Way Station (A Collier Nucleus Science Fiction Classics) (original 1963; edição 1992)

Enoch Wallace, a Civil War veteran living on in rural Wisconsin into the twentieth century has a unique job. He is the station keeper for an interstellar transit system. Earth is not a destination for the extraterrestrial aliens that arrive and then depart from this way station on their way to another planet. Its status as a primitive world has so far kept it from being considered for membership by the Galactic Central government which has its own factions and political considerations to balance to maintain peace, therefore Wallace is the only human who knows from firsthand experience of the existence of other non-human civilizations, and his job is to remain inconspicuous. Unfortunately, a federal agent is curious about how a veteran of the battle of Gettysburg could possibly appear to be only about thirty years old and starts to investigate Wallace.

Reading this 1963 novel reminded me why I admire Simak’s vision whose short stories first thrilled me back in junior high school as a novice science fiction fan. His stories were equally at home with the farthest reaches of space and in rural America. In this Hugo winning tale there are conflicts arising from poverty and fear of witchcraft, international tensions which are paralleled by galactic ones, and the denouement is achieved by an individual with the rare gifts of a person able to connect with a spiritual force known only as “the force.” Fans of “Star Wars” may recognize a foreshadowing of the Jedi. ( )

Good idea, but poor storytelling. Even tho book isn't long, several times i felt like putting it down, as there was nothing to keep me reading. ( )

It's not often you get to read a SciFi set in your own state--when that state is Wisconsin. He put in a good description of the coulees of the Driftless region but made the residents a bit too much of backwoods hillbillies. Or maybe not; compare to Kenny Salwey's "The Last River Rat."
Enoch, the protagonist, is a bit of a gentle, thoughtful soul, his response to the horrors of the Civil War. Now, about eighty years later, he can see earth heading toward another slaughter and wishes he could find some way to stop it. Most of the book is his exploration of what is a human, how can we progress, how can he use his position to help humanity.
Not all of the story makes sense. I'm not sure why Simak added in the character of Mary--perhaps he needed to show the Enoch had some normal human yearnings. And for a station required to keep its presence unknown to other humans, there are an awful lot of aliens running around on the last night. ( )

I can’t do much better than the back-cover blurb:

Enoch Wallace Looked Like Any Other Man On Earth!

Except That:
-Time (about 100 years) had passed, and he showed no signs of aging.
-His house was invulnerable against destruction from any weapon known to man.
-In his family cemetery a tombstone inscribed in an unknown language guarded the grave of an alien horror.

The book really isn’t as pulpy as this blurb makes it sound—or, frankly, as the cover makes it look, what with the yelling lady running way from what look like butt-headed aliens. It’s a thoughtful story of one man’s first contact with alien species and the implications of intergalactic communication with Earth, as well as questions of identity and knowing what one wants out of life. There are some gadgets and tech, but they’re not the focus of the story, so I would recommend this for people who aren’t necessarily interested in sci-fi but who want to dip a toe in the water. ( )

This is not a space opera. There are no space ships or laser guns or daring space flights. This is a simple, quiet sci-fi novel, with a deep well of thought and meaning. The end question is - do humans deserve the chance to find our own way or are we too dangerous to be left to our own ways? Enoch, with his gentle manner and striking intelligence, seeks to find a way to convince his employers (not humans) that Earth deserves the change to live.
Woven into this is Enoch’s own journey – to let go of the past, to embrace the future, and to accept what may come. In the end, it is the way being a Station Master has changed his own perceptions that allow him to find the answer. There is a deep philosophical bent to this story.
That isn’t to say there isn’t action. The plot is brisk, with constant changes. Simak prose is heavy with imagery, the kind that makes the story alive in your mind.
It is easy to see why this book won the Hugo. A well-deserved award for a fantastic science fiction story. ( )