Science Fiction

The Stars My Destination

The Stars My Destination

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  • Create Date：2021-06-26 09:53:07
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Alfred Bester
  • ISBN：0575094192
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Summary

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 hit men - 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。

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Reviews

Jerome ，

That was a strange one。 But admirable sci-fi for the 50s。

Matthew McGuire ，

A bit of a sci-fi Count of Monte Cristo。。 but with a much less admirable protagonist。 Imaginative stuff

Robert Eve ，

Joe Haldeman is quoted as saying that ‘SF has produced only a few works of actual genius， and this is one of them’。 I don’t know if his first point is right， but he’s absolutely correct in identifying The Stars My Destination as a work of genius。 This book transcends it’s genre。

Phillip Murrell ，

Wasted Potential。I didn't enjoy this。 I think I'm being kind with two stars because the only thing interesting was finding out why Vogar passed Gully without aid。 The gutter speak was best but obnoxious。 The narration felt wrong， e。g。 One character is described as "perfectly white" while another is called multiple times as a "Negro girl。" The biggest problem was formatting。 I don't know if it was just a problem with my kindle or a pretentious gimmick tied to gutter speak， but I had typos galore。 Wasted Potential。I didn't enjoy this。 I think I'm being kind with two stars because the only thing interesting was finding out why Vogar passed Gully without aid。 The gutter speak was best but obnoxious。 The narration felt wrong， e。g。 One character is described as "perfectly white" while another is called multiple times as a "Negro girl。" The biggest problem was formatting。 I don't know if it was just a problem with my kindle or a pretentious gimmick tied to gutter speak， but I had typos galore。 Many Kindle pages were a few words that broke in the middle of a sentence， only to pick it up after a finger tap turned the page。 It was a terrible reading experience。 。。。more

Aled ，

this was good

Mudit Sharma ，

Tiger， Tiger also known as The stars my destination is a 1950s science fiction classic。 It introduced some science fiction elements which have since become popular tropes。 The strong suit of the book is fast paced writing with and story based on count of monte cristo。 Unfortunately like many classics the book has also aged。 Only for fans of science fiction classics。

Matt ，

Good book。 Really doesn't read like a book from the 50s。 Good book。 Really doesn't read like a book from the 50s。 。。。more

LOLtohru ，

Bingo Square: Revenge-Seeking CharacterMini-review: Phew。 Intellectually I can acknowledge a lot of things about this book that are interesting or innovative but the nonchalant rape and persistent sexism were a lot more than I wanted to deal with at the time。

Angie Wong ，

First science fiction。 The whole book centres around Gulliver Foyle/Gully/Geoffrey Fourmyle of Ceres finding resolution and revenge on why and who ordered vorga to not save him on nomad， his love/hate relationship with Olivia， and his final salvation。“It isn’t necessary to have something to believe in。 It’s only necessary to believe that somewhere there’s something worthy of belief。”This book reminds me of the movie Interstellar with this space/time dimensions， jaunting through Elsewhere and Els First science fiction。 The whole book centres around Gulliver Foyle/Gully/Geoffrey Fourmyle of Ceres finding resolution and revenge on why and who ordered vorga to not save him on nomad， his love/hate relationship with Olivia， and his final salvation。“It isn’t necessary to have something to believe in。 It’s only necessary to believe that somewhere there’s something worthy of belief。”This book reminds me of the movie Interstellar with this space/time dimensions， jaunting through Elsewhere and Elsewhen， traveling the past future and now。 。。。more

Richard Magahiz ，

Here is a book with a violent， dangerous protagonist at its heart。 It took me nearly the entire book before I could find Gully Foyle in some way sympathetic， through a wild assortment of adventures with cliffhanger escapes exchanging zinging dialogue with supporting characters who mostly make their own impression on the reader even in the face of Foyle's furious drive。 He does some monstrous things along the way which anyone would find hard to forgive， and yet by the end， where the survival of E Here is a book with a violent， dangerous protagonist at its heart。 It took me nearly the entire book before I could find Gully Foyle in some way sympathetic， through a wild assortment of adventures with cliffhanger escapes exchanging zinging dialogue with supporting characters who mostly make their own impression on the reader even in the face of Foyle's furious drive。 He does some monstrous things along the way which anyone would find hard to forgive， and yet by the end， where the survival of Earth comes to the fore and he makes an ethical choice from a place of unequaled power I found I have to feel a little admiration for what he's become。 There is a payoff on the book's （American） title there too which felt fresh and audacious to me。After over sixty years， there are bound to be a few passages which jar， but I thought it was actually going to be worse。 There are some bits of description which were unexpectedly lyrical， especially when I think of what else was being written in the Golden Age of science fiction， fresh out of its pulp origins。The audio narration helped me enjoy the story， I think， even through some of the most difficult and strange dialogue scenes。 。。。more

