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hjswinford's review against another edition
4.0
This novel had a lot of really interesting components! I loved going in the idea of a sci-fi retelling of Count of Monte Cristo, but as it turns out this version of Dantes is a complete asshole and no amount of unfair treatment or persecution was ever going to put him in his place.
jadelaporte's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Racial slurs
madfil's review
1.0
(10 November, 2022)
Another book that made me happy I am able to read at warp speed when needed.
Awful, sexist and stupid, not much of this was any good. The one thing I liked was the space jumps, . A prototypical Sci-Fi novel that evidently influenced many an author (Dan Simmons and his excellent '[b:Hyperion|77566|Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)|Dan Simmons|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405546838l/77566._SY75_.jpg|1383900]' series comes to mind) but its execution seemed half-assed and was highly uneven. Great ideas but poorly written, good story but riddled with maddeningly dated prejudices, et cetera...
The writing, the dialogue, the characters, the ending: a mess of a classic.
Another book that made me happy I am able to read at warp speed when needed.
Awful, sexist and stupid, not much of this was any good. The one thing I liked was the space
Spoiler
and timeSpoiler
'cause really, if you can do one you can do the other - if Einstein was right, that isThe writing, the dialogue, the characters, the ending: a mess of a classic.
theleafencounter's review against another edition
5.0
4.4 to be exact, but I will give it 5 star because it really is such a great read and I want more of you sci-fi nerds to read it. Almost a five star for me, it was lacking just a few of my subjective preferences to be a full fledged “5 star club” member.. The biggest preference being - emotional impact. I know it’s not everyone’s measure for rating a book, but although this is really a masterpiece and you should read it if you like sci-fi (if only for education), it lacked that emotional impact for me to be on the top.
I will list some pros and cons for the general reading “audience”. That being said, I’m fine with those as I always have the context in my mind, as well as having the understaning of the times/era the book was written in. So take what you want from it.
This is classical sci-fi book exploring classical sci-fi themes and ideas (identity, humanity, morality, impact of technology, religion..) Nothning to write home about, BUT if you like that kind of stories, it will be great. That being said, it is somewhat a sci-fi version of Count of Monte Christo blended with Neuromancer (the cyberpunk elements are in the book mostly for esthetics, since the term cyberpunk didn’t even exist). It is a revenge story set in a futuristic cold war Solar system with Cyberpunk esthetics (it feels like that). Despite being written in the 50s, it feels verry modern with its writing style: it is very cinematic and it is not too dense a read as its cyberpunk successor (I’m looking at you Neuromancer).
Those were the pros, as well as a short summary of what you should expect.
Some readers will be turned off because of:
•somewhat dated depiction of women, despite few good characters (although realistic for the story of the book, could also be social commentary or just the sign of the times)
•not very likable main character (although he is written masterfully for his purpose in the book and its general idea) who is also one of the reasons for the dated depiction od women
•some readers will find the structure not too conventional: it has chapters and it has beggining, middle and end, BUT it has that pulpy feel to it like a story was beeing written in pieces (such were the days od sci-fi magazines)
•although not too dense and not too complicated story, this is not what you would call a light read, it is pretty grim
..and those were “the cons”, but I’m sure sime will find the reasons to read the book in those as well as not too.
„Faith in faith' - he answered himself. 'It isn't necessary to have something to believe in. It's only necessary to believe that somewhere there's something worthy of belief.“
I will list some pros and cons for the general reading “audience”. That being said, I’m fine with those as I always have the context in my mind, as well as having the understaning of the times/era the book was written in. So take what you want from it.
This is classical sci-fi book exploring classical sci-fi themes and ideas (identity, humanity, morality, impact of technology, religion..) Nothning to write home about, BUT if you like that kind of stories, it will be great. That being said, it is somewhat a sci-fi version of Count of Monte Christo blended with Neuromancer (the cyberpunk elements are in the book mostly for esthetics, since the term cyberpunk didn’t even exist). It is a revenge story set in a futuristic cold war Solar system with Cyberpunk esthetics (it feels like that). Despite being written in the 50s, it feels verry modern with its writing style: it is very cinematic and it is not too dense a read as its cyberpunk successor (I’m looking at you Neuromancer).
Those were the pros, as well as a short summary of what you should expect.
Some readers will be turned off because of:
•somewhat dated depiction of women, despite few good characters (although realistic for the story of the book, could also be social commentary or just the sign of the times)
•not very likable main character (although he is written masterfully for his purpose in the book and its general idea) who is also one of the reasons for the dated depiction od women
•some readers will find the structure not too conventional: it has chapters and it has beggining, middle and end, BUT it has that pulpy feel to it like a story was beeing written in pieces (such were the days od sci-fi magazines)
•although not too dense and not too complicated story, this is not what you would call a light read, it is pretty grim
..and those were “the cons”, but I’m sure sime will find the reasons to read the book in those as well as not too.
