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May 26, 2015JihadiConservative rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A stunning classic that's influenced a generation of writers and sub genres, including the Cyberpunk movement. The Stars My Destination broke away from the main stream SF about supermen, heroes, and good guys. Instead of the handsome, altruistic good guy, we have a character who's rather repugnant, both physically and morally; an amoral black hole who manages to suck out the good around him without spitting anything of value back into the universe. And despite this,we get it; we understand what makes this man tick. And by golly,we actually emphasis with him -- which is the real genius of Bester. The story centers on a wonderfully ruthless and tortured protagonist who has a major revenge hard-on. The quest for revenge begins when the protagonist is near-death and adrift in space in a starship a ship approaches that could help instead flies away leaving him to die. The novel is basically Gay Foyle’s obsessive revenge quest against the owners of said ship. Foyle is a flawed individual – lazy to the point of only doing enough to get by and no more, a man with potential but without the will to harness it. His lackadaisical view on life changed when he’s suddenly marooned in space; his flaws prevent him from improving his situation and he’s resigned himself to a slow death until a rescue ship deliberately ignores him. This one act galvanizes Foyle into saving himself and wrecking a horrible vengeance on the owners of said ship. This is a violent story and the author makes no apologies for it. This is a rewrite of an old staple, the Count of Monte Cristo. A man who’s been betrayed becomes transformed into a different character by that very betrayal and returns to wreck vengeance on the culprits under a different identity. This is no common revenge tale though. The language is evocative with a rather unique journey, set in a fascinating world of unfamiliarity. The hero is thoroughly villain; he’s not some good guy who’s been wronged who turns the other check or some bad guy wrong who becomes a good guy in the process of revenge; no, he’s a bad guy who’s been wronged and motivated by one single thing: revenge.> The Stars My Destination preceded the whole Cyberpunk movement, founded by Gibson in his seminal novel Neuromancer, but anticipates some of the cyberpunk staples: mega corporations that are the equal of governments, the cybernetic augmentation of the body, building the human mind and body according to specs, a dark unfriendly world, and a lone hero/anarchist. Because of these Cyberpunk staples, The Stars My Destination functions as a sort of proto cyberpunk novel. The author writes in the same sort of idea-exploring way of Heinlein, but with a darker voice and a darker, completely unpredictable hero. Bester’s experimental yet wonderfully evocative prose, vivid revenge story, dark, brutal world, flawed (arguably unbalanced) yet always interesting characters make this one of the Best Science Fiction books ever written. It’s a classic among classics. If you only ever read five science fiction books, this should be one of them.