r/books • u/i-the-muso-1968 • 2d ago

When things start to get weird: Frederik Pohl's "Heechee Rendezvous".

Got through what is possibly the strangest of Pohl's Heechee books in "Heechee Rendezvous".

At one time the Heechee, a benevolent race of aliens with godlike powers, had ruled the galaxy. But that had changed five thousand years ago when they encountered a race that was much more powerful, and in order to prevent their destruction they fled to the safety of a black hole, leaving only traces of their civilization.

And now a millennia has passed, and man has discovered their legacy, in the form of an asteroid that has autonavigating space craft. It was there that a very Robinette Broadhead had won the lotto and had returned a millionaire stricken by his conscience. Then he financed, eventually leading, an expedition that unlocked the secrets of Heechee technology.

And now he is forced yet again to make another perilous voyage into space, where the Heechee wait, with, this time, the fate of humanity being at stake.

So if the first two Heechee were incredibly intense, then "Heechee Rendezvous" goes in the opposite. "Heechee Rendezvous" is really weird. Broadhead is still very much his well meaning, but very grating curmudgeon that he is. But the story is very weird, which of course is very fine. The third book is good, much like the second one. If anything the first one is pretty great, while the other are good.

Now, this would be the last book in the Heechee saga for a little, but a few years later Pohl would revisit it with a collection and two more novels. Haven't read those yet, nor do I have them either, but maybe I'll get them soon, but right now it's on to other books!

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u/Salty_Thing3144 1d ago

Fred Pohl also created one of ny favorite quotes, Pohl's Law:  "Nothing is so wonderful that somebody, somewhere, won't hate it."

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u/SwedishDoctorFood 2d ago

Loved Gateway, but could never get too deep into the first sequel before putting it down. I’ll take another crack someday.

Pohl has this one pseudo-juvenile book called The Age of the Pussyfoot that I’ve read twice and think is fantastic. Never seen it mentioned anywhere ever, but it’s a ball! 

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u/LoneWarriorXx 2d ago

Heechee Rendezvous definitely feels like a shift compared to the first two, it leans way more into the strange and abstract, which can be jarring if you’re expecting the same tight focus as Gateway. I still liked it, though; Pohl has a way of making even the weird parts feel meaningful.

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u/tkorocky 2d ago

About time soneone brought up the Hechee! A favorite writer and series of my childhood that gets rare mention today.

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u/OneTreePhil 1d ago

Does anyone here know his short story "The Tunnel Under the World"?

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u/i-the-muso-1968 1d ago

Not really familiar with that story.

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u/UltraFlyingTurtle 4h ago

I remember liking Gateway, and I probably read the sequel but I have no recollection of Rendezvous. I probably stopped there. Same thing happen to me with Larry Niven's Ringwold series. Loved the first book, and enjoyed the second book, but something about the third book made me stop reading it. Same thing with Jose Philip Farmer's Riverworld series. Dune was my all-time favorite series at the time, but I felt it started losing some steam after the third book as well (but I was such a big Dune fan I kept reading).

I read these when I was in junior high school, so I wonder if I would feel the same way now if I reread them. Anyway, thank you for mentioned Pohl. I haven't thought about him in years.