Kundenrezensionen

Stars My Destination (S.F. Masterworks)

5 Sterne:		(89)
4 Sterne:		(9)
3 Sterne:		(3)
2 Sterne:		(5)
1 Sterne:		(4)

 

 

This is simply one of the best science fiction novels of all times. It is a great exhilirating read, action-packed and full of Alfred Bester's typical wit, already known from his fabulous short stories of the 1950s. Although this book was originally published in 1956 (as Tiger! Tiger! -- and then as The Stars My Destination in 1957), this book will never be dated. The tale of Gully Foyle marooned in a wrecked spaceship somewhere out in space coming back for an all-out revenge is strongly influenced by Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Christo. Featuring teleportation and interstellar battles. If you miss this one blame yourself!
And if you try it out and like it, go buy The Demolished Man as well. You won't be disappointed. As for Bester's short stories, they are strongly recommended and easily available in the two volumes Redemolished and Virtual Unrealities.
Bester is one of science fiction's greatest, and influenced the whole cyberpunk bunch of authors -- only he wrote more thrillingly and with more humor, and that three decades before the cyberpunk bores.

this is one of the best sci-fi books I have ever bothered to pick up and read. it taps on primitive man, and allows you to watch him evolve into a sighisticated creature that can deal and grasp the concepts of modern man. some people might not like it due to the touchy subjects of rape, and his basic fire that keeps him going, destruction. But in the long run all that he is in the beggining is who we all are at the root of our heritage. that was how our society was founded, so how can it be denyed? I thought this was a great book, with not only a well thought out story line, but a good way to put in prospective the evolution of man.

One of the finest sci-fi books written. even though this was written at the tail end of the 50's it is still plausible and relevand, unlike so much science fiction these days. the characters are engaging reflections of the three conflict paradigms in all writing - man vs. self, man vs. environment, and man vs. other. foyle shows how man can elevate himself from the level of beast to the level of gods, but only through immense, internal effort. Strongly reminiscent of Jack London's SeaWolf - the man, the yeast, struggling to survive to the end. they are all the same.

This is a classic that is so underrated, it's tragic. Alfred Bester created his own genre with this book. He created the rules which dominate sci-fi, cyberpunk, etc. that so many people think are new. Everyone should read this. You think the Matrix was trippy-that's nothing compared to this. This is an action packed sci-fi tale that is still unparalleled!

My brother gave me some of his beloved sf novels. He advised me to read Bester's title first. So i did. Once I got started I finished it in two days only. You know, I seldom read sf novels but this one really gripped me from cover to cover. Like PK Dick's 'Three Stigmata...' I just could not put it down til I had reached the last page!

I have heard it is one of the best sf novels ever written. Don't know about that but one thing rest assured: It's clearly a 5* sf novel for me. No doubt. I highly recommend it - read it - and even if you can't get yourself to jaunte soon you might as well prepare yourself and broaden your horizon.

It was not an accident that one of the great in-jokes of Babylon 5 was that the evil genius of Psi-Corps was named Alfred Bester.

I have been reading science fiction since I was old enough to read. Theodore Cogswell, (you'll have to hunt for him, but do it!) was a personal friend of the family. I knew people who lived in the original Slan-Shacks.

Bester was the best! Don't just read this book. Make it your life's quest to find every word he ever wrote, SF or otherwise because "the man could write!"

Bester's particular genius lay in the fact that he was simply years ahead of his time. When other science fiction writers were still trying to explain how faster-the-light travel would work, Bester was exploring the social and psychological impact of how to commit a crime in a society of telepaths. In short, he was one of the first to write social science fiction. Read him. Admire him. Be glad he lived and gladder that he wrote.

The science-fiction in this excellent book is actually of the soft kind. 'How can it be soft?' you may ask , with Gully Foyle's agression and even cruelty so obviuos (?)- Well , looking at the story sci-fictionally , it's a story of a 24th century human civilization that discovered mental-teleportation , told through it's protagonist's quest of unrelenting revange. It deal's mainely in the humans and the society , especially through Gully's mental-state. the way he achived huge feats with his twisted motivation.

The book is an excellent action-adventure , Gully is violent , dark-mooded , unstopble and cruel. He fights against a whole society from the inside and in a way , wins.

What is so great about it is the way Bester created this world where it's obvious you can teleport (given you know where you are and where you're going) , you must file official reports about your distance-jumping grade (according to mental level) in order to get even a simple job!

Gully Foyle himself is one of , I guess , the most memmorable protagonists in all the field of science fiction ever. So dark , focused , unrelenting , cruel , fast and not-forgivin (hu-hu).

Any way , I could just keep on and on - buy it.

Recommended.

Alfred Bester blew through the field of science fiction like the storm of the century, leaving little behind but making sure that everything else had to be rebuilt from scratch. The influence of "The Stars..." (still known in the UK as "Tiger! Tiger!") and "The Demolished Man" is unquestionable and, for once, their reputation is wholly deserved. When he returned to sci-fi years later the anger and energy had faded, but these early works pack a punch you will not easily forget. Nothing is easy here, no loveable rogues, no stock concepts, no cardboard sets: Bester raised the mark for an entire generation of writers and proved that sci-fi doesn't have to be silly. The only real problem is deciding what to read once you have finished these two books, they really are that far ahead of the pack (but if you're looking for a living author who comes close then I suggest K.W. Jeter). To understand science-fiction at all you need to read a little H.G. Wells, a bit of Asimov, a pinch of Cyril Kornbluth and the two works by Bester that turned it all on its head.

For some reason Bester fell into near-obscurity during the last few decades, despite his great popularity among SF fans in the 50s and 60s. Luckily, his books are now being reissued in new editions and he's having a real renaissance among readers.

The new editions do suffer from awful, pretentious introductions; normally the words "transgresses" and "encomia" are only seen in the writings of obscure critical studies writers and pretentious undergraduates. But these can be ignored.

Bester is not the best stylist or writer of his era; truth be told, he's pretty ordinary. But he wrote engaging stories, and he had great ideas, and I think that's what makes a great SF novel.

Having read a great deal of Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke, I was quite taken aback by the very different style and tone of Alfred Bester. It was harsh, dirty, and his characters were more than a little mean. He provides a sharp contrast to Bradbury and Asimov, that much is certain. While he's close in action style to Heinlein, Bester's protagonist, Gulliver Foyle, seems absolutely unpredictable and terrifying--something I cannot really say about a Heinlein hero, anti-hero, or villain.

We start by finding our man Foyle near-death in a starship that has been cast adrift in space. As this not-too-bright crewman struggles to survive, a ship approaches that could help him. However, it doesn't. Instead, it flies away. The rest of the book consists of Foyle's angry, obsessed quest to get revenge upon that ship and the people who own it. We encounter telepathy and "jaunting" (instantaneous travel through the power of the mind--a mixture of telepathy with a Star Trek transporter). We find robber barons, three-ring circuses, violence. Bester does not apologize for the violence in his story (unlike some fiction today), he is writing a straight adventure story, with all the pitfalls and danger and violence that come with it. This is "guys' sci-fi" writ large. If the ending had been resolved a little more realistically, it would have been perfect. That said, buy it anyway.