Beyond The Blue Event Horizon

By Frederik Pohl, 2000, 336 pages, amazon

This book is the second one in the (sci-fi) Heechee saga (preceded by Gateway). Even though it is quite self-contained and can be read separately, I would not recommend doing that. In fact, I would not recommend the book at all, read the Gateway instead.

Why? Not quite sure, it just doesn’t feel right, as it often happens with the sequels to very good books. It reads easily, so it might be good for some light entertainment, but if you’re looking for some good science fiction, this is not it. The best part of the book is the epilogue wraps it up:

The evidence was sure. It was not the sort of evidence that only Heechee could read. If any of their experiments did attain civilization and science, they would see it too. The anisotropic nature of the 3K cosmic background radiation, showing an inexplicable “drift”. (Human beings had learned to read that, if not to understand it.) The physical theory that suggested such fundamental numbers as made the life possible in the first place could be changed. (Human being had learned to understand that, but not to be sure it was true.) The subtle clues from distant galaxies that showed their rate of expansion was slowing down, had already for some of them begun to reverse. This was the point of human capability of observation – yet; but only perhaps by a matter of years or decades.

When it became clear to Heechee not only that the universe might be destroyed in order to rebuild it – but that Someone was actually doing it – they were appalled…

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