The World at the End of Time [Mass Market Paperback]

Fredrik Pohl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 1991

"Frederick Pohl succeeds where others wouldn't even dare..."

The Denver Post

Wan-To was the oldest and must powerful intelligence in the universe, a being who played with star systems as a child plays with marbles. Matter occupied so tiny a part of his vast awareness that humans were utterly beneath his notice.

The colonists of Newmanhome first suffered the effects of Wan-To's games when their planet's stars began to shift, the climate began to cool down, and the colony was forced into a desperate struggle to survive.

Viktor Sorricaine was determined to discover what force had suddenly sent his world hurtling toward the ends of the universe. And the answer was something beyond the scope of his imagination -- even if he lived for 4000 years...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Galactic war waged among the star-dweller Wan-To and his various sibling/selves disrupts 12 stars, one of which nourishes the nascent colony world Newmanhome, and sends that cluster accelerating away from the rest of the universe at a speed approaching that of light. Relativistic time compression keeps the colony's group of suns young even after the heat death of the rest of the universe. A war involving the disruptions of the stars is chronicled, while alternating chapters depict the human inhabitants of Newmanhome and their desperate bids for survival. Neither sequence produces any particularly ambitious characters or societies, and while the writing is as fluid as can be expected of award-winner Pohl ( The Heechee Saga ), his failure to orchestrate a confrontation between the humans and Wan-To will dismay fans.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

As vast intelligences play deadly power games using stars for pawns, the fledgling colonists on the planet Home fight to maintain their existence while "unknown forces" wreak havoc with the laws of physics and the universe. Pohl's ( Homegoing, LJ 3/15/89) sparkling wit attaches itself to macro- and microcosmic themes in a novel which pits a luckless human hero against a childlike being of inordinate power and extraordinary paranoia. Grand in scope, poignant in delivery; highly recommended.
Copyright 1990 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: 407 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (May 13, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345371976
• ISBN-13: 978-0345371973
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 3.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,121,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science back in science fiction, February 29, 2000

By 

Michael Battaglia - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The World at the End of Time (Mass Market Paperback)

A fairly decent book that is now out of print, this has to have some of the wilder science fiction ideas that I've seen in a novel thus far that are backed with actual science as opposed to pseudo-scientific babble. More ambitious than Ringworld, hey, anyone can make a giant metal doughnut, how about moving an entire solar system around and describing what the relativistic effects are going to do to the inhabitants? All right maybe it isn't especially innovative but it's darn entertaining. Basically there's an omniscient intelligence out there goofing around and basically causing most of the plot catalysts in the book. The actual plot concerns a group of colonists, especially Viktor (who is fairly cool and not all that flat a character, except for his rather disturbing obsession with an older woman, but he does get better by the end) who is there for the entire book and the effects that Wan-To (the intelligence) has on them. The funny part of this book is that the groups never meet each other, not to disappoint anybody who wants to read the book but if you're expecting some kind of long philosophical discussion between Wan-To and Viktor get that thought out of your head because it never happens. If you want something similar go read "Sailing Bright Eternity" by Gregory Benford which has a conversation along those lines. But you really don't miss it, Pohl gives us enough of a meaty plot to sink our teeth into and his extrapolations are fairly interesting. The only other gripe I have is that the book left an angle open for a sequel by being totally open ended but I can't see Mr Pohl resolving the ending in more than fifty pages. Maybe a short story is in the works for one day to tie up the loose ends? Maybe? All in all, highly entertaining thought provoking stuff for the scientist in you.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moden day masterpiece!, July 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The World at the End of Time (Mass Market Paperback)

Frederik Pohl has succeeded and I consider this the finest piece of work I have yet to read of his.

One of the previous reviewers states that the characters are flat and impersonal. I don't agree. One of the primary characters is a star and therefore its thought process and motivations are bizarrely non-human but not flat. The other main character I found to be a view point character and filled this requirement perfectly.

Truly an awesome book and I recommend it with no reservations. For those of you interested in Frederik Pohl's works find out more at thoughtline.com. Thoughtline is debuting the first ever web page dedicated exclusively to Frederik Pohl in late Summer of 1999.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Pohl , when will the sequel be out?, July 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The World at the End of Time (Mass Market Paperback)

Of the 286 sci-fi books in my library, this has been the second most read