HIGHWAY TO ETERNITY

Rating:
Summary: Meanders, but it does have a thoughtful plot
Review: Immortality is an attractive concept and there is no doubt that most people would accept it in any form. However, there are some forms that are as much a prison as a life and that is a story that is not often told. In this tale, Simak describes a set of circumstances where an alien species offers the human race the opportunity for eternal life in an incorporeal form. While most take advantage of it, a small group rejects the offer and flees into time in an attempt to escape.
They are pursued and are assisted by many different species, from other aliens to robots to a domesticated wolf. The story is very convoluted at times, you must read with a great deal of care if you are to keep all of the characters organized in your mind. I enjoyed the story, but it is not one that will appeal to those who prefer their books end in a form of closure.
This is a story that expects a great deal of cerebral activity on the part of the reader, both administratively and philosophically. The philosophical aspects of eternal life in this form are similar to the tenets of many branches of religion, so there are points of thought that are also religious in nature. It is worth reading for many, but certainly not for those who prefer a great deal of intense action.

Rating:
Summary: The road to Everywhen
Review: It all began simply enough. A client had vanished and Jay Corcoran went to investigate the man's empty hotel suite. But Corcoran's trick vision spotted a room sized box stuck to the outside wall of the suite. There was no way to get into the box, so Corcoran cabled his long time pal Tom Boone.

Boone had a talent. When threatened he could "step around a corner" into some otherwhere. Boone stepped into the box, taking Corcoran with him.

The box turned out to be a time travel machine that transported them back to 1745 England, where they found a family of refugees from a million years in the future.

In that far future, alien Infinites were converting humanity to incorporal form. When the family had refused conversion, they had to flee. For more than a century, the family had lain hidden in their time bubble. Suddenly, the Infinites' killer monster broke through and things grew very complicated as the family fled to the distant past and the farther future.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: Regardless of what the other reviewers said about this book, I guess you can't please everyone. I thought this book was wonderful, and as a matter of fact, one of my favorites from Clifford Simak! It has great characters, a very interesting story, and makes you feel good, and something I've not heard others say about him is that Cliff's stories are so descriptive that you feel the texture of the grass and smell the air in the story. Pick this book up, if you can find it! You won't be dissapointed!

Rating:
Summary: The old magic never dimmed....
Review: This final book of the master was a joy to read. Here, he returns, one last time, to many of the favorite topics, characters, and settings of so many of his other books and stories. All in one book you have time travel, alternate dimensions, robots, a vast brotherhood of friendly aliens, a very dog-like wolf (ala City), not to mention many other familiar elements. It is all contained in a very complex, skillfully woven, unpredictable narrative.

It is fitting that that this book should address the issues of immortality, eternity, and the purpose of life. After all, it was written only two years before the author died (peacefully and in his sleep.) You find immortality achieved by means of fields that hold time at bay, by artificially becoming points of pure intellect, by evolutionary means, by intelligent machines, etc. There is also the understanding that mankind has infinite potential to grow in intellect and understanding. Indeed, it is clearly stated that without consciousness and understanding the universe would lack meaning. That is the ultimate purpose of all sentient beings- to give meaning to the universe.

This is a mature, thoughtful, science fiction novel. It is not an old style shoot-em-up space opera, though it does have some pretty good killer monsters in the pay of sinister aliens from the future.

All in all, I found this novel to be an excellent capstone to a distinguished career. The old magic never dimmed. I actually postponed reading this book, for I knew that there would be no more coming after I had finished this one....

Rating:
Summary: Boring tale by an oftentimes good author.
Review: Undeveloped threads of ideas abound; poorly developed characters; written like a freshman English course project; extremely difficult to read: not because of the okay writing style but because it's impossible to care about what's going to happen next. Disappointing because Simak is capable of *such* better storytelling.