The Stars My Destination

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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.

It is the twenty fifth century. An age when humanity can jaunte across the world, where telepaths are, if not common, then not unheard of. An age where humanity has spread across the solar system— a golden age that no one knows they are living in. An age when conflict between the Inner Planets and the Outer Satellites is about to end the age of the Global Wars by means of the outbreak of the first Solar War.This Loser Is You: As noted above, the book's idea of an "average man" is a pathetic piece of work. (You can hardly call Gully "average" after the Vorga incident.) Kelleghan, Fiona. “ The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester.” The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Westport: Greenwood Publishing, 2005. 1271–73. 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.

Asimov, Isaac. “In Memoriam: Alfred Bester 1913–1987.” Nebula Awards 23, edited by Michael Bishop. New York: Harcourt Brace Javanovich, 1987. 24–27.

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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". Este libro es de 1956, solo un par de años después de que Asimov publicara "Fundación" y "Fundación e Imperio", y si los comparas, parece como si Bester estuviera adelantado una década, como mínimo. En cierta manera, Bester parece un visionario: las corporaciones son la nueva aristocracia y dominan el mundo en un remedo de nuevo sistema estamental. Y además lleva sus ideas hasta las últimas consecuencias, como qué ocurriría si la gente pudiera teletransportarse ("jauntear" se dice en la novela) a voluntad. Qué pasaría con esa sociedad, con su economía. Cómo la gente se protegería construyendo laberintos para llegar a sus casas, cómo los ricos y poderosos utilizarían medios de comunicación y transporte obsoletos solo para demostrar lo ricos que son. Y todas esas ideas son fascinantes. Lo es menos que como Bester es un hombre de su tiempo, la conclusión lógica del jaunteo para las mujeres es que las encierran en sus habitaciones, para "proteger su honra". Aún así, hay tres personajes femeninos en esta novela y las tres son diferentes y, a su manera, interesantes. Aunque lo de la violación sobraba bastante. It is an inverse of the levels of hell; each reinvention has Gully reinventing himself to become more surfacely human, moving up the ladder of society into something that appears more socially acceptable but that remains rotten at the core. Depending on the reader's point of view, he may become more accessible, but really he is the same single-minded psychopath, single-minded in pursuit of his goal and unable to recognize or empathize with others. At one point he thinks he 'falls in love' but as with everything, he's fallen in love with an idea, an instant of emotion and not anything real. Special classes are held for those who have lost their ability due to trauma but still have the potential. Dark Messiah: Foyle is one of these at the end. He spreads the MacGuffin all over the world, which is Made of Explodium and can be really easily set off. He gives people the chance not to mess up, but if Humans Are Bastards, the world will go kaboom.