He has done better
This book is readable, but it's no "Gateway". Mr. Pohl gets too cute a bit often. Buy this book "used" if at all possible. On the other hand, his note at the end is fairly amusing when you consider the changes in our understanding of black holes since he wrote "Gateway".
Aimless novel
I was quite excited to find this book at the local bookstore a couple of weeks ago. The previous four "Gateway" novels are among my favorite SF novels, with inventive aliens, interesting characters and strong plotting. In marked contrast, "The Boy Who Would Live Forever" is an aimless ramble that adds nothing to our knowledge of the Gateway universe, its characters, or anything else. One example will suffice. In "The Annals of the Heechee," we get a chunk of information about the Foe. They are interesting and worth exploring further. So, in this novel, we get about 3 pages with the Foe, in a completely unbelievable situation, and then the Foe never turn up again! This novel is tedious and uninteresting, and fans of "Gateway" should ignore it and pretend that the series ends with "The Annals of the Heechee."
Weak finish to the Gateway Saga
Baeing a avid Fred Pohl reader and being throughly entertained by the earlier Gateway novels I expected this to be a strong finish to the series. Instead what we have is a weak rambling story that bears little or no resemblence to the source. It left me wondering "Mr. Pohl what happened?
episodic epic
I've read a lot of great Pohl books and this one ranks up there with the best. There's a lot going on and several characters get to carry the story at one time or another. After a few adjustments, this book would make a fantastic film. This story seems like a good conclusion to the Heechee saga but I for one would love to read more.
If you join me I'll then transport you to splendid selection of interesting Core planets .. not
I have just finished this book and put it down with a big yawn. There is a mix of characters and points of views, introducing of new characters (sometimes interesting as Marc Anthony), boring the reader with other characters even the author seemed to be no longer interested in after some chapters, and a very unsatisfactory solving of open threads (Wan). The Heechee parts are amusing and have the old Gateway feeling but that is pretty much all that is left from novels 1-3. And the endless obsessions about food might be amusing in the beginning but is soon getting really boring.
All in all this seems more a sum of sketches and scenes hold together by some strained plot than a decent book as we know and can expect from F. Pohl.
