Heechee Rendezvous

Heechee Saga #3

by Frederik Pohl

At last - the ultimate book in the renowned Heechee Saga!
Advanced Heechee technology had enabled Robinette Broadhead to live after death as a machine-stored personality, enjoying his life by flitting along the wires from party to party with a host of other machine-people. But suddenly his decadent existence ends when an all powerful alien race intent on the utter destruction of all intelligent life reappears after eons of silence, and threatens the lives of all heechee and humans. Even Robin, virtually immortal and with unlimited access to millennia of accumulated data, cannot discover how to stop these aliens. It began to seem that only a face to face meeting could determine the future of the entire universe....
THE HEECHEE SAGE
Book One: GATEWAY
Book Two: BEYOND THE BLUE EVENT HORIZON
Book Three: HEECHEE RENDEZVOUS
Book Four: THE ANNALS OF THE HEECHEE
The Gateway Trip: TALES AND VIGNETTES OF THE HEECHEE

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Audiobook, Aliens, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure

331 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

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

[César Bustíos · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Los heechees han puesto la galaxia en las tímidas manos de la humanidad.»

Pohl es un escritor magnífico. Incluso cuando se le va un poco la boca no llega a aburrir; es divertido, ameno. Me sorprende porque al final cuando haces un recuento del libro te das cuenta de que en realidad no han pasado miles de cosas nuevas e igual te enchufaste tremendo viaje. Creo que pocos autores podrían presumir de tener una saga sobre alienígenas y lograr que sus lectores esperen hasta la tercera parte del tercer libro por el maldito contacto.

Los eventos ocurren casi treinta años después. Hemos podido colonizar uno que otro planetilla gracias a las cartas de navegación Heeche aunque la superpoblación de la Tierra es todavía un problema. Robin sigue siendo inmensamente rico y se sigue sintiendo inmensamente culpable; no es para menos, perder al amor de tu vida en la infinita caída hacia un agujero negro no es poca cosa. Ahora ya se sabe mucho más sobre los Heechees pero no lo más importante: ¿quiénes son?, ¿por qué se esconden?

El segundo y tercer libro no son tan épicos como Pórtico con su Hugo, su Locus y su Nebula, pero en general la saga es muy buena y Robinette Broadhead es y será un personaje inolvidable; tal vez a la altura del mismísimo Elijah Baley. Veremos qué me espera en el cuarto libro.

[Jeraviz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pues 5 estrellas bien merecidas. En esta tercera parte, Pohl retoma los puntos fuertes de Pórtico como son el centrarse más en su protagonista, Robin, junto con sus inseparables programas informáticos Albert y Sigfrid. Sólo con las conversaciones que mantienen entre ellos podría estar entretenido durante 3 libros más.
También nos da más información sobre misterios que se plantearon en Pórtico y aparecen personajes olvidados desde hacía tiempo.
Y si faltaba algo, con ese final Robin Broadhead se convierte en uno de mis personajes favoritos. Y hasta aquí puedo leer.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the book where we learn about the HeeChee. They cease to be a mystery and frankly, the people who meet them fail to be properly impressed, in my opinion. Real, live aliens with “wisdom” to impart and they can’t focus on that. Plus, we start to question the opinions of the HeeChee—are they right to be scared of the race that they call the Assassins or have they completely misinterpreted their actions?

I did think that Pohl’s use of the data fans as storage devices was rather prescient—very much like today’s USB devices to store information, photos or written words. Consider that the computers in use at the time were using floppy drives, something much more delicate and less than truly reliable. Any floppies existing in archives at this point are a nightmare for conservators, as you would have to locate the ancient technology of a computer with a floppy drive to extract the information (and assume that nothing has degraded). Anything that you really want to survive into the future? Print it out and preserve it. Paper is going to survive long after our technologies are as obsolete as floppy discs.

Also explored is the transfer of human consciousness to machines, as Robinette gets downloaded and struggles to learn how to interpret the world from that angle and how to express himself again. Pohl addresses a question of ownership—once your physical body is dead, is your disembodied intellect still considered legally alive? Or do you renounce your assets and projects to your heirs? The book doesn’t really get very far along exploring these questions, which will maybe get more treatment in the next book. I hope so. And I want to see what Pohl thinks will happen to such downloaded people—do they retain their humanity?

This is very much a transition book, moving from the demystifying of HeeChee technology to actual contact.

Book 200 of my science fiction and fantasy reading project.

