Title: Beyond the Blue Event Horizon
Publishing Info: -
Time Period: 20th Century
First and Last Read by Dr. Rearick July 1996
Rated: A-
Location: Rearick library (Office Extension) and Mount
Vernon Public Library
Comments:
This is the sequel to Pohl's Gateway,
a novel about what happens when humans discover alien artifacts
near their world. More impressive is that many of these artifacts
are still functioning. The humans give the unknown beings the
name of Heechee. They don't know what the aliens called themselves
since none of them are around. Then the earthlings discover a
asteroid space port on which are several functioning Heechee spaceships
all fully automated. So humans begin to blindly study where these
spaceships will take them.
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon picks up from that point.
By the time the novel begins humans had been wandering around
the galaxy for some time aboard Heechee ships. Wanderings is
the absolute correct verb becuase humans at this time had no concept
of how to really steer the ships while traveling in faster than
light mode. Prospectors got on board, piled in enough supplies
and then traveled out to see what there might be on the other
side of a pre-programed flight path. While reading this I thought
of my little two year old getting into an elevator and randomily
pushing buttons. Imagin how dangerious that would be if whirling
machines were running unattended on those different floors. Well
that's exactly the type of senerio Pohl describes.