Homegoing [Mass Market Paperback]

Frederik Pohl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 1990

Sandy Washington was a pretty normal guy. The only unusual thing about him was that Sandy had been raised by aliens on their spaceship. The Hakh'hli had done everything they could to give Sandy an Earth-type boyhood. Now, finally, the Hakh'hli were bringing Sandy home to Earth. And while they were at it, they intended to give humanity some extraordinary gifts. The Hakh'hli seemed to have Sandy's -- and humanity's -- best interests at heart. But the people of Earth weren't so sure . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A huge spaceship carrying the kangaroo-like Hakh'hli society lands on Earth, where the two raceswhat two races?/earthlings and the hakh'hli/i think we can stet/pk maneuver to implement their own hidden agendas. "As is often true of Pohl's works, the clear-cut moral dilemmas and the commonsensical solutions to interracial stalemates offer all too simplistic parallels to current diplomatic crises," noted PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

An alien spaceship lands on Earth for a double purpose: to give the people of Earth the benefit of their advanced technology and to return to them a human rescued in infancy and raised by the kangaroo-like Hakh'hli to be as "human" as possible--under the circumstances. Pohl's unerring gift for satire delivers a splendidly skewed alien-eye-view of human culture while spinning a touching, slightly quirky story of a young man's coming of age. Highly recommended.-- JC
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Del Rey (January 14, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034536550X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345365507
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,962,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Another winner from Fred Pohl, February 3, 2006

By 

S. Williams - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Homegoing (Hardcover)

This is a good read, classic science fiction as always done well by Fred Pohl. Easy to get into and not confusing at all like some books where a lot of the story takes place in alien culture. About a human who grew up on an alien spaceship and the ship is headed to earth to return him but also to get something in return, has good story line on earth after planet has been devasted. I like when stories are post apocolyptic, which this one sorta is, although lightly. Good read, I recommend.

3.0 out of 5 stars Ho Hum, June 16, 2002

By 

celes_knight (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homegoing (Mass Market Paperback)

Sandy is young adult who loves basketball and hanging with his friends. The only problem is none of his friends are human. Aliens found him as an infant and raised him as they slowly crossed from Earth to Alpha Centauri and back to Earth at sub-light speeds. In the meantime, the rest of humanity has more or less destroyed themselves through war, famine, nuclear power, AIDS, global warming, Styrofoam happy meal containers, and all the other things people worried about back in the 1980's. How will the rest of humanity react to Sandy? And are the aliens really friendly?

This book is very readable and is mildly interesting. There is a good deal of suspense over whether or not the aliens really are friendly. However, the page after page of environmentalism gets old. Also, the ending is a pretty weak. All in all, it's a decent book to pick up if you read a lot of Sci-Fi and want a quick read.

5.0 out of 5 stars a sensitive, humanistic look at Pohl's favorite themes, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Homegoing (Hardcover)

Too bad this one's out of print! The protagonist is fascinating, and the story poigniant. One of Pohl's best. Compares very favorably with his more well known works.