Set in the late 21th Century, the backdrop is that the United States and the Soviet Union have wiped each other out, leaving Communist China to pick up the pieces. On my own, I picked up Pohl’s novel Black Star Rising. As time goes by, the majority of humanity departs Earth to find a new future in outer space, leaving the planet to the robots, who are now happily charting their own destiny. (Hmmm, this all sounds familiar, doesn’t it?) Meanwhile, a population of robot workers gradually gains emancipation. Consumption has become a psychological obsession for many people. The unchecked spread of capitalism and production results in widespread consumerism, as people struggle to keep up with each other’s lifestyles. Midas World is a much more cynical look at Earth’s future by Pohl. Fortunately, though, the Outer Boroughs do not end up utterly destroyed!

Yes, in the later installments of Pohl’s book, Manhattan Island does indeed get covered by a giant transparent dome. Through their eyes, we see the massive urban decline and renewal that NYC experiences over an extended period of time.īy the way, while the cover artwork is striking, the illustrator did take a bit of artistic license. Each of the five tales is told via the perspective of the man or the woman on the street. the late 20th Century) and ending a few centuries later. The Years of the City, via a quintet of novellas, examines the future of New York City, beginning in the present day (i.e. Each of them is a collection of linked shorter stories. The Years of the City and Midas World are not, strictly speaking, actual novels. But once I did, I found them really great, with an engaging style of prose, three-dimensional characters, and a unique sense of humor. It actually took me nearly a decade to finally sit down and read both The Years of the City and Midas World from start to finish. As for why she chose those two, they were recently published, and the cover artwork must have caught her eye. In retrospect, I think perhaps she was also trying to get me to stop watching so much TV and read more books. I doubt that she had any idea who Pohl was, but she knew I really enjoyed sci-fi. I must have been around eight or nine years old at the time, and she gave me a pair of science fiction paperbacks: The Years of the City and Midas World. I first discovered Pohl’s work via a gift from my grandmother.

But I found each of the five novels by him that I do have to be very interesting, insightful, and enjoyable. I haven’t read a huge amount of the prolific Pohl’s work.

He died on September 2, 2013, aged 93 years. I was sorry to learn that the long-time science fiction author Frederik Pohl had passed away.

Gateway sci fi novel