Product Description

Enoch Wallace survived the carnage of Gettysburg and lived through the rest of the Civil War to make it home to his parents' farm in south-west Wisconsin. But his mother was already dead and his father soon joined her in the tiny family cemetery. It was then that Enoch met the being he called Ulysses and the farm became a way station for space travellers. Now, nearly a hundred years later, the US government is taking an interest in the seemingly immortal Enoch, and the Galactic Council, which set up the way station is threatening to tear itself apart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #786546 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 189 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Clifford Simak was raised in Wisconsin, and his science fiction combines galactic scope with nostalgia for the old American Midwest. Way Station (1963) is a fine example of this unlikely mix, and probably his best novel--it won him a Hugo award.

Its hero Enoch Wallace first appears as a mystery man: an impossibly young-looking Civil War veteran, 124 years old and still living in his parents' remote Winconsin farmhouse. Nowadays this building has a glittering, Tardis-like interior, ever since Wallace was recruited by aliens as stationmaster on a minor branch line--not a railway, but Galactic Central's network of matter transmitters carrying passengers between the stars. Earth isn't ready for this secret, and countryman Wallace's best friends are extraterrestrials and ghostly simulations.

When the CIA investigates his reclusive lifestyle, it accidentally stirs up an interstellar diplomatic crisis. Wallace's job, and his place in the countryside he loves, are suddenly threatened. So are his hopes for persuading Galactic Central to step in and halt our accelerating slide towards nuclear war. (The Cuban missile crisis was then recent history.)

All the story threads converge neatly: the rustic lynch mob, the galactics, the CIA, the unhappy ghosts, the local deaf-and-dumb girl who can charm warts and heal butterflies, and the bizarre virtual-reality rifle range built for Wallace by an alien construction team. There are painful losses, victories, and a final note of lonely hope. It's a book of great charm--old-fashioned SF, but timeless rather than dated. --David Langford

About the Author
Clifford D. Simak (1904-1988) worked as a newspaperman for most of his life and only became a full-time writer of sf after his retirement. His first published story appeared in Wonder Stories in 1931. His novels include Cosmic Engineers, City, Time is the Simplest Thing, They Walked Like Men and The Visitors. He received the Grand Master Nebula Award in 1976.

Customer Reviews

Beautifully written, gentle, simple, human and timeless
This would make a lousy hollywood blockbuster. No explosions, no galactic warships, no evil aliens, no shoot outs or car chases, no impressive special effects, no sex.

But it makes a wonderful book.

This is typical Simak at his best - sci-fi in your backyard - in this case literally. Its a gentle tale of an ordinary guy living in an ordinary place who happens to have an extraordinary job - stationmaster for a branch line of an intergalactic matter transmitter highway. The station is in his back room.

If that idea makes you smile then you will love this low-key gentle adventure. I read it first time about 30 years ago, it has stuck in my mind ever since. On re-reading it hasnt lost any of its charm.

I just wish there were more books like this one. It's simple narrative style is full of genuine humanity.

If we ever need a galactic ambassador I hope we can find someone like Enoch Wallace - or even Simak himself. Someone whose home-spun philosophy: that people are people whatever their colour, shape, size and number of eyes is above the petty power mongering that the adversaries in this book epitomise.

Lighten your day by reading something warm and fulfilling. This is a great and timeless little classic.

A Classic of the Old School
Although 'Way Station' is never at the top of "Best SF Novel" polls, it is quite frequently placed somewhere near the top, a quiet classic which every one should read. Simak's story of a man (the odd and fascinating Enoch) from the 19th century taken on by 'Galactic Centre' to run a secret stopping-off point for travellers moving from solar system to solar system is a moving, intelligent, and brilliantly imagined classic. Occasionally the style of the prose feels dated and the 'philosophy' becomes sentimental, but once those brief occasions are accounted for what becomes clear is that 'Way Station' is a novel packed with ideas (both SF and more broadly philosophical) and with a desire to tell a wild and original story. There is soul and passion here (things that are sometimes hard to find) and - crucially - an unfettered appreciation of the amazing and breath-taking potential of science fiction.

An enthralling read
This tells the story of Enoch Wallace, a survivor of the US Civil War, who is now 124 yrs old but looks only 30. His long life is due to the fact that his house has become a 'Way Station' on an intergalactic trade route and his contacts with aliens has enabled his immortality. Aliens stop off at the Way Station on their way to other planets in the galaxy. However, the Way Station is under threat, both from humans on earth (his long life has raised questions) and from political intrigue in the galaxy. The search is on for the mythical 'Talisman' which is supposed to bring peace to all the galaxy.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Although it was written in 1964, it is still relevant today, particularly in exploring the attitudes of men to things they do not understand. The character of Enoch Wallace is well developed and his snapshot view of a galaxy populated with many different aliens is tantalising, leaving one wishing Simak had told us more about them. Definitely one of Simak's best books.