Rick ，

The past （language from the 50’s） meets the future （themes and constructs） in the present。 Tiger Tiger is a better title。 Glad I read this。 You may like it also。

Paul Lemcke ，

I really enjoyed this for awhile， and by the middle of the book I would say I was excited about it。 The idea of the jaunte was pretty cool and opened up so many plot opportunities。 But the "sort of love story" and the direction that Foyle's life took in the last sections just didn't make sense and seemed inconsistent with what we already knew of Foyle。 I almost loved this one， but then I jaunted back to my destination of 3 stars。 I really enjoyed this for awhile， and by the middle of the book I would say I was excited about it。 The idea of the jaunte was pretty cool and opened up so many plot opportunities。 But the "sort of love story" and the direction that Foyle's life took in the last sections just didn't make sense and seemed inconsistent with what we already knew of Foyle。 I almost loved this one， but then I jaunted back to my destination of 3 stars。 。。。more

Rachel C。 ，

Books like this are why I don't read much sci-fi。 I could barely discern the story under all the futuristic mumbo jumbo。 Books like this are why I don't read much sci-fi。 I could barely discern the story under all the futuristic mumbo jumbo。 。。。more

Bernardo ，

“FOYLE， GULLIVER - - - - - - AS-128 / 127:006 EDUCATION: NONE SKILLS: NONE MERITS:NONE RECOMMENDATIONS: NONE”I had read a lot about The Stars My Destination before reading it and， as a consequence， I had very high expectations for Alfred Bester’s book。 It is often described as being one of the classics of the genre。 Having read it， I’m not sure my overly high expectations were met。 Nevertheless， this is a great example of well written science fiction and even though it was written during the gol “FOYLE， GULLIVER - - - - - - AS-128 / 127:006 EDUCATION: NONE SKILLS: NONE MERITS:NONE RECOMMENDATIONS: NONE”I had read a lot about The Stars My Destination before reading it and， as a consequence， I had very high expectations for Alfred Bester’s book。 It is often described as being one of the classics of the genre。 Having read it， I’m not sure my overly high expectations were met。 Nevertheless， this is a great example of well written science fiction and even though it was written during the golden age of science fiction， it certainly doesn’t feel that way。The book starts with Gully Foyle， an unskilled space crewman， “trapped” in a spaceship in space literally just trying to survive another day。 One day another spaceship flies past and Foyle sends out a distress signal， which is eventually ignored。 What follows is an unpredictable story of Foyle seeking out his revenge， with a premise reminiscent of The Count of Monte Christo。 Add “jaunting”， Bester’s version of teleportation， and a bleak view of future society， among other features in this novel， and you get The Stars My Destination。The story goes around and around， hardly ever being played out in the same location， always moving at a fast pace。 Gully Foyle is a great character， with all his rage and unpredictability。 As to the other “supporting” characters， they’re all interesting and diverse， but at times I couldn’t exactly grasp their motivations and they seemed to have unclear reasons for their actions。 Following this line of thought， you could say that the characters are as unpredictable as the plot， and things turn out not to be simply as black and white as they might seem。In the end， The Stars My Destination represents some of the best ideas the genre has to offer。 It’s clear that Alfred Bester’s book influenced later science fiction books， such as Neuromancer and others in the cyberpunk subgenre， with its imagery and pace。 It has certainly aged well and I can see why it’s considered to be a classic of science fiction。 。。。more

Lazar Vuković ，

Zanimljivo štivo koje je preteča sajberpank žanra。Sama radnja je turbulentna i pažnja ne popušta ni na jednoj strani。Sve u svemu， klasik koji treba da pročita svaki pravi ljubitelj žanra。

