Signals are received: a crude depiction of creatures pantomiming the cataclysmic destruction of the universe.
Soon after, scientists note unusual radiation emanating from an abandoned Earth-orbital observatory. When a group of scientists and astronauts board the observatory to investigate, they are taken prisoner. An unsuspecting Earth has just become part of a vast interstellar war.
For the human prisoners, this minor skirmish in a vast war becomes a fantastic adventure. The hunters become the hunted, the prey the predators, and nothing is as it seems. The only sure thing is that the winners will rule eternity at...The Other End of Time.
**
Amazon.com Review
A distinguished veteran of science fiction, Frederik Pohl, was one of the Futurians, a New York City club of the 1930s and 40s that included Isaac Asimov. Author of The Other End of Time and The World at the End of Time, his latest novel features Dan Dannerman, a poorly paid government agent in the not-too-distant future. Dannerman discovers aliens on an abandoned space station and is drawn into a conflict that encompasses the universe. According to one of its protagonists, the war Dannerman blunders into centers on what "ordinary people have been used to calling 'Heaven.'" A sequel is promised.
From Publishers Weekly
It is late in the 21st century, and an Earth that has largely abandoned space exploration has just been contacted by intelligent extraterrestrials, who warn of other, hostile aliens on the way. At the same time, Joe-Dan Dannerman, a young undercover police operative, infiltrates the research establishment of his cousin to learn what she plans for an abandoned orbital observatory. The aliens have plans for the observatory, too, as Joe-Dan, his cousin and their oddly assorted company of astronauts discover when the aliens arrive. Captured by the ETs, these humans must survive their own personality clashes, alien technology and encounters with alien-made duplicates of themselves. When they are finally liberated, it is on a distant planet, short of food, weapons, medicine and knowledge, amid strife between both factions of aliens that poses a menace to humanity. The opening contains too many conventional dystopian elements; but, once the cast makes contact with the aliens, the story is conceived and executed with Pohl's usual acumen as this veteran author, who published his first novel in 1952, displays his skill at juggling ideas in the classic SF mode. The ending is oddly unresolved, unless this is the first volume of a series?which would not be bad news.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Strange signals have reached the Earth, warning of its destruction by malevolent aliens known as the Horch. Within a year there is evidence that the aliens who sent the warning, known only as the Beloved Leaders, have taken over the Starlab, an abandoned orbital observatory. When a group of astronomers goes to investigate the observatory, they are taken light-years away, becoming prisoners and guinea pigs of the Beloved Leaders. Led by Dan Dannerman, cousin of the observatory's director and a spy for the U.S. government, the prisoners take stock of their situation and gradually discover the truth that their captors, who have told the prisoners they are at war with the monstrous Horch, are lying about their own diabolical aims. When the Horch attack the prison base, they inadvertently free Dannerman and his fellow prisoners, allowing the humans to turn the tables. The Beloved Leaders have committed the cardinal mistake: underestimating the ingenuity of their resourceful human prisoners. And they're going to pay dearly for that mistake!
Description:
Earth, 2031: Alien contact.
Signals are received: a crude depiction of creatures pantomiming the cataclysmic destruction of the universe.
Soon after, scientists note unusual radiation emanating from an abandoned Earth-orbital observatory. When a group of scientists and astronauts board the observatory to investigate, they are taken prisoner. An unsuspecting Earth has just become part of a vast interstellar war.
For the human prisoners, this minor skirmish in a vast war becomes a fantastic adventure. The hunters become the hunted, the prey the predators, and nothing is as it seems. The only sure thing is that the winners will rule eternity at...The Other End of Time.
**
Amazon.com Review
A distinguished veteran of science fiction, Frederik Pohl, was one of the Futurians, a New York City club of the 1930s and 40s that included Isaac Asimov. Author of The Other End of Time and The World at the End of Time, his latest novel features Dan Dannerman, a poorly paid government agent in the not-too-distant future. Dannerman discovers aliens on an abandoned space station and is drawn into a conflict that encompasses the universe. According to one of its protagonists, the war Dannerman blunders into centers on what "ordinary people have been used to calling 'Heaven.'" A sequel is promised.
From Publishers Weekly
It is late in the 21st century, and an Earth that has largely abandoned space exploration has just been contacted by intelligent extraterrestrials, who warn of other, hostile aliens on the way. At the same time, Joe-Dan Dannerman, a young undercover police operative, infiltrates the research establishment of his cousin to learn what she plans for an abandoned orbital observatory. The aliens have plans for the observatory, too, as Joe-Dan, his cousin and their oddly assorted company of astronauts discover when the aliens arrive. Captured by the ETs, these humans must survive their own personality clashes, alien technology and encounters with alien-made duplicates of themselves. When they are finally liberated, it is on a distant planet, short of food, weapons, medicine and knowledge, amid strife between both factions of aliens that poses a menace to humanity. The opening contains too many conventional dystopian elements; but, once the cast makes contact with the aliens, the story is conceived and executed with Pohl's usual acumen as this veteran author, who published his first novel in 1952, displays his skill at juggling ideas in the classic SF mode. The ending is oddly unresolved, unless this is the first volume of a series?which would not be bad news.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Strange signals have reached the Earth, warning of its destruction by malevolent aliens known as the Horch. Within a year there is evidence that the aliens who sent the warning, known only as the Beloved Leaders, have taken over the Starlab, an abandoned orbital observatory. When a group of astronomers goes to investigate the observatory, they are taken light-years away, becoming prisoners and guinea pigs of the Beloved Leaders. Led by Dan Dannerman, cousin of the observatory's director and a spy for the U.S. government, the prisoners take stock of their situation and gradually discover the truth that their captors, who have told the prisoners they are at war with the monstrous Horch, are lying about their own diabolical aims. When the Horch attack the prison base, they inadvertently free Dannerman and his fellow prisoners, allowing the humans to turn the tables. The Beloved Leaders have committed the cardinal mistake: underestimating the ingenuity of their resourceful human prisoners. And they're going to pay dearly for that mistake!