[Nikola Pavlovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tesko je opasiti zasto mi je ova knjiga za sada najbolja u serijalu.
Da li sam se samo konacno navikao na Pola i njegovo pisanje, ili je jednostavno ova knjiga samo najdinamicnija i najbolje napisana. Mislim da ima svega, ali bitno mi je da se ovaj serijal razvio u takvom smeru da nije samo manje vise suvoparno kvalitetan vec i da ima onaj neki X faktor koji ga cini jedinstvenim, bezvremenim i da u njemu pronalazim nesto novo, korisno i uzivajuce.
Vezao sam se i za likove, volim Polov nacin da prikaze misteriju, problem, susret zemljana sa vanzemaljskim inteligentnim zivotom i nacin na koji Hiciji gledaju na nas.
Mnogo smo neprakticni, negativni ali i puni potencijala i na ovaj ili onaj nacin nekako uspevamo da gazimo napred, cesto gazeci sami sebi. Da li nam se sme verovati, nadam se da ce jednoga dana i u stvarnom zivotu neka vanzemaljska napredna civilizacija gledati blagonaklono na nas i dati nam sansu i pored svih nasih nedostataka - jednoga dana kada opasnost ne budu samo tehnologija i ljudska cud vec i nesto realno nerealno iz zasada iskljucivo domena maste.
Ali ako nista pa zar SF i nije masta koja neretko pravilno predvidja buducnost.

[Chris Friend · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pedantic, annoying, and bothersome, all in one book.

The author lost touch with a reliable perspective from which to tell his story. This volume was filled with shifts in point of view, sidebars from characters observing the story being told, and direct address of the reader by the narrator.

Beyond the stylistic complaints, the characters in the story didn't develop meaningfully (except as trite plot devices), and the actions weren't compelling. All-around pretty much a waste of time.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't as good as as Gateway or Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, but is a good book in its own right. The first two books were -so- good that the expectations were unrealistic; Pohl had set the bar too high for himself. We do finally get the answers about the enigmatic Heechee for which we'd been waiting, but the protagonist has changed so much from the original that we have to wonder how reliable of a narrator he is. I also think it's aged less well than the two previous books, but it has to be remembered that at the time of publication the cyber/virtual/trans/whatever concepts were quite new, though some of the ideas seem creaky. I was a bit let-down, but the problem is probably me rather than the author. He does a fine job of portraying the old-time sense-of-wonder for which he was striving, and mixing it with a depth of character and inner-space driven story.

[Ira (SF Words of Wonder) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my full, spoiler free, series review HERE.
Such a great series so far. I don’t think this one was quite as good as Gateway or Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, but it was still an amazing book. We get a lot more information on the Heechee and ‘others’ as well as moving the plot line of Rob along. Rob’s story arc takes a turn at the end, but Pohl foreshadows or even gives away a lot of what happens. This is something that I love about Pohl’s writing, he can give things away, yet I’m still totally invested in the story. I ripped through this one and now can’t wait to read book 4.

[Elessar · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5/5

El encuentro no aporta demasiado a la saga. El motivo del profundo pesar de Robinette reaparece en esta tercera entrega, siendo en torno a lo que girará la trama del libro. Pohl retoma los conflictos internos del protagonista, pero no consigue crear una historia suficientemente interesante. Los temores hacia la vejez del escritor serán plasmados en los pensamientos de los personajes, especialmente en Robin.

Pohl escribe bien, pero este libro no dice nada. Es entretenido, sin más. Confío en que Los anales de los Heechee me devuelva un poco del soplo de aire fresco que supuso la primera novela de la saga.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

...Given the high standard Pohl sets in the first novel of this series, Heechee Rendezvous is a bit of a disappointment. It is entertaining in a way but simply not very well written. Robinette is not the most sympathetic of characters. This is something I can deal with but Pohl somehow manages to continually make him get on the reader's nerves. Quite an achievement, but when I start feeling it is a blessing the book is only 273 pages long, he may have overdone it just a bit. Still, if you enjoy the riddle the Heechee pose, it is very readable. Just don't expect Pohl to rise to the level he attained in the 1970s.

Full Random Comments review

[Anita Radeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Естествено, че третата част отново заслужава най-висока оценка! Няма как да отречем страхотните футуристични представи на Фредерик Пол, те са просто невероятно находчиви! Всичко което се случва в тази част задоволява мечтите на смелите фантасти по душа. Главният симпатяга Робинет Бродхед преминава в различни състояния, физически и не толкова...имаме изнадващи завръщания(Джей-Клара Моинлин е жива) и още по-изненадващи разкрития! Естествено, че хичитата се появиха, откога ги чакаме :D обаче накрая излезе, че има нещо още по-изумяващо...какво ще стане в хората и дали ще станат приятели с хичиянците...ще видим в част 4!

