The Stars My Destination

258 pages

English language

Published April 29, 1996 by Vintage Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-679-76780-0

(1 review)

In this pulse-quickening novel, Alfred Bester imagines a future in which people "jaunte" a thousand miles with a single thought, where the rich barricade themselves in labyrinths and protect themselves with radioactive hitmen—and where an inarticulate outcast is the most valuable and dangerous man alive.

The Stars My Destination is a classic of technological prophecy and timeless narrative enchantment by an acknowledged master of science fiction.

1 edition

Allen Shull reviewed The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

As Operatic as Space Opera Gets

4 stars

Content warning CW: Spoilers, Violence

Undeniable to see why this book is a classic. At the same time, it is problematic as all get out. The main character is terrible; at least, Bester seems to be saying, he knows he’s horrible. You’ll see people comparing this to The Count of Monte Cristo—but does that main character commit rape in the first 30 pages, and then halfway through kidnap his victim in order to force her to obey him? Everyone in this story is utterly out for revenge.

And yet, the imagery and the invention is so particular. The grandeur of scenes is arresting. There is pure spectacle—not mere garishness but also interesting and strange and fascinating images. There’s so much going on in the occasional details. A man builds train tracks to make a grand entrance. A street hustler sells photos of Christians offering illegal prayers. A space colony of stoics is kept in shelves like sardines. A woman who is blind to the visual spectrum but sees above and below it delights in the flashes of an orbital bombardment. And of course I’m not even mentioning the ending. I’ll say this: I don’t know how this book works as an ebook, strictly because of the typesetting.

Is it worth it? Dostoevsky can show terrible people doing terrible things with a good message to the reader; just because the main character is a monster does not mean the main character is a hero. We do not want to identify with Gully Foyle, and we readers can tell that everyone who judges him is right. But still, I just don’t know.