The Stars My Destination II

Alfred Bester published The Stars My Destination in 1956. He had won the Hugo Award for best Sci-Fi novel in 1953 for his The Demolished Man. A good book but not as intense or insightful as Stars. It amazes me that a novel as brilliant can be overlooked for awards while a mediocre one is given the highest awards. I guess the judges saw a spark of genius in The Demolished Man and a more deserving book was chosen in 1956. That would have been Double Star from Robert Heinlein. A good book but Stars, I believe has the edge.

So when we were last with Gully, he was on Earth. He was again the bottom class in of society. No job, limited capability, and a horribly tattooed face that makes him stand out in a crowd. He is put in a class that teaches slow people to jaunte and he is a fast learner. He wants to get to Vorga and destroy her. He discovers the location of the ship and finds out too late that he is going after the wrong target. He is captured and psyched by the owner of the fleet of ships of which the Vorga is one, Preston of Preston, and they try to find out why he tried to blow it up.

This sets off a chain of events involving rape, tattoo removal, a circus, bionics, an enemy attack, a blind albino ice princess, the religious practice of skoptsy, telepaths, and finally a man on fire. We find that Gully Foyle, a simple man who just wanted to be rescued, has a deeper secret that even he does not know. Everyone is chasing him because he possesses something that everyone wants but cannot find. He ends up being pushed beyond all possible limits and in the end becomes the salvation of mankind. Bester weaves images of Christ in this still possible future. At times, the book is almost comical with its presentation of the extravagance of wealth and the depravity of man but in this world of instant gratification and internet availability, it is not so far fetched as it was when I first read it.

So, take a trip with Gully Foyle and find your destination.

Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation
Deep space is my hiding place
The Stars My Destination


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