[Jörg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally, the Heechee are discovered. More correctly, the Heechee are forced to reveal themselves to humanity because humanity in its ignorance misuses the Heechee spaceships, risking discovery by the Assassins, a dreadful alien race aiming to modify the elementary rules of the universe to better fit their preferences. Their success would be the end of any race living accordingly to what we understand as life.

The return to Gateway is also a return to the universal scale of the initial novel. But it is ruined by the individual slant of the plot. Wan single-handedly forces the Heechee to intervene, Broadhead single-handedly drives the contact with the Heechee. Most improbable encounters take place on far-apart planets and space stations. Not a good conclusion to the cycle.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Todo lo que sube tiene que bajar.-

Género. Ciencia-Ficción.

Lo que nos cuenta. Una nave heechee entra en el espacio convencional para llevar a cabo unas tareas periódicas de revisión. La civilización humana vive un periodo convulso y violento. Los ayudantes artificiales de Robin le ayudan en su búsqueda de la verdad heechee. Wan, el huérfano de la factoría de alimentos termina conociendo al piloto Audee Walters y viajarán a lugares peligrosos. Tercer libro de la saga de los Heechees.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Martin Doychinov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Чел съм първите две книги от поредицата преди 15-на години. Читателската ми памет, като цяло, е по-къса дори от паметта на средностатистическия роден избирател. Въпреки това, си спомням доста от тях, но не достатъчно. За щастие, сюжетите са достатъчно подробно описани из нетя, та покрих пробойните в паметта.
Третата част продължава сериозно да надгражда откъм мащаб и обръща сюжета на 180 градуса, а след прочитането на последната страница и употребата на прашасал транспортир, се оказа, че сюжетно сме на около 360. :)
Докъм началото да развръзката, из повествованието има много карета, които представят случващото се през една оригинална гледна точка - това май не съм го срещал досега и е интересен похват.
Както предишните части, това си е твърда, добре подплатена научно, фантастика.
Ще се цъка и последната, четвърта част, която е издадена на майчин език. Последният роман - The Boy Who Would Live Forever: A Novel of Gateway, е написан и издаден 20-на години след нея и ще трябва да е в оригинал.
Единствения ми дерт с романа е, че не е ЧАК толкова интересно написан, че да се удари за няколко дена.
4,5*

[Hone Haapu · Rating 4 out of 5]

REREAD 2025

I could just barely bring myself to award the fourth star here. Especially as Pohl sets the bar so high in his previous two novels. I was expecting a crescendo here in the series. The triumphant emergence of the Hee Chee and the reveal of this other more sinister race... But I was rather disappointed.

The Bad
- The story was convoluted in places. I felt it could have been told with a lot less words!
- there were times when the narrative went down some pretty weird tracks and took its sweet time getting back to anything that was actually going to move the story line forward.
- The narrative view point changed quite often especially at the start of the book and at times I was confused about who was speaking and to whom! There was even a minor existential crisis where one viewpoint was arguing with itself!?
- His treatment of the female characters. It was obviously a pretty shit time to be a woman in the not too distant future this book was set in. It was also surprisingly enough a shit time to be a female of any race human, Hee Chee or otherwise as well! They seemed relegated to vassals of sexual need and domestic prerogatives. Which thinking back to how the female characters in the previous two books were constructed shouldn't have come as such a surprise. Maybe it is the fact that he is much more blatant in this book. But I think that this a common criticism for many of the male SF writers of this era.

The Good
- Amazingly the climax of the story unfolds through the revelation of information rather than the characters actions.
- Because of the rich world building he has done in the previous two books Pohl immerses the reader so well into the story with minimal effort.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10. Media de los 13 libros leídos del autor: 7/10

Si por algo es famoso Pohl es por esta saga, la de los Heeche. Admito que me costó un poco entrar en ella, pero una vez que te haces a ese mundo con naves con destino preprogramado pero desconocido, aventureros a ciegas, recompensas o muerte en la distancia, la cosa es la leche.
Tercera entrega y admito que ya me cansó un poco. Pero mantiene -casi- el interés. La idea ya no es nueva pero nos va metiendo en los sucesivos descubrimientos del entorno Heeche.

[Soph Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terminada la saga de los Heechee. Tengo en la recámara el cuarto libro de éste universo, pero tengo entendido que el hilo argumental de Broadhead termina aquí.

De forma global, me ha gustado como libro y como final. En mi opinión, los libros van mejorando; el primero está bien como introducción al universo Heechee pero en cuanto a calidad literaria e historia los siguientes son mucho mejores.

