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silvia_shmilvia's review against another edition
5.0
5 out of fucking 5. I fell in love with this book from its first paragraph. This became one of my all time favorites. Sooooo good. I convinced my boyfriend to read it too, I'm curious what he will think.
A story with an antihero, "almost illiterate, stupid, single-minded, amoral (not in the hip sense of being too cool for morality, but simply, utterly, blindly selfish), he is a murderer -perhaps a multiple murderer- a rapist, a monster. A tiger."
We follow this charming individual in his journey of revenge and incidentally finding morality. Not by choice :))))
For the actual review, I'm not sure where to start.
The book has around 247 pages, and it has enough action in these pages to make a 3 seasons tv show. Some of the concepts, if not all, deserve a separate book of their own.
Imma list some of my favorite parts/moments/ideas/ paragraphs below:
- First, the way the main character is introduced, chef's fucking kiss:
"He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead." Beautiful.
- Also this quote is sooo good: "So, in five seconds, he was born, he lived, and he died."
- Among the things that I liked is definitely Saul Dagenham. The genius, ruthless son of bitch, a computer for a brain and his radation sickness, never being able to be in the same room as someone for more than 5 minutes
- Prestein's robots witch somehow kinda got sentient at the end because of Saul's radiation and they also gave Gully (soon to be God) his answers.
- Gully becoming a God :)))) I did NOT expect that.
- The gutter slang was so cool too:
"You pass me by. You leave me rot like a dog
You leave me die, Vorga... Vorga-T:1339. No. I get out of here, me. I follow you, Vorga. I pay you back, me. I rot you. I kill you, Vorga. I kill you filthy."
- I loved the way Bester played with the format of the book, when it got to the synesthesia part
- The concept of the telesend, which Robin had, was so cool, neverbefore seen (by me at least)
- Olivia and the pure animalistic cruelty and desire of revenge and complete destruction.
- One of the coolest concepts, if not even nr 1, were the Skoptsy, with Lindsey Joyce. The living corpse.
"The modern Skoptsky believing that sensation was the roof of all evil....the new members submited joyously to an operation that severed the sensory system and lived out their days without sight sounds, speech, smell, taste or touch."
"The initiates were shown elegant ivory cells.....but in actuality, the senseless creatures were packed in catacombs where they sat on rough stone slabs....for 23/24 hours they sat alone in the dark, unattended, unguarded, unloved."
....what do you even say about this.
- Another moment that I loved was this convo between Foyle and Sheffield, when Foyle wanted to surrender:
" 'A criminal never surrenders while he's ahead. You're obviously ahead. What's the reason?'
'The most damnable thing that ever happened to a man. I picked up a rare disease called conscience.'
Sheffield snorted. 'That can often turn fatal.' "
Bruh.....wth? Why does Bester have to hit this hard? He keeps pilling on banger after banger. Dude is crazy.
The book was published in 1956, so expect a bit of misogyny and weird love connections. Twas the best of times, twas the worst of times. Twas what it twas.
The ending also got me in a chockehold. I did not expect things to turn to philosophy and discussion about human morality, also the new age of humans into space jaunting and giving humans the gun and telling them what they now have in their hands. Just because it's fair?? Ignorance is bliss who? The blind masses are easier to control who?
Amazing! Loved it!
A story with an antihero, "almost illiterate, stupid, single-minded, amoral (not in the hip sense of being too cool for morality, but simply, utterly, blindly selfish), he is a murderer -perhaps a multiple murderer- a rapist, a monster. A tiger."
We follow this charming individual in his journey of revenge and incidentally finding morality. Not by choice :))))
For the actual review, I'm not sure where to start.
The book has around 247 pages, and it has enough action in these pages to make a 3 seasons tv show. Some of the concepts, if not all, deserve a separate book of their own.
Imma list some of my favorite parts/moments/ideas/ paragraphs below:
- First, the way the main character is introduced, chef's fucking kiss:
"He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead." Beautiful.
- Also this quote is sooo good: "So, in five seconds, he was born, he lived, and he died."
- Among the things that I liked is definitely Saul Dagenham. The genius, ruthless son of bitch, a computer for a brain and his radation sickness, never being able to be in the same room as someone for more than 5 minutes
- Prestein's robots witch somehow kinda got sentient at the end because of Saul's radiation and they also gave Gully (soon to be God) his answers.
- Gully becoming a God :)))) I did NOT expect that.
