Buying Time [Paperback]

Joe Haldeman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One of the foremost practitioners of "hard" science fiction, Haldeman offers his first novel in five years, a mystery/SF hybrid that exhibits the author at his most inventive and also, at times, his least involving. Late in the 21st century, the rich have the option of rejuvenating their bodies once every decade, as long as they can come up with the price--everything they own, minimum 1 million. This has made the Stileman Foundation, which provides the medical makeover, the richest and most powerful corporation in the world, and has also created an elite expert in making and sheltering fortunes. One of these "immortals," Dallas Barr, has been invited to join a super-elite group calling itself the "Steering Committee," but finds instead that he has been set up for murder. Fleeing with his lover, Maria Marconi, an immortal who has decided to forgo further rejuvenation and therefore will die in a few years, Dallas sets himself on the trail of his would-be assassins, and of the secret someone wishes to keep him from discovering. Haldeman keeps the technological wonders coming, and the action is fast and furious, but not balanced by characterization of any depth or any emotional resonance. It's worth reading, however, for the original world Haldeman has envisioned.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In the 21st century, immortality via the complex operation known as the Stileman Process is attainable by a few wealthy and determined individuals, but the motivations that drive humans to live forever remain shrouded in mystery until "immortals" Dallas Barr and Maria Marconi stumble across a dangerous secret and find themselves fleeing for their lives--which have suddenly become very short. Fast-paced action and hardcore sf are hallmarks of this latest novel by the author of The Forever War . For sf collections.-- JC
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (Mm) (June 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380704390
• ISBN-13: 978-0380704392
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #886,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joe Haldeman has served twice as president of the Science Fiction Writers of America and is currently an adjunct professor teaching writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great suspenseful page turner from Haldeman., April 5, 2004

By 

Harvey H. Meeker (Shelton, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buying Time (Paperback)

Buying Time is another great book by a master of the genre of hard sci fi. Different from Haldeman's previous novels, Buying Time is less cerebral and more of a suspenseful thriller. Despite this change there is still a unique vision of a possible future here that Haldeman defines with an edgy cynical perspective. Haldeman's central characters defy the status quo and find themselves fighting to stay alive in a world where one corporation makes the rules about life and death.

The premise behind Buying Time is that in the near future a process is developed that lets people live forever. The catch is that only one company sells this process and it costs whoever wants it everything they own with a minimum payment of one million dollars. In addition the process only lasts for ten years. There are other onerous rules associated with making that million that makes it more difficult than usual for people to get rejuvenated.

A small group of people have managed to make a habit out of getting rejuvenated and become a subculture unto themselves. Dallas Barr is one of these people, having already lived for several hundred years. At the outset of the novel Dallas, along with a host of other immortals, is invited to join a secret group called the Steering Committee. His refusal to join initiates a series of events that set the book in motion.

The rest of the novel leads us through the mysteries of the Stileman Foundation (the makers of the Stileman rejuvenation process) the motivations of the Steering Committee and the effect it has on Dallas and his companion Maria Marconi.

Their relationship is played out in a relatively superficial manner, but the pacing of the book is such that it doesn't matter all that much. The tidbits that we are given are enough to give context to the situations that Dallas and Maria find themselves encountering. This combined with a plot filled with many mysteries keeps the pages turning throughout.

The only downside would be how the book ends. After a considerable buildup of suspense the ending feels like a bit of a cop out and doesn't seem to connect properly with the rest of the story. This is very much a book where a good middle props up a humdrum beginning and weak ending.

Buying Time is certainly a very good book, perhaps not in league with Haldeman's Worlds and Worlds Apart, but definitely a fun and thought provoking piece of science fiction.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book really kicks, January 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Buying Time (Paperback)

Suspenseful and action-packed, with believable (and likable) characters and a lot of solid science-fictional ideas that come together in unexpected but inevitable ways. If I have one criticsm it's with the ending and the way in which one character is changed by a drug experience. I just didn't buy it. (Yes, i'm being vague to avoid spoiling it if you haven't read it.) Still a very worthwhile read.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite book, August 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Buying Time (Paperback)

Being a devoted SF fan with a library of hundreds of books, and with an interest ranging from early works of A.E. van Vogt in the 1940s to Gibson and all ranges of the field, I was surprised to read this book by a to me unknown author and find that it was the best one I ever read. The story is suspenseful, fastpaced, and reminds me of a mix between Alistair MacLean and John le Carre set in an SF universe. Haldemans descriptions of violence are, perhaps because of his history in the military, very lifelike, and succeeds in making you feel the shock and surprise that only reallife violence can {check out the boatscene with the exploding head}. I can only say READ IT!!!