Fer Seve ，

Quizá lo conozcas cómo TIGRE TIGRE， es una novela épica que se desarrolla en el futuro， dónde un hombre rudo e inculto se eleva por sobre su estatus social， en la búsqueda de algo más。。

Elsits ，

"Por mucho que nos defendamos contra el exterior， siempre nos derrota algo que llevamos dentro。 No hay defensa contra la traición， y todos nos traicionamos。"No está nada mal; una aventura espacial movida por una sed de venganza obsesiva y ambientada en un siglo XXV donde los planetas del Sistema Solar han sido colonizados y los humanos se trasladan gracias al jaunteo; una habilidad que permite el teletransporte a miles de kilómetros a una localización conocida。 Tal vez le podría haber subido la "Por mucho que nos defendamos contra el exterior， siempre nos derrota algo que llevamos dentro。 No hay defensa contra la traición， y todos nos traicionamos。"No está nada mal; una aventura espacial movida por una sed de venganza obsesiva y ambientada en un siglo XXV donde los planetas del Sistema Solar han sido colonizados y los humanos se trasladan gracias al jaunteo; una habilidad que permite el teletransporte a miles de kilómetros a una localización conocida。 Tal vez le podría haber subido la nota por el gran final sinestésico， pero es cierto que en otros aspectos no ha envejecido bien。 Lo mejor: el desenlace。 El comienzo de la novela también me parece potente: Gully Foyle， el protagonista， un hombre mediocre， con potencial pero sin motivación， se encuentra a la deriva en el espacio en los restos de su nave， la Nómada， sobreviviendo a duras penas， hasta que algo despierta en su interior。 Una rabia que se convierte en sed de venganza cuando otra nave， la Vorga， pasa junto a la suya y decide no rescatarle。Lo peor: los personajes。 No están bien caracterizados y se suceden situaciones confusas y un tanto surrealistas。 Y， por supuesto， el papel de las mujeres y su relación con el protagonista deja mucho que desear （no hay que olvidar que se trata de un libro publicado en 1955）。En general， es un libro entretenido con ideas y detalles interesantes （el jaunteo， la telequinesis， el culto， el tatuaje， la cárcel etc。） embebidos en una matriz no tan brillante pero con un final que no defrauda。 。。。more

Almustafa Couch ，

A good entertaining read， apart from the 1950s technology and prevalent companies at that time， such as Kodak。 However， it did also base all human motivations on revenge， this was quite narrow an explanation for actions of our species。

Steve ，

Mid-century sci fi about a man abandoned who sets out for revenge。 Little bit dated but compelling storytelling

Iuliia ，

I don't see how this can be considered the classics of cyberpunk。 The book is all right， it is more like a strange superhero story， where the superhero has some serious mental issues。 I am not re-reading this。 I don't see how this can be considered the classics of cyberpunk。 The book is all right， it is more like a strange superhero story， where the superhero has some serious mental issues。 I am not re-reading this。 。。。more

Jeremy ，

I picked up a copy of this novel， a 1967 edition， from a second hand bookstore in an old house situated on the main drag of a small country town in Tasmania a few years ago。 Then a while later I coincidently read online that it contained one of the best 'escape from an impossible situation' scenes in literature。 Now that I've read Tiger Tiger I have to say that I don't necessarily agree， it wasn't that spectacular。 I chose the novel as a potentially great holiday read， and at first it lived up t I picked up a copy of this novel， a 1967 edition， from a second hand bookstore in an old house situated on the main drag of a small country town in Tasmania a few years ago。 Then a while later I coincidently read online that it contained one of the best 'escape from an impossible situation' scenes in literature。 Now that I've read Tiger Tiger I have to say that I don't necessarily agree， it wasn't that spectacular。 I chose the novel as a potentially great holiday read， and at first it lived up to that need。 Tiger Tiger is certainly a rollicking read， with some impressive pacing and the main protagonist， Gully Foyle， is a wild character bent on revenge。 The novel is set in the twenty fourth century， a time when， inexplicably， the ability to teleport （they call it jaunting）， has transformed human society。 Basically humans can travel by thought （an influence on The Church song of the same name？）， which certainly opens up some fascinating narrative possibilities。 What ultimately let's Tiger Tiger down is that the novel's over the top nature becomes wearying around two thirds of the way through。 It's like listening to two Queen albums at once。 The prose is too florid， the twists and turns too frequent and the whole idea of humans being able to teleport by the power of thought alone becomes increasingly ridiculous。 I don't necessarily need literary fiction to be particularly realistic， let alone science fiction， but it really started to grate after a while。 Tiger Tiger does have quite a spectacular ending， which really sticks it to 'the man'， but by that stage I think I had eye strain from rolling my eyes too much。 Ultimately Tiger Tiger doesn't come across as a parody of the 1920s - 1940s era of pulp science fiction， or even as a homage， but as an attempt to emulate its style， perhaps in order to appeal to the teenagers of the 1950's， who after all would have still been science fiction's main market。 The sometimes unfortunate depictions of female characters bear this out。 I'll mark this one down as an entertaining enough holiday read that stands as a period piece for the curious。 。。。more

