Way Station
Ratings62
Average rating4.1
The first adult SF book I read at the age of 10. I was amazed by it, and it hooked me into SF for life. I read it again some years later, and I would now give it a 3/5 - but as my first SF book it still rates 5!
This is my first Clifford D. Simak read and I'm shocked that I've never read him before.
This is a very thoughtful and sweet story of an American Civil War veteran who becomes the unlikely station master of a Galactic Travel Station.
Enoch has lived for over 100 years. He only experiences time while outside the station and doesn't age while inside it.
He befriends the many aliens who visit and his only human friend is the mail man.
It not an overly action packed story, but delves into many philosophical ideas.
A great read. 4 Stars
#JennyGuyColvin
So this has taken an awfully long time to come to my attention but I am glad it made it.
Generously optimistic in its outlook perhaps, but I really enjoyed reading it.
Give me all your stories of strange immortality.
I'd love to talk about the very end, I didn't follow the last page very well.
Absolutely astonishing for a book from this period. It's a little bit of Walden, a little bit of Trek's basic humanity, and a lot of ideas modern Sci-Fi is still working with.
Simak is always a thoughtful and contemplative writer, but this is a supremely contemplative book, in which things happen rather quietly; the hero goes nowhere, has no strange powers, and spends most of his time reading, writing, and thinking; although he does take a few significant actions in the course of the story. I enjoy and respect the book; and yet it lacks the sort of compelling scenes that draw me back to read a book over and over again. So I reread it relatively rarely.
I don't see this book as competing with Simak's other best books; it's a different kind of book.
After my first Simak merely a week ago, I was nervous about how much I might like this one. I ADORE it! It's a library copy but I love it so much it's been added to my list of books to buy for my collection. Enoch is such a wonderful protagonist. Just enough of the old fashioned without being a patriarchal ass. His relationships with all the supporting characters were so lovely. I will absolutely be picking up more Simak in the future!
A former Union soldier becomes an attendant at earth's rest stop on an intergalactic highway system. Gorgeous prose, maybe one of the most purely human and warm science fiction novels I've read. I can easily imagine rereading this one within the year.