„Faith in faith' - he answered himself. 'It isn't necessary to have something to believe in. It's only necessary to believe that somewhere there's something worthy of belief.“
jplayjames's review
2.0
Some good ideas, and I can get behind a picaresque, I can allow for something being a product of its times, all that - but at the end of the day that's a lot of rape just for the purposes of making you understand that this is a depraved future/the main character is evil.
My version had a preamble written by Gaiman in the 1990s, about his first reading in the 1970s, about how well a book from the 1950s had held up. I am aware that it is now longer since the introduction was written than any other gap in that timeline. But I have to keep reminding myself consciously of that because yeah, I feel like the female characters are even more flimsy than most of the pretty one-dimensional male ones, a lot more there tobe abused and have a bunch of their motivations based on whichever man they most recently fell in love with.
Like, the conceit was really good. Some of the ideas and setting were good. But I just don't think this has held up.
My version had a preamble written by Gaiman in the 1990s, about his first reading in the 1970s, about how well a book from the 1950s had held up. I am aware that it is now longer since the introduction was written than any other gap in that timeline. But I have to keep reminding myself consciously of that because yeah, I feel like the female characters are even more flimsy than most of the pretty one-dimensional male ones, a lot more there to
Like, the conceit was really good. Some of the ideas and setting were good. But I just don't think this has held up.
joshknape's review against another edition
4.0
The Stars My Destination is one of the most interesting books I have read in years: partly because it just is, and partly because I don't read a great deal of sci-fi, much less the cyberpunk sub-genre of sci-fi. I didn't understand before I started that it was recognized as a proto-cyberpunk novel, because I simply added it to my readlist after seeing this edition's back cover blurb and thinking it sounded intriguing. (Also, for some reason, I am interested in old sci-fi novels from the first half of the 20th century. Ones written before the "Big Three" of Heinlein/Clarke/Asimov.)
Further comments later.
ORIGINAL COMMENT
I think I'll review this book before I finish it.
The Stars My Destination, whose original title apparently was Tiger! Tiger!, is my first experience ever of reading a recognized classic in the cyber-punk sub-genre of sci-fi. I simply saw the novel's back cover blurb on Goodreads earlier this year, and thought it sounded very interesting; but I don't believe I understood it was cyber-punk.
Actually, based on what I'm reading, I now see that I unwittingly got a taste of the stuff once. Where? The 1990s Doctor Who novels, the "New Adventures" published by Virgin. I now recognize that many of the "New Adventures" obviously were heavily influenced by cyber-punk, especially the "Psi Powers" arc and the ones written by Andrew Cartmel.
As for book I'm actually reading now: it very quickly made me find cyber-punk revolting. Well, what was I supposed to think when the author makes his protagonist's superiors write in his file that he's essentially an uninteresting loser; makes the protagonist rage against a passing ship that mysteriously fails to rescue him; and rapes a woman almost as soon as he meets her? But...a few minutes later, it also made me appreciate a certain quality of the sub-genre that I sensed in my limited knowledge and experience of punk styles. What quality? The greater honesty and discernment than the naive humanism I saw in Star Dreck. As (again) with Doctor Who, there's no nonsense here to the effect that human nature will suddenly become beautiful in the future. There's a reason that readers consider The Stars My Destination cyber-punk: nasty but real.
Further comments later.
ORIGINAL COMMENT
I think I'll review this book before I finish it.
The Stars My Destination, whose original title apparently was Tiger! Tiger!, is my first experience ever of reading a recognized classic in the cyber-punk sub-genre of sci-fi. I simply saw the novel's back cover blurb on Goodreads earlier this year, and thought it sounded very interesting; but I don't believe I understood it was cyber-punk.
Actually, based on what I'm reading, I now see that I unwittingly got a taste of the stuff once. Where? The 1990s Doctor Who novels, the "New Adventures" published by Virgin. I now recognize that many of the "New Adventures" obviously were heavily influenced by cyber-punk, especially the "Psi Powers" arc and the ones written by Andrew Cartmel.
As for book I'm actually reading now: it very quickly made me find cyber-punk revolting. Well, what was I supposed to think when the author makes his protagonist's superiors write in his file that he's essentially an uninteresting loser; makes the protagonist rage against a passing ship that mysteriously fails to rescue him; and rapes a woman almost as soon as he meets her? But...a few minutes later, it also made me appreciate a certain quality of the sub-genre that I sensed in my limited knowledge and experience of punk styles. What quality? The greater honesty and discernment than the naive humanism I saw in Star Dreck. As (again) with Doctor Who, there's no nonsense here to the effect that human nature will suddenly become beautiful in the future. There's a reason that readers consider The Stars My Destination cyber-punk: nasty but real.
smashtheredorb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
greenflowervole's review against another edition
4.0
It’s like ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ but sf. Doesn’t have the same level of depth but still good.
dleeseaman's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0