Frederik Pohl, página 2 de 4

Ill luck made Roger Torraway the subject of the Man Plus Programe, but it was deliberate biological engineering which turned him into a monster -- a machine perfectly adapted to survive on Mars. For according to computer predictions, Mars is humankind''s only alternative to extinction. But beneath his monstrous exterior, Torraway still carries a man''s capacity for suffering.

Illustrator: Martin

It is the 20th Century, an advertisement-drenched world in which the big ad agencies dominate governments and everything else. Now Schoken Associates, one of the big players, has a new challenge for star copywriter Mitch Courtenay. Volunteers are needed to colonise Venus. It''s a hellhole, and nobody who knew anything about it would dream of signing up. But by the time Mitch has finished, they will be queuing to get on board the spaceships.

Gateway opened on all the wealth of the Universe...and on reaches of unimaginable horror. When prospector Bob Broadhead went out to Gateway on the Heechee spacecraft, he decided he would know which was the right mission to make him his fortune. Three missions later, now famous and permanently rich, Robinette Broadhead has to face what happened to him and what he is...in a journey into himself as perilous and even more horrifying than the nightmare trip through the interstellar void that he drove himself to take THE HEECHEE SAGA Book One: GATEWAY Book Two: BEYOND THE BLUE EVENT HORIZON Book Three: HEECHEE RENDEZVOUS Book Four: THE ANNALS OF THE HEECHEE

En Pórtico, Frederik Pohl retoma y revigoriza la línea especulativa que le puso a la cabeza de la ciencia ficción mundial. Ésta es la primera novela de una tetralogía cuyo hilo conductor es una misteriosa especie de extraterrestres, los Heeche.

Para quienes no lo recuerde, Pohl es el máximo representante de la cienciaficción sociológica contemporánea, el autor (en colaboración con el malogrado Cyril Kornbluth) de la inolvidable Mercaderes del espacio y, mas recientemente, de obras como Homo Plus y Portico.Una de las caracteristicas de Pohl es la de escribir a munudo una ciencia-ficcion tan directamente entroncada con las circusntancias actuales y situada en un futuro tan inmediato, que a menudo uno se olvida de que esta leyendo una extrapolacion y se siente mas bien inmerso en una novela de costumbres. Basandose en el topico (pero no por topico menos cierto) de que ''el futuro ya esta aqui'', Pohl consigue crear situaciones especialemente inquietantes porque, a cada paso, uno se prenguta si aquello que parece extrapolacion no estara ocurriendo ya a la vuelta de la esquina. El ''Marte enmascarado'' de una de las novelas presentes no es el planeta, como cabria imaginar al tratarse de una narracion de ciencia-ficcion (a Pohl le encanta usar el equivoco como camiono hacia la sorpresa), sino el dios grecolatino de la guerra, y su mascara es tan sutil y verosimil, que al acabar el relato no se puede evitar un estremecimiento de paranoia. Pues la tesis implicita en Mars Masked es que entre una guerra fria insuficeinte para lograr determinados objetivos, las grandes potencias podrian desarrollar (o estar desarrollando ya) toda una red de pequeñas y solapadas agresiones a gran escala para minar los recursos y las fuerzas de sus adversarios.En resumen, que el arma definitiva tal vez no sea la bomba de neutrones, ni el satelite ase

Mercaderes del espacio, podría ser llamada la mejor novela de ciencia ficción de las publicadas hasta ahora... Los campos de interés de los dos autores son apropiados para la construcción de una utopia donde el sistema economico ha devorado al sistema politico, donde las grandes compañias ejercen el poder, sin intermediarios, y hasta el fin... y la sociedad ha sido estratificada rigidamente en productores, ejecutivos y consumidores... No es meramente un mundo donde el hombre de la publicidad es el rey; combina ademas el lujo y la escasez, aparatos fantasticos junto a la falta de combustible, toda clase de bebidas y gomas de mascar, y una extrema escasez de proteinas. En este aspecto, recuerda una observacion de George Orwell sobre los lujos, en camino de convertirse en menos caros y faciles de obtener que los articulos de primera necesidad. Encuadernacion: Tapa dura con sobrecubierta.

