Product Description

Such is the official verdict on Gully Foyle, unskilled space crewman. But Gully has managed to survive for 170 days in the airless purgatory of deep space after the wreck of his ship, and has escaped to Earth carrying a murderous grudge and a secret that could change the course of history. The novel which in large part inspired both the cyberpunk movement of the 1980s and the science fiction New Wave of the 1960s, THE STARS MY DESTINATION has an unrivalled claim to be the most influential sf book of all time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13636 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Long out of print, and hugely influential on both the SF New Wave of the 60s and the cyberpunks of the 80s, Bester's second novel is a fast-moving pyrotechnic extravaganza with enough bloodshed for Tarantino and enough social analysis for Marx. The solar system is torn by warfare--the discovery of a human capacity to move short distances by the power of mind has blown open the balance of economic power. A marooned spaceman, Gully Foyle, seeks revenge on the ship and crew that left him to rot, and pursues them among hereditary industrialists, sensory-deprived monks, circus freaks and the convicts of the deepest Hell on Earth. Marked by hideous facial tattoos, and haunted by his own flaming double, there is nothing that Foyle will not do-- and he is pursued by a selection of Furies as highly coloured as himself. Bester's profligate imagination gives us Dagenham, the radioactive courier, Jizbella, the consummate feminist thief, Robin, the one-way telepath, Ang-Yeovil, secret master of intelligence and Olivia, the albino who sees infra-red. Streetwise and high-gloss, this is one of the finest of SF classics, full of evocative scenery and much-imitated stylistic gimmicks that for once work perfectly. --Roz Kaveney

About the Author
SALES POINTS * #5 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series, a library of the finest science fiction ever written * 'Science fiction has only produced a few works of actual genius, and this is one of them' -- Joe Haldeman * 'Bester at the peak of his powers is, quite simply, unbeatable' -- James Lovegrove * 'Considered by many to be the greatest single SF novel' -- Samuel R. Delany

Customer Reviews

Creative but tests credibility
This book was written in the 1950's and certainly compares well with other Sci-Fi of this era, therefore justifying its status as a classic. It is fast paced with plenty of action, although sometimes requiring the reader to flick back to remind oneself of how a character got to a certain position. On the positive side it is quite inventive and innovative with interesting concepts, and generally quite well written. However, some of concepts, scenarios and characters really challenge credibility, which detracts from an unwise good book. For example, as other reviewers have mentioned, some characters appear to change their allegiances for very little reason, the major character undergoes a peronality shift, and his incarnation as Fourmyle of Ceres with his surgically enhanced powers seems a little preposterous. The ending is rather weak. All in all, a reasonably good read but requiring considerable suspension of disbelief. I'd prefer to give it 3.5 stars, if it were possible.

Good but not perfect
This is a good novel, although literarily not as impressive as some of the higher end science fiction that has been published over the years (I'm thinking Asimov, Donaldson, Heinlein). The story depends on the ability of humans to teleport themselves by the power of thought, and although this is not the most believable innovation to have ever been added to a science fiction book, the story describes the differences that could or would exist in a world with this innovation with remarkable plausibility. The action is fast paced, with enough unknown elements to keep the reader wanting to know what happens in the next few pages.

Tiger Tiger Burning Brightest
Would anyone who had never heard of 'The Stars My Destination' be able to guess that it's over fifty years old? It's as fresh and gripping now as it was when it was first published, although to the 1950s reader it must have been mind-blowing.

Every re-read always yields more, and sometimes it becomes prophetically relevant. For instance, when I first read it in the 70s I thought the naming of clans after the companies which their ancestors had founded was a little far-fetched, but now . . . Paris Hilton, anyone?

The ideas burst from the page. Bester's use of synaesthesia has never been bettered, although Christopher Priest's short story 'Whores' comes close. The combination of formidable invention and relentless pace is surely unmatched in the genre.

Bester never wrote anything as good again, but most authors would be pathetically grateful to have written anything as good, period. And although I can't recall who said of Bester that he 'lived life as if the world had been invented for his pleasure', 'Stars' surely earned Bester that right.

Mike Cope, 8 October 2007.