The Stars My Destination

The Count of Monte Cristo - in space! Source: Here

“Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation.
Deep space is my dwelling place,
The stars my destination.” 

What I like the most about this book was just how quick a read it was. The day I bought this, I sat down with it and by the time the afternoon was nearing dark I was finished. It is a testament to the writing of this book that I didn't notice the time fly by...

Written by Alfred Bester in 1956 (though originally serialised in four parts and condensed into this one novel), The Stars My Destination (TSMD) is a classic of the 1950s. Set in the 25th century, this future revolves around the idea of "jaunting", whereby individuals can teleport vast distances in the blink of an eye. Such an advance has completely upended the societal and economic order, seen with the Inner Planets and Outer Satellites at war with one another; and while all this is happening, protagonist Gully Foyle is adrift in space upon the wreck of the spaceship Nomad, biding his time until rescue arrives - and subsequently passes him by. This slight sees him consumed by the hunger for revenge, and the rest of the book follows his transformation into the noble Geoffrey Fourmyle, blending into the upper echelons of society while still searching for the person who left him for dead.

Such a narrative inevitably draws comparisons to The Count of Monte Cristo - a protagonist thought dead by wider society, returns a number of years after completely reinvented but kept true by the thought of vengeance, and on the surface they appear to share that central narrative (though TSMD is substantially shorter). I would argue that TSMD stands alone as its own thrilling yarn; describing a future where people can travel at the speed of thought and where revenge can be carried out instantly, it only makes sense Gully Foyle arrives at his destination faster than Edmond Dantes.

• The Presteign: the head of the wealthy Presteign clan and leader of a multinational megacorporation.
• Olivia Presteign: albino daughter of Presteign who sees the world along the infra-red and electromagnetic spectrums.
• Saul Dagenham: head of a private agency and nuclear scientist who was rendered radioactive in an accident - cannot remain in the same room as anyone else for an hour without killing them.
• Jisbella McQueen: criminal miscreant who guides Gully Foyle on his journey of vengeance.

Such an astounding imagination with more than enough ideas to match our colourful settings and characters: cybernetic implants, the aforementioned "jaunting" and its effects on future society, corporations as powerful as governments, shades of cyberpunk can be seen long before Gibson and Sterling and their contemporaries!

Gully Foyle is not a sympathetic character, nor is he intended to be. What I found especially masterful was how Bester turned this psychopathic, almost remorseless individual with nothing but revenge on his mind and turned him into mankind's saviour:

“You pigs, you. You rut like pigs, is all. You got the most in you, and you use the least. You hear me, you? Got a million in you and spend pennies. Got a genius in you and think crazies. Got a heart in you and feel empties. All a you. Every you...'

[...]

Take a war to make you spend. Take a jam to make you think. Take a challenge to make you great. Rest of the time you sit around lazy, you. Pigs, you! All right, God damn you! I challenge you, me. Die or live and be great. Blow yourselves to Christ gone or come and find me, Gully Foyle, and I make you men. I make you great. I give you the stars.”

I absolutely could not put down this book, and when I did I couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret when leaving this universe, this vivid kaleidoscope of fresh ideas and characters ripped straight from a comic book (fitting, given Bester's background writing in comics). I cannot recommend this book enough.