Illustrator: Emsh

Illustrator: Dick Francis

This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come - for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here! Frederik Pohl delights in this fascinating science fiction story, revealing a quality and depth of writing unmatchable!

This science fiction novel takes place in the year 2203, if we take literally the age of 250 years. A rogue planet, populated by strange machines known as Pyramids, has stolen the Earth from the Solar system, taking it off into interstellar space. The moon has been ignited by alien technology to serve as a miniature sun around which both planets orbit. This new sun is rekindled every 5 years, though as the book opens, the rekindling is nearly overdue and there is fear among the populace that it may never happen again. - Summary by Wikipedia

This famous Pohl story explores cybernetic robots and implanted personalities in a way that certainly expanded my way of looking at reality. Is that wall really real? or is it just kinda, sorta real? And who am I? The protagonist, Guy Burckhardt, wakes up screaming from a horrible dream of explosions, searing fire, choking gas and other terrible ways to die. But he wakes up so it must have been just a bad nightmare, right? To find out that piece of information you will need to listen to this inventive and scary story.

It wasnt fair - a smart but luckless man like Mooney had to scrounge, while Harse always made out just because he had a...Survival Kit! Frederik Pohl truly astonishes with another masterpiece of scie

In a post-apocalyptic world where every government in the world has been overrun by its own military machinery, only to see that military machinery self-destruct, people are randomly being affected by a plague that seemingly takes over their brains and forces them to commit heinous crimes. Chandler is one of these unfortunate victims, the perpetrator of rape and murder. He is driven out of his community as a Hoaxer (someone who feigns being a victim of the plague), branded on his forehead with the letter H. But he is not feigning. In his travels, he finds the source of the plague, and its not what people think. Its up to him to deal with it, and he does. But to what end? - Summary by Nick Bulka

Pohl takes us into the future in this quirky and funny story, where the population of the United States is less than 10,000 people ... total. Yes you guessed it, there was a war; but the clean bombs killed people and left most everything else intact. Our trio of Knights are not very talented or smart or brave, but they have survived very well and now are taking on New York City to fulfill a quest of Arthur. You see, Arthur has no legs. Or arms. Or body. But he is very opinionated nevertheless. Listen to this fascinating story that is full of humor and human nature as only Pohl can do it.

Una colección de cuentos y viñetas que narra el descubrimiento y la exploración de los artefactos Heechee por parte de la humanidad y que sirve de complemento a la Saga HeecheeUna verdadera obra de culto de la ciencia ficcion, con la que el autor obtuvo los premios Hugo, Nebula, Locus y John W. Campbell Memorial. Los Heechee eran quizas el mayor y mas tentador misterio que la raza humana habia conocido jamas. Los primeros artefactos Heechee fueron descubiertos en Venus, y al principio no fueron tratados mas que como costosos souvenirs y curiosidades para los turistas de la Tierra y Marte.Pero cuando se descubrio un asteroide repleto de naves espaciales autopilotadas, el universo Heechee se abrio de par en par, dando origen a la Corporacion y aportando riquezas incalculables a los aventureros que arriesgaron todo para ver adonde les llevaban esas naves espaciales Heechee. Muchos de aquellos valientes nunca regresaron. Los que lo hicieron trajeron maravillas tecnologicas que transformaron la vida en la Tierra, pero de los propios Heechee no habia ni rastro...Los exploradores de Portico, profusamente ilustrado por el artista Frank Kelly Freas, presenta los relatos de aquellos peligrosos viajes y maravillosos descubrimientos, cuando aquellos intrepidos pioneros siguieron el rastro de los escurridizos Heechee y cambiaron para siempre el curso de la historia de la humanidad.