Stiltzkin Vanserine ，

Although published in 1956， The Stars My Destination doesn’t feel dated at all。 Its electrifying blend of action， drama， intrigue， and psychological tension is close to blockbuster perfection。 I wonder why it hasn’t been made into a movie yet。 It would be a spectacle on a galactic scale。It describes a future world where people can “jaunte”， i。e。， teleport elsewhere instantly， and the story itself reflects this supernatural ability。 The plot unrolls at a breakneck pace， the scenes are often swapp Although published in 1956， The Stars My Destination doesn’t feel dated at all。 Its electrifying blend of action， drama， intrigue， and psychological tension is close to blockbuster perfection。 I wonder why it hasn’t been made into a movie yet。 It would be a spectacle on a galactic scale。It describes a future world where people can “jaunte”， i。e。， teleport elsewhere instantly， and the story itself reflects this supernatural ability。 The plot unrolls at a breakneck pace， the scenes are often swapped in quick succession， and even the dialogue sticks to short sentences。 There isn’t much room for nuance and emotional heft， but the characters are just distinctive enough to be memorable。Which of course brings us to Gully Foyle。 Foyle is a despicable man; he murders， rapes， trespasses， and brings about absolute destruction in his wake。 He’s not an anti-hero， for just about nothing he does is heroic， but he is compelling。 It takes a lot of courage to create a protagonist that’s so flawed and morally corrupt; it takes even more skill to make him compelling。 I find Foyle’s obsession and rage fascinating; I couldn’t stop reading， not because I rooted for him， but simply because I wanted to know how the story plays out。 That alone is a testament to great writing。The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man （the first ever winner of the Hugo Award） shook the world of science fiction in the ‘50s and prove that Alfred Bester was a true master of his craft。 。。。more

Aleksandar Obradović ，

Možda je do mene i prevelikih očekivanja od ovog naslova。 Doduše， na momente je čista petica， ali ipak daleko od te ocjene ako se uzme kao cjelina。

Dave ，

1 star？！ Yeah， I know， this book is considered by some to be a legendary sci-fi classic， but I thought it was pretty awful。 Just bad。 It has not aged well。 Wooden characters， disjointed plot， terrible dialog， and rampant misogyny。 Perhaps back when it was written the ideas were novel and the characters were believable but for me， it was just way to dated to enjoy， or even respect。

ColScoob ，

An excellent retelling of a classic story with a wonderfully science fiction twist。 Fans of classic science fiction would be remiss by passing on this one。

Danielle ，

This book was incredibly weird at times and a little bit hard to follow （I guess this is mostly my fault since I read at bead until I fall asleep）。 The world described is amazing， the growth， obsession and absolute bat shit craziness of Gully Foyle is something to behold， becoming the tiger。One thing I absolutely had to take note is how Alfred Bester seems to understand perfectly not only the sci-fi implications of something as unexpected as jaunting， but also predicts perfectly what would happe This book was incredibly weird at times and a little bit hard to follow （I guess this is mostly my fault since I read at bead until I fall asleep）。 The world described is amazing， the growth， obsession and absolute bat shit craziness of Gully Foyle is something to behold， becoming the tiger。One thing I absolutely had to take note is how Alfred Bester seems to understand perfectly not only the sci-fi implications of something as unexpected as jaunting， but also predicts perfectly what would happen on the social sphere， especially to women。 It just seems as if social consequences are often ignored in world-building， as if everything could stay the same。 In this small details you get to see how much of a genius Bester really was。 。。。more

