from the first book right at the beginning and then there was a long period of boring stuff followed by an abrupt ending that did not answer anything. I'm not sure I want to bother with the last book of the trilogy.

[Elar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book has too much of political arguing and too little of alien space adventure.

[Tammy Terrace · Rating 2 out of 5]

This gets two stars just because I rate every book that I read and I reserve one star ratings for books that are so uninteresting or poorly written that I don't even finish them. This book has a lot of dry pages where it takes a long while for things to get serious but over six weeks I kept returning to the book and eventually finished it. Gives a detailed portrayal of how government red tape halts and hinders just about anything new or different but other books demonstrate the same and do it with cliff hanger.suspense.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this series here and I don’t feel I missed a whole lot from book one. I feel involved enough to get book three from either a library or a used book store . It has an rather involved plot and the characters are reasonable out side of the aliens, but that what aliens are supposed to be alien.

[Titus Fortner]

I was listening to you on audio book. Somehow the software skipped a track early on. I was thoroughly confused for a solid 20 minutes before I figured this out. When contemplating going to the previous chapter I made the profound realization that I didn't actually care. I'll still read Gateway from his older Heechee series (since it won a Hugo), but consider the Eschaton series abandoned...

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me three tries to make it through this book, and it wasn't worth it. The middle book of an otherwise fun trilogy (Pohl's Estachon Series), you can literally skip reading this book and hardly miss a thing.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picks up right where the previous book left off back on Earth with the characters having to deal with multiple copies of themselves and with the world having to deal with the aliens who came back with them. There is also a great deal of political and economic background that the author explores.

[Doug Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yup. Regretted moving on to the 2nd book in the series almost immediately. Pohl's chatty, informal style just doesn't work for me, and the entire concept of the Eschaton is so stupid it continually overcomes my suspension of disbelief.

[Gendou · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wretchedly filled with politics. Painfully repetitious re-hashing of events from the previous book, and even from previous chapters.

[Jack Hope III · Rating 3 out of 5]

It suffers from "second book in a trilogy" syndrome. I may raise the rating depending on my opinion of book three.

[Olof · Rating 1 out of 5]

NOTHING happens. 75% (or more) should be removed!

[Pj · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious and plodding.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as epic as I was expecting it to be. 'Gateway' was far more enjoyable and adventurous. The drama was too mundane.