Yuffie's Book Reviews

The Stars My Destination - by Alfred Bester

OH. MY. GOD. THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything was perfect about this (okay there was one thing that absolutely ruined me, but... I guess that was the point).

It's about a time in the future when humans have learned how to teleport -- ie. "jaunte", in honor of the first man to ever do this, who's name was Jaunte -- and holy holy holy crap it's so cool.

The MC Gully Foyle is so cool for a time, until he's not, but then you're so invested in how beast and monstrous this dude is that you can't look away. Gully was on the spaceship Nomad when it got attacked, and he's the lone survivor. He drifted in a tiny compartment, the only air-tight one left on the ship, for 6 months, in complete darkness, passing out on his trips out to grab food and supplies from various sections of the ship because his suit only holds 5 minutes of oxygen.

So then another ship finally shows up, he sends out flares and is ecstatic to be saved, and .... the ship passes him by.

This turns Gully on the most epic and brutal revenge plot I've ever read. He's the angriest man in the world, hurtling through space and leaving broken pieces trailing behind him.

He gets this horrific tattoo across his face by some people that saved/captured him, so that tattoo, even when he tries to get it removed, haunts him and marks him among everyone.

Gully is a freaking beast -- in both good and bad ways. He's a brute and is so single-minded about getting his revenge that the world crumbles around his horrible actions. Seriously, I can't even begin to describe this guy... He's simultaneously the coolest badass and horrific villain you'll come across. There was one act he did that was unforgivable, and it crushed my heart and soul because it turned me from invested and rooting for him, to wanting to crush him. But ohh my god the things he does and accomplishes are on epic proportions.

I only have one criticism for the entire book (beyond typos and shit): there was a deus ex machina to one of the subplots near the end that made me narrow my eyes.

But otherwise... Holy SHIT. This book had incredible action scenes, real human moments, deeply flawed characters who suffer for their flaws, and the most imaginative, wondrous, awe-inspiring concepts of jaunting, radioactive men, telepaths, face tattoos, a blind chick who sees infrared, synesthesia, acceleration from muscle-enhancing surgery. 

There's so much symbolic meaning in this book for the literary buffs. So you got heart-pounding, brutal action and depth of philosophy and symbolism in SPACE!!! about the future of humanity and the individual, all packed into one incredible book (and it's pretty short, not a 500-page behemoth).

OOOHHHHHHHHHHH

I finished this book yesterday and I can't stop thinking about it. It's freaking beautiful and heart-wrenching and shocking. You can't predict a single moment, and it leaves you gaping at the pages. 

And can I make an honorable mention of Gully's gutter-tongue accent? It's so hilarious and wonderful. :D I love it.

Read. This. Book. It's fucking incredible on every level. (I'm sure if I reread it, I can nitpick and find issues, but whatever I don't care. Right now I'm gonna rave about it.) The ending is so freaking badass and plot twist and everything fits together and MINDBLOW!

This made my favorite books of all time list.

5/5 stars.