Way Station

This is a great book, though readers unfamiliar to Simak or the sci-fi genre from 50 or more years ago may find it \”different\” when compared to modern sci-fi books. I always preferred these older stories, as they seemed to emphasize the story first rather than concentrate on demonstrating motivation for every minor character than enters the story. This story follows that mode, with a heavy emphasis on the concepts. Usually, there is a main character who is affected by the events in the story. This story revolves around Enoch, who performs a job for others in the galaxy while tasked to keep his involvement secret from other earthlings. Unfortunately, his unorthodox actions are noticed, which precipitates several crises before coming to a solid conclusion. Along the way, Simak provides thought-provoking statements for the reader to chew on. (My personal favorite: Was war an instinctive thing, for which each ordinary man was as much responsible as the policy makers and the so-called statesmen? It seemed impossible, and yet, deep in every man was the combative instinct, the aggressive urge, the strange sense of competition–all of which spelled conflict of one kind or another if carried to conclusion). I almost graded this as four stars, due to the slow middle of the book. Upon further reflection, the story seemed to slow only because of the great detail the author presented concerning the aspects of his job, and the book would not have had the same impact at the end if the reader was not aware of these details. As with most sci-fi back then, this is a very quick read (231 pages) and worth your time.

Clifford D. Simaks novel Way Station, published in 1963, won the Hugo Award for that years best science fiction novel and has been recognized on various all-time greatest lists of sci-fi books. Simak, a Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master, is an author whose work is consistently exceptional and rarely disappoints. Even though this novel was published over 50 years ago, it still reads as a work of brilliantly inspired speculative fiction, and its Cold War-era message remains relevant to the world we live in today. Way Station tells the story of Enoch Wallace, a veteran of the American Civil War, who is chosen by an extraterrestrial governing body to serve as a sort of galactic innkeeper for interstellar travelers passing through our solar system. The means of travel is a form of teleportation, and Enochs rural home is transformed into an arrival, layover, and departure center for wayfarers of myriad alien species and cultures. The interior of Enochs housethe way stationexists outside of time, so he does not age when he is inside it. Eventually, a 120-year-old man who looks like hes in his thirties begins to draw attention. His neighbors become suspicious of their weird, reclusive neighbor. A CIA agent hears rumors of Enochs agelessness and puts him under surveillance. These interlopers not only intrude upon Enochs privacy; their meddling may also threaten the delicate diplomatic relations between Earth and the rest of the galaxy. The story is set in rural southwestern Wisconsin, where Simak grew up. He lived his entire life in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and many of his works are set in those states. Its always refreshing to read a great work of American regional literature that doesnt take place in one of the nations three biggest cities. Occasionally writers will set a work in a generic rural setting, perhaps designating a state such as Kansas or Nebraska for authenticitys sake. Simak, on the other hand, really establishes a specific sense of place to his setting. You can tell he has had an intimate relationship with the region he describes and the people who dwell there. There is a profound sensitivity to his writing about rural life thats reminiscent of the work of Willa Cather. Yet the science fiction elements he layers on top of this foundation are as visionary as any other writer of the genre. He judiciously understates the sci-fi elements of the story in order to emphasize the literary over the sensational. A writer like Fritz Leiber would have populated his way station with all manner of far-fetched freakiness, resulting in a weird-for-weirds-sake view of intergalactic contact (as in The Big Time, for example). Simak, on the other hand, focuses on the humanity in his characters, even those who arent human. He aims for more than just thrills and entertainment, instead imbuing his story with an admonishing message of cautious hope for mankind. Sometimes the story goes off into tangents that seem irrelevant, but eventually Simak brings them back full circle to become integral to the main thrust of the plot. Though quite suspenseful for most of its length, the story lags a little toward the end, and some conflicts are resolved a little too conveniently. Nevertheless, this is a great work of science fiction truly deserving of the accolades it has received. As good as this novel is, however, Simaks true calling is short stories. If you havent done so already, check out Open Road Medias excellent series The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak, which is projected to amount to 14 volumes of this masters work.

