The Stars My Destination (S.F. MASTERWORKS): Alfred Bester

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Deadly Environment Prison: Everyone can teleport unless lobotomized or drugged, so criminals are usually kept in a location they don't know. You are welcome to Tele-Frag yourself whenever you want. The Stars My Destination is one of the few sf books that is included in almost every all-time best sf books I have ever seen, and I have seen many. If I see such a list without this book I will probably dismiss it. There’s a lot of interesting stuff here that gets into some really big trippy sci-fi concepts that seem way ahead of their time in many ways plus there’s a kind of Count of Monte Cristo style story embedded in it too. It’s easy to see why this is so highly regarded and is considered a forerunner to cyberpunk. Super-Speed: Foyle eventually has his body upgraded with various functions, including being able to think and move five times faster than normal humans. Notably, it doesn't give him Super-Toughness, so he has to avoid accidentally bumping into anything while super speed is engaged— especially other people who also possess this ability. (His one brief skirmish with some Martian commandos resembles a sped-up game of touch football, in which an actual collision would be messily fatal to both parties.) I spent some time to count things out and have a list of what I think are the 20 Binary Systems in the base game (not including NG+) as well as the only Three-Star System. From my count, that leaves 77 individual Star Systems. I do not plan to list those out but I can with pictures if people request it in the comments. If I've made any errors, let me know and I'll happily update things.

Towards the end the novel takes a huge conceptual leap, as perspective shifts over time and space. to create the jagged effect, Bester has used the printed word in very innovative ways - the letters are boxed in, stretched out, strung together to create wave patterns and pictograms... it's the nearest you can come to jump cuts in literature. The narrative becomes almost visual here, and it is this part of the novel which pushed it up from three to four stars for me. After much investigation, Gulliver discovers that Olivia was in fact the person in charge of the Vorga during his rescue, and that the former captain of the ship has moved to a cult on Mars where she has become immune to torture because all of her nerve cells have been disabled. He discovers that Olivia was kidnapping refugees while on the Vorga, stealing their items, and then abandoning them in deep space. Gulliver tries to give himself up, driven by his own guilt, but instead he is captured by Presteign's lawyer and used as a decoy in space. During this period, Gulliver discovers space-jaunting, a kind of teleportation previously unknown, and because of this new skill he becomes even more of a target. Humans Are Psychic in the Future: in the setting, "jaunting" is a learned skill and random people simply developed telepathy out of nowhere.I've read this book a few times over the years and I really enjoyed this audiobook version which was really well narrated. McGuffin: PyrE is one of the reasons that everyone with a bit of interest in what happens to the Inner Planets is chasing Gully Foyle across every corner of their territory.

Clareson, Thomas (1992). "Science Fiction: The 1950s". Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. p.74. ISBN 0-87249-870-0. At one point he goes against a bunch of Martian commandos who have similar augments AND military training on top of it. He barely escapes with his life. He was Gulliver Foyle, Mechanic's Mate 3rd Class, thirty years old, big boned and rough.. . and one hundred and seventy days adrift in space. He was Gully Foyle, the oiler, wiper, bunkerman; too easy for trouble, too slow for fun, too empty for friendship, too lazy for love. Weak characters and I just couldn’t get hooked by the writing- the whole jount thing is like an uninteresting side story Alfred Bester's The Stars my Destination is classic sci-fi from the 1950's that stands the test of time. Set far into the future, the 25th century, humans have settled the solar system out to Neptune. Along the way, jaunting was discovered which involves personal teleportation over distances up to 1000 miles. The resulting impact on society and the economy results in conflict between the inner and outer system. Gully Foyle is a nondescript mechanic 3rd class on a freighter that is the sole survivor of some unknown disaster. When his emergency beacon is ignored, he is driven by revenge to hunt down the perpetrators. At the same time, Foyle is pursued by many for the secrets the freighter was carrying of which he is unaware.Translated by Gisela Stege. Same translation as the first german edition, just the different title.

Enzo Paulo Gugino, a character from the John Scalzi novel Zoe's Tale wrote a poem entitled "The Stars My Destination" based on "the title from an obscure fantasy adventure book that he'd never read but whose title stayed with him". Lotus-Eater Machine: As a means of interrogating Gully Foyle, they put him on a set where actors tell him he is a corporate noble suffering amnesia. Jaunting is a personal thing; you can teleport with as much as you can carry, but no more. "Sorry, not even the ladies will arrive naked." Gully Foyle makes a cameo appearance as an agent for the Jurisfiction organisation in the BookWorld of author Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. Another novel in the series, The Well of Lost Plots, uses Stars My Destination as the title of a tabloid newspaper in the fictional universe of Emperor Zhark. Whitaker's Cumulative Book List: 62. 1956. {{ cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link)A graphic novel adaptation drawn by Howard Chaykin, which utilized the complete text of the original novel was first published, in part, in 1979 by Baronet Publishing. The release of the conclusion was delayed due to Baronet's bankruptcy. The second half was released by Marvel Entertainment's Epic imprint in 1992. [22] Radio [ edit ] I just learned there *might* be a movie in development. Oh, my lord, I can't believe how excited I am about this. Special classes are held for those who have lost their ability due to trauma but still have the potential.