- Hardcover: 210 pages
- Publisher: Bentley Pub (May 1980)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0837604400
- ISBN-13: 978-0837604404
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14.2 x 5.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Clifford Simak was raised in Wisconsin, and his science fiction combines galactic scope with nostalgia for the old American Midwest. Way Station (1963) is a fine example of this unlikely mix, and probably his best novel--it won him a Hugo award.
Its hero Enoch Wallace first appears as a mystery man: an impossibly young-looking Civil War veteran, 124 years old and still living in his parents' remote Winconsin farmhouse. Nowadays this building has a glittering, Tardis-like interior, ever since Wallace was recruited by aliens as stationmaster on a minor branch line--not a railway, but Galactic Central's network of matter transmitters carrying passengers between the stars. Earth isn't ready for this secret, and countryman Wallace's best friends are extraterrestrials and ghostly simulations.
When the CIA investigates his reclusive lifestyle, it accidentally stirs up an interstellar diplomatic crisis. Wallace's job, and his place in the countryside he loves, are suddenly threatened. So are his hopes for persuading Galactic Central to step in and halt our accelerating slide towards nuclear war. (The Cuban missile crisis was then recent history.)
All the story threads converge neatly: the rustic lynch mob, the galactics, the CIA, the unhappy ghosts, the local deaf-and-dumb girl who can charm warts and heal butterflies, and the bizarre virtual-reality rifle range built for Wallace by an alien construction team. There are painful losses, victories, and a final note of lonely hope. It's a book of great charm--old-fashioned SF, but timeless rather than dated. --David Langford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Enoch Wallace survived the carnage of Gettysburg and lived through the rest of the Civil War to make it home to his parents' farm in south-west Wisconsin. But his mother was already dead and his father soon joined her in the tiny family cemetery. It was then that Enoch met the being he called Ulysses and the farm became a way station for space travellers. Now, nearly a hundred years later, the US government is taking an interest in the seemingly immortal Enoch, and the Galactic Council, which set up the way station is threatening to tear itself apart.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A pre-cursor to Star Trek's Galactic Federation!,
By
This review is from: Way Station (Hardcover)
Enoch Wallace is 124 years old, the last survivor of the Civil War, living as a recluse in the woods of southwest Wisconsin. For reasons of their own, aliens have selected Enoch to run an inter-stellar way station, a hub of their galactic transportation network that enables aliens from planets across the galaxy to travel instantaneously from one star system to another. Because the aliens have decided that mankind and earth are not yet ready for membership in this galactic federation, Enoch must labour in splendid isolation and keep the station's secret to himself. Inevitably, Wallace's astonishing longevity attracts notice and the US government begins to investigate both Wallace and the odd happenings at his house in the woods.When the investigating agent inadvertently interferes with alien property, the aliens (whose political alliances are also uncharacteristically strained) threaten retribution and removal of the way station from earth entirely. With the aid of alien science and mathematics, Wallace now believes the world is headed unavoidably for self-annihilation in a nuclear war that will destroy humanity for centuries to come. Despite his obvious desire for a union between mankind and the alien races he has come to know and respect, Wallace is left with what amounts to an impossible Hobson's choice - abandon humanity, join the aliens in their travels across the galaxy and man a way-station elsewhere; or bid farewell to the aliens and toss in his lot with the human species that he is convinced is destined for self-destruction. In many ways, "Way Station" is a typical Simak novel, quiet and soft in a comfortably low key character and idea-driven pastoral style. One might even go so far as to say it hovers on the edge of fantasy or mysticism as it explores the idea of humanity's reaction to other sentience in the universe or other more difficult ideas such as what might form the basis for an alien "religion". But, in this very short novel (perhaps typical of the classic sci-fi era), Simak also explores some harder sci-fi ideas such as teleportation, holograph technology, the form that sentient aliens may take and the construction of alien language. The intensely emotional happy ending, comfortably warm and fuzzy is probably a reflection of Simak's personal optimism (or at least hopes) for the future of man and Earth as we evolve in the years to come. A thoroughly enjoyable must read for any lover of classic sci-fi. Paul Weiss
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Greatest and Wisest Science Fiction Novel,
By
This review is from: WAY STATION (Mass Market Paperback)
I just finished reading this great book. I can only say that in my opinion reading this book is essential. It is by far the most intelligent, thoughtful, human and universal, kind-hearted and far-reaching novel I've read in a long time. Perhaps the best book I've ever read. I could go on, examining the story and trying to explain why the book makes such a strong impact on me, but that would be futile - in my opinion Way Station cannot be condensed or translated in any way other than word-for-word. Anyway there are other reviews that give a superficial sense of the story. But to learn the book's message in full you must simply read it and be open to it. All I can say about the less positive reviews - the ones that claim that Way Station is dated, preachy, rambling, etc. - is that in those cases the fault lies more with the reviewer than with the book. Some people, at certain times in their lives, simply aren't open to certain messages of truth.I cannot recommend Way Station too highly. In my opinion it is an embarrassment that this book - this stunning achievement of Science Fiction - is currently out of print.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The absolute Best!!,
This review is from: Way Station (Hardcover)
WAY STATION is about -- well, a way station. Unlike those of the old West, this way station is a place where interplanetary travelors stop along their journey. In a lonely farmhouse in rural Wisconsin lives Enoch Wallace, who operates this Way Station. After nearly a century of this work, and without aging a day, Wallace is beginning to attract attention.Great story, with a wonderfully satisfying ending.
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