The Gates of Heaven

by Paul Preuss

At Project cyclops, a room filled with scientists and military personnel is plunged into stunned silence. Above the crackling static coming from the star Tau Ceti, they hear a voice. A human voice.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

210 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1980

About the author

Paul Preuss is an American writer of science fiction and science articles, who also works as science consultant for film companies. He is the author of numerous stand-alone novels as well as novels in Arthur C. Clarke's Venus Prime series, based upon incidents, characters, and places from Clarke's short stories. (source: wikipedia)

Reviews

[Hien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moderately entertaining story, completely idiotic physics. Flying between two black holes of equal strength does not make the force on you drop to zero. It makes the NET force zero. Big difference. Somebody should have told Preuss that but then I guess he wouldn't have a book since that is central to his method of travel.

[Mike Maguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve read from Paul Preuss. I’m already looking into his other works.

Overall nice read. The first few chapters pulled me in and made me eager to learn more about this mysterious signal from deep space.

Interesting premise, although slightly predictable.

The only drawbacks for me would be that I feel like the story progressed by jumping forward quickly in some parts (which is fitting for a novel about black holes) and the ending felt a bit rushed.

I would still recommend fans of the genre to give this book a read!

[James]

At Project Cyclops, a room filled with scientists and military personnel is plunged into stunned silence. Above the crackling static coming from the star Tau Ceti, they hear a voice. A human voice. To answer the signal from reaches of the universe unknown, an expedition embarks on a journey across warped dimensions of time and space... Through a Black Hole in the cosmic vastness... To a paradise dying on the other side.

[Wesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a neat little sci-fi story although not among the best that you can find. However, I credit it with reigniting my love of reading when I picked it up at a library book swap in 2004. The physics are mostly absurd, but the trip to Tau Ceti Five is quite intriguing.

[SciFiOne · Rating 4 out of 5]

1990 grade B-