Clifford D. Simaks writing style is often described as pastoral, a gentle Midwestern American soft science fiction with a splash of fantasy flavoring his pastel impressionist coloring. For me he was the other Ray Bradbury, a very literate writer with an even tempo and a terrific imagination who could go dark when necessary or boyishly imaginative. Though he was an early writer published in Hugo Gernsbacks pulp magazines, his peak came in the 60s and early 70s when the revitalized boomer kids like myself were discovering his CITY and WAY STATION novels and The Big Front Yard novelette through The Science Fiction Book Club or Doubleday or Ballantine and Ace reissues. While WAY STATION and CITY are definitive triumphs, after reading them you are going to go spelunking for nuggets like Time And Again, Ring Around The Sun, A Choice Of Gods, or the really bizarre All Flesh Is Grass; and of course some of the collected short stories. Clifford D Simak was the 3rd Grand Master of The Science Fiction Writers of America after Robert Heinlein and the great Jack Williamson. Like his contemporary and other Midwestern Sci-Fi Guru Bradbury, Simak has an almost Mark Twain approach to writing, there is an easy humanity in his style and this is the attraction because Simak gives us characters who breathe and worry, laugh and take time to look at the vistas and panorama of the world. They have flaws and they learn how to rise above them, and they deal with obstacles and challenges with thought and wisdom and not with violence. If you are looking for shoot-em up action, Starship Troopers and Bug Invaders, look elsewhere. Clifford D. Simak is an intelligent writer with the strange willingness to concentrate on people and hopefulness, decency and compassion, curiosity and understanding. Clifford D. Simak was a cosmic consciousness kind of guy and his writing has been a source of inspiration to explore and discover. While CITY began life as a short story series from the World War II years into the 50s, he managed to magically interconnect them into a storyboard spanning over ten thousand years as a history of mankind generally, but of a certain family specifically, told through the framing device (as collected into a short story series now novelized together as a whole) of a mythology handed down by generations of dogs who have inherited the future of earth. This latest edition of CITY ends with a Coda, written by Simak in 1973 and not included in my original copy of City which I read as a teen and again in college. The Coda is a wonderful ending that truly polishes off the story in the best way possible. WAY STATION on the other hand is one of the best science fiction novels, non-serialized, ever written and to my dismay, too many reviewers give away way too much of the storyline, one which should be approached almost blindly in order to get maximum pleasure from reading it. The novel unfolds with revelations and surprises that are key to the charm and entertainment of the reader. To their credit, when I purchased my copy in 1970 from the Science Fiction Book Club, they lauded the great writer Simak and only teased at the plot of the novel to sell it. Lets just say that Enoch is a lot older than he appears and over time attracts undue attention to himself from the wrong people. This new trade paperback edition replacing my lost hardback copy, like the replacement for CITY, is handsomely and artistically bound. Both books are well manufactured with quality paper and great typeface, easy to read for tired eyes. Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy gets my two thumbs up just for reissuing these two classics in such nicely made volumes. New readers of Simak will also appreciate the new Introduction in City which gives a brief but informative picture of Clifford D. Simak. Way Station has no introduction, just dive in and drink up!

For a book in which largely nothing happens it is a compulsive read. The \’action\’ is slow in coming and somewhat understated when it does but the writing is so readable that it is quite a page turner. Bring to mind, if you will, the narration by Morgan Freeman in \’The Shawshank redemtion\’ and now, when you read this book, imagine it is being read to you with the same calm delivery — this book is just as compelling. An excellent read, I shall look into more of Simak\’s books.

This is the story of a Civil War veteran who is chosen to man a base for intergalactic travellers. He is unable to interact with many Earth citizens, but maintains a friendship with a couple of the local residents in his American rural location as well the various travellers that arrive from space en route to other parts of the galaxy. Set against a background of incipient global warfare, Enoch Wallace would dearly love to share some of the amazing revelations and insights that he has recorded through his extended lifetime. Events unfolding in the galaxy help him to change his view of his future part in the Way Station\’s importance both to Earth and to a wider sphere of influence. Gently and humanely written, this story pleases me as much as when I first read it when I was 15 years old-50 years ago! The technology described is surprisingly prescient.

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