Altamente recomendable.

[Cesar Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

La forma de escribir de Pohl es sublime te mantiene ahí disfrutando de como va de a poco contando ese secreto que guardo de tal forma durante casi tres libros y los detalles que nos brinda hace que valiera la pena por completo.


Pierde la estrella conmigo por lo tedioso que me parecieron unos capítulos de nuestro protagonista rumbo al final.

[Kaiju Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't seem to write this review. This is my third attempt.

What I can't figure out how to say is how strange this series is.

Gateway is one of my favorite novels, and is ultimately a novel about Robinette Broadhead and something terrible he feels he did.

Then Blue Event Horizon comes around, and it's a huge departure from Gateway. It's more about the universe Robin now exists in, a handful of other characters, and a bunch of Heechee stuff. I enjoyed it, but it was significantly weaker than Gateway.

Heechee is more a return to Robin. But like Event Horizon, it's told in a very scatterbrained almost stream-of-consciousness style, and has maybe too many themes it's trying to tackle.

In fact, I didn't think Pohl could pull it off.

But as I read the last few pages, I have to admit that for me, he did. He pulled it off.

It's a mess at times. There are long vignettes into the side characters that feel totally extraneous, but then kind of turn out not to be. There are subplots that also feel like filler, and hell, maybe some of them are, but when I got to where it was all going, I can't deny that I was moved.

If you've read the first two, I'd say you should read this one for sure. You may not like it, but it's the sequel that Event Horizon wasn't, for good or bad. For me, it was good.

[Gökhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seri tam , zihin transferi, yapay zekaların insanileştirilmesi ve birbirleri arasında temas, farklı uzaylı ırkların ortaya çıkması gibi konularla daha da derinleşip, Hiçiler ile temasın sağlandığı zirve bir noktaya ulaşmışken Türkçe çeviri kitapların bu cilt ile sonlanması kötü olmuş. Devamını orijinal dilinden okuyacağım mecburen. Pohl gerçekten de çok sağlam bir kurguya imza atmış. Katı bilimkurgu severleri çok memnun edecek bir seri bu.

[Carlos Matesanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
A todos los libros que llevo leídos de Pohl les pasa parecido: buen inicio, buena premisa, una parte central que se arrastra por el fango y una remontada final que te deja con buen sabor de boca (aunque el final-final, los últimos párrafos, de este es un poco decepcionante).

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

The eponymous rendez-vous doesn't occur until the end of this volume, but this was every bit as fun to read as the first two in this series, Gateway and Beyond the Blue Event Horizon. We follow Robin around the galaxy once again trying to make a buck and find his true love. She is brought back from the black hole, but not at all as we expected. There is, this being 70s sci-fi, a lack of strong female characters and the whole Wan character is so horrifyingly misogynistic that it is almost self-parody. I will finish the series with The Annals of the Heechee.

[Daniel Milford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Minsanten! Pohl, din lille røver! De to første i serien fikk begge sterke firere. Det er denne også. Det føles feil å gi dem fire i snitt. Leseopplevelsen kanskje særlig på denne står til en femmer, så jeg sier føkkit og knaller til med toppkarakter.

Det er så mye bra her. Eller, det er ikke så mye her, det er en helt perfekt mengde ideer, og de får perfekt mengde plass og utvikling. Det gir relativt korte, lettleste bøker, med masse rom for å drøfte kule konsepter, akkurat slik jeg vil ha det.

Jeg kan vel knapt nevne noe av det jeg syntes var sykt kult her uten å spoile tidligere bøker i serien. Av det lille som da står igjen, vil jeg trekke frem en av de bedre skildringene av kompleksiteten i kjærlighet jeg har lest. Ikke verst av en bok fra åttitallet med romskip på coveret. Sci-fi har ALT DU TRENGER

PS: Ikke les vaskeseddelen her på Goodreads. Den spoiler ikke bare bok 1 og 2, men også bok 3, da det faktisk ved en feil er vaskeseddelen for bok 4 vi får her.

[Ashkan · Rating 5 out of 5]

غم «رابینت برودهد» آتشم زد.
-----------------------------------
درباره این کتاب در ویکی‌پدیای فارسی:

http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/آمدگاه_هیچی

[Cosmin Leucuța · Rating 2 out of 5]

Phoned-in, rehashed ideas from the previous books. No depth, no soul. Barely finished it.

[Sandrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

In reality 3/5 stars. I didn't think this one as good as the previous books in the series.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

We first spend time with Robin and experience his story told in retrospect, which is a change but did take me back to the first novel where we primarily only spent time with him however, here we also have interjections from AI Albert. This felt nostalgic and more intimate compared to Beyond the Blue Event Horizon’s discombobulating start.
Pohl as an author tries something new with every book and that does keep it fresh. However, the Shakespearean expositional foreshadowing is out of place and does not work here.
I was also confused when Pohl explained characters or events we had just read from the second book but failed to remind us who Audee was from the first!

It was fascinating to hear the effects the Heechee have had on the Human race and how that has evolved through the series. It gives poignancy to the individuals story that we witness by giving us the macro effects of choice’s characters have made.

Gelle Klara’s return was well earned. I truly couldn’t wait to find out what would happen to her stuck at the Event Horizon. I almost wanted Pohl to leave it unanswered like it had been for an entire book. It was interesting to see her reaction to the almost instant change in her world while the reader has experienced cultural, economic and character shifts over 3 books.

Every concept Pohl has introduced, like the Dead Men’s uploaded consciousness, are all expanded on and subsequently used to further the story brilliantly. The advancement of AI programs and the eventual upload system is very well executed and did not feel cliche like I thought it would be in other media/mediums. As this is the third entry I expected a twist but could not see when or how it was coming. As always though, Pohl delivers masterfully.

I would have loved to see more returning characters from Beyond the Blue Event Horizon here as only Wan was present. His character arc is brilliantly portrayed though as he now galavants around the galaxy like a big baby only getting what he wants and breaking interstellar laws in the process. This ridiculous characterisation is warranted and explained by his upbringing explored in other entries.

I thoroughly enjoyed it all in all and I would implore anyone to experience just a slice of this world by reading Pohl’s first entry in the series: “Gateway”

[Juan Martin Godoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tercera parte de la Saga Heechee, me costó bastante leerlo. En algunos pasajes se convierte más en una novela distópica que sobre ciencia ficción. Surgen problemas para la humanidad, (como p.ej los terroristas) , además hay una gran diferencia entre los que tienen el Certificado de Salud y los que no.
Aparecen los Heechees y todo ese halo misterioso que había en las dos primeras partes se diluye, eso tal vez juega en contra.
Hubo días que dejé de leer pero en los dos últimos capítulos volvió la ciencia ficción e introduce un concepto genial, el de la vida después de la muerte y lo terminé con ganas.
El personaje de Wan es absolutamente despreciable pero importante en la trama. La esposa de Robinette, Essie ya se pasa de ser tan perfecta, perfecta amante, perfecta amiga, perfecta programadora y empresaria, en un momento pensé que era una inteligencia artificial.
Reaparece un personaje que todos estábamos esperando y es de suma importancia para el final.
La Inteligencia Artificial Albert pese a que es mejorada tecnológicamente involuciona, no me gustó mucho en lo que se convierte.
Nuevamente digo que el final me encantó y podemos decir que la historia queda con un saldo positivo.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not up to the level of the first book of the series (Gateway), but a definite step up from the second book. Assume spoilers from here on out.

The biggest improvements for me were in the characterizations and the "screen time" given to the characters. The main character was far less objectionable than in prior books and the character I hated from the second book was a much more secondary character this time around.

This book also dove deeper into the weirder side of science fiction; not really "hard sci-fi" and not "sci-fantasy", but more like weird sci-fi in the direction of hard sci-fi.

The actual appearance of the Heechee (which has been built up for a long time now) was sort of anti-climactic, though you could argue there were bigger fish to fry for all of the characters involved. I also felt like there were some unearned plot twists that went against the "rules" that were established earlier in the series.

All in all, not a must-read, but an enjoyable read and a welcome upturn in the series after a disappointing second novel in the series.

[Deydre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teniendo en cuenta que es el tercer libro de la Saga Heechee, ha estado algo flojo (en comparación con los dos anteriores) en cuanto a formato y tiempos de acción. Aún así lo he disfrutado mucho, puesto que a pesar de empezar algo lento, en la segunda mitad del libro es donde ocurre la mayor parte de la acción y hacia donde desembocan las diversas (y a veces densas) tramas de la primera parte.

Se nota que es un libro que marca los preparativos para la cuarta entrega y deja con un escenario final totalmente distinto a los anteriores, por lo que espero mucho del siguiente.

[Alícia Gili]

Cada cop he entrat més en aquesta història i a cada llibre més intensament, i el que al principi em costava de lligar, al final m'han lligat a aquesta història de Pohl posant el dit a la nafra d'una societat futura molt semblança amb el camí que portem avui dia, i que sembla molt propera, excepte per aquesta societat extraterrestre que sembla portar-nos més enllà del que qualsevol de nosaltres podria somniar mai.