Andy Mangham ，

A very strange， sometimes uncomfortable book， but extremely fun nonetheless。 While I was missing a bit of the depth I wanted to find in the novel， there's no question it's a masterfully-realized piece of sci-fi and that Bester knows what he's doing。 Though there are sometimes weak scenes， there are fantastic scenes as well， and there are thankfully more good ones than the bad。 Also， I will say that Alfred Bester nailed the ending， which is more than most achieve。 A very strange， sometimes uncomfortable book， but extremely fun nonetheless。 While I was missing a bit of the depth I wanted to find in the novel， there's no question it's a masterfully-realized piece of sci-fi and that Bester knows what he's doing。 Though there are sometimes weak scenes， there are fantastic scenes as well， and there are thankfully more good ones than the bad。 Also， I will say that Alfred Bester nailed the ending， which is more than most achieve。 。。。more

Leo Robertson ，

Love it！ So dense with cool ideas and the language was great also。 For idea density compared to a more standard novel: 1984 builds up to SPOILER Room 101 and Winston's singular torture scene—this novel by comparison lists a whole host of tortures in one paragraph， gives them to its protagonist then moves onto the next paragraph to invent even more stuff。 All of it remaining relevant and reappearing， unlike say the restless sci-fi absurdism of Stanislaw Lem。Is it possible he was even doing the Ga Love it！ So dense with cool ideas and the language was great also。 For idea density compared to a more standard novel: 1984 builds up to SPOILER Room 101 and Winston's singular torture scene—this novel by comparison lists a whole host of tortures in one paragraph， gives them to its protagonist then moves onto the next paragraph to invent even more stuff。 All of it remaining relevant and reappearing， unlike say the restless sci-fi absurdism of Stanislaw Lem。Is it possible he was even doing the Gaddis thing in the party scenes of having so many unattributed characters talking in quick succession？Very clever book， super ahead of its time and still worth reading :） 。。。more

Joachim Ratoff ，

No toda la basura galáctica la produce Elon Musk。 Esta sobrevaloradísima novelucha pulp apenas se salva por un comienzo prometedor y un resultón desenlace pseudomístico que quizá sea capaz de dejarte reflexionando los 2 minutos que tardan en atenderte al pedir otra caña。El resto， el grueso de la novela， es un psicodélico pastiche de aventurillas y folletines de baja estofa por el que el tiempo ha pasado como una auténtica apisonadora。 A saber: personajes de cartón piedra， misoginia pajillera y p No toda la basura galáctica la produce Elon Musk。 Esta sobrevaloradísima novelucha pulp apenas se salva por un comienzo prometedor y un resultón desenlace pseudomístico que quizá sea capaz de dejarte reflexionando los 2 minutos que tardan en atenderte al pedir otra caña。El resto， el grueso de la novela， es un psicodélico pastiche de aventurillas y folletines de baja estofa por el que el tiempo ha pasado como una auténtica apisonadora。 A saber: personajes de cartón piedra， misoginia pajillera y proto-cyberpunk de implantes que posibilitan que nuestro 'héroe' haga poco menos que lo que le plazca en todo momento。Lo que podía haber sido una muy interesante historia de obsesión y venganza se viene abajo por lo ya descrito， pero también convendría detenerese en ese delirante concepto de teletransportación （'juntear' en la traducción española， un término nefasto y molesto que se repite sin cesar en la narración）， al parecer disponible para cualquiera que se lo proponga con un poco de voluntad。 Pues resulta que ese hecho determinante y de inexplicable reciente descubrimiento ha conseguido poner al universo del siglo XXV patas arriba。Sorprende que aún haya afines a la ciencia ficción que no se sonrojen ante este paupérrimo émulo de la gran obra de Dumas （padre） en versión cibernética， sin el más elemental rigor ya no científico， sino intelectual。 Que esta basura sea considerada una obra de culto me hace plantearme alrgunas cosas acerca del submundo fandom que pueblael género fantástico， rama interestelar。 。。。more

Octavi ，

Brutal。 Puesta al día de Montecristo， aventuras 100%。 Y la narración del audiolibro es cojonuda。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Stars My Destination

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Stars My Destination&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Stars My Destination&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0