The Stars My Destination
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
I always like sci-fi’s where one big change or evolution shoots humanity and society off in a completely different direction. Where that core idea changes everything. In The Stars My Destination that big evolution is human’s ability to teleport. To Jaunte as they call it. Being able to teleport up to a thousand miles completely changes security, crime, travel, homelessness, jobs. Everything. Woman are hidden away more because why its not explicitly said, its hinted at enough, rape is simply a lot easier. There’s never been more freedom to travel the world… or opportunity to fuck each other over.
The Stars My Destination follows the story of Gully Foyle, an unskilled worker bee who’s left to die aboard a spaceship, space being the one place people can’t Jaunte. When help finally does arrive, it ignores his distress call and leaves him to die. Gully manages to eventually (barely) escape and sets about seeking revenge against the ship that ignored his call. Nothing will stop him.
One of the great things about the book is that Gully is not a nice man. While we have some sympathy towards him being left to die, he’s a brute (as my nan used to say) He’s selfish, savage, and has complete tunnel vision for his mission, anyone in his way is expendable. He’s an asshole, and not a likeable one, but a fascinating one.
Obviously things escalate very quickly as we learn the reasons Gully was left behind, and who might be responsible. It’s a story that gets bigger and bigger until eventually everything on Earth is practically at stake. The escalation is well handled, but it definitely departs from being simply a revenge tour.
There’s a ton of world-building to go along with theJaunting. Spaceships and colonies in the solar system. Savages in the asteroids who cut up Gully’s face. Big evil cooperations. There’s the whole Jaunte travelling system to stop people literally teleporting into each other, and schools that teach Jaunte. Deep dark underground prisons, because how else are you going to stop criminals simply teleporting out of there. A lot of cool stuff… almost forget, the way to stop people Jaunte is to give them brain damage!
I really liked the book as a whole, but must admit I enjoyed the first half more. The book takes quite a turn half way through and grows in size, but I enjoyed Gully’s focused barbaric mission a little bit more. All the characters are fun with Gully being the standout, and as mentioned, I loved the world building.
It really is a fascinating book. Feels very different thanks to the unique main character who’s anything but a hero. The writing is great and engrossing, and it’s not a book you get lost reading despite all the teleporting around. It’s very easy to see why it’s held in such high regard. have already brought another of Alfred Bester’s books, think I'm going to really enjoy his work.