- The gutter slang was so cool too:
"You pass me by. You leave me rot like a dog
You leave me die, Vorga... Vorga-T:1339. No. I get out of here, me. I follow you, Vorga. I pay you back, me. I rot you. I kill you, Vorga. I kill you filthy."
- I loved the way Bester played with the format of the book, when it got to the synesthesia part
- The concept of the telesend, which Robin had, was so cool, neverbefore seen (by me at least)
- Olivia and the pure animalistic cruelty and desire of revenge and complete destruction.
- One of the coolest concepts, if not even nr 1, were the Skoptsy, with Lindsey Joyce. The living corpse.
"The modern Skoptsky believing that sensation was the roof of all evil....the new members submited joyously to an operation that severed the sensory system and lived out their days without sight sounds, speech, smell, taste or touch."
"The initiates were shown elegant ivory cells.....but in actuality, the senseless creatures were packed in catacombs where they sat on rough stone slabs....for 23/24 hours they sat alone in the dark, unattended, unguarded, unloved."
....what do you even say about this.
- Another moment that I loved was this convo between Foyle and Sheffield, when Foyle wanted to surrender:
" 'A criminal never surrenders while he's ahead. You're obviously ahead. What's the reason?'
'The most damnable thing that ever happened to a man. I picked up a rare disease called conscience.'
Sheffield snorted. 'That can often turn fatal.' "
Bruh.....wth? Why does Bester have to hit this hard? He keeps pilling on banger after banger. Dude is crazy.
The book was published in 1956, so expect a bit of misogyny and weird love connections. Twas the best of times, twas the worst of times. Twas what it twas.
The ending also got me in a chockehold. I did not expect things to turn to philosophy and discussion about human morality, also the new age of humans into space jaunting and giving humans the gun and telling them what they now have in their hands. Just because it's fair?? Ignorance is bliss who? The blind masses are easier to control who?
Amazing! Loved it!
lemon_god_3001's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
iddylu's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
harmonictempest's review against another edition
2.0
Madcap inventiveness around the edges of the story (much like Babel-17) but not much meat on the bone and some troubling parts that haven’t aged well, such as an instance of rape that is waved off later.
yelisiei's review against another edition
5.0
Science Fiction-Monte-Cristo revenge story.
Proto-Cyberpunk.
One of the best SF novels EVER.
Proto-Cyberpunk.
One of the best SF novels EVER.
erickibler4's review against another edition
4.0
A fast-paced science fiction adventure loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo.
It starts with a future where people have learned how to "jaunte", or teleport, by using the unlocked potential of their minds. Earth has colonized the planets of the solar system, and conflict has developed between the inner and outer worlds.
Enter simple, working-class Gully Foyle, who finds himself stranded in space in a wrecked ship with dwindling rations and air. Suddenly another ship approaches. Although he knows the other ship has seen his signal, it passes him by, leaving him to die. Gully nevertheless saves himself and vows to have his revenge against whoever decided to leave him in space.
Gully is single-minded and has no scruples in hunting his prey. He uses and discards allies (usually women). Starting out as a simple worker, he eventually educates himself and assumes the identity of a successful circus impressario. Like Edmond Dantes, he is more of a force of nature than a person. Alert: Foyle exhibits a high degree of misogyny, although the women he partners with are portrayed as smart and resourceful.
But other forces conspire to rehumanize him. The reader is left to decide whether he redeems himself.
Four fifths of the book is a slam-bang pulpy adventure, but the last fifth gets a bit grandiose and preachy, somewhat dampening my enjoyment. Still, this book is one of the classics of science fiction for a reason. The action and settings are exciting and surprising. I hovered between giving it three or four stars, but settled on four.
It starts with a future where people have learned how to "jaunte", or teleport, by using the unlocked potential of their minds. Earth has colonized the planets of the solar system, and conflict has developed between the inner and outer worlds.
Enter simple, working-class Gully Foyle, who finds himself stranded in space in a wrecked ship with dwindling rations and air. Suddenly another ship approaches. Although he knows the other ship has seen his signal, it passes him by, leaving him to die. Gully nevertheless saves himself and vows to have his revenge against whoever decided to leave him in space.
Gully is single-minded and has no scruples in hunting his prey. He uses and discards allies (usually women). Starting out as a simple worker, he eventually educates himself and assumes the identity of a successful circus impressario. Like Edmond Dantes, he is more of a force of nature than a person. Alert: Foyle exhibits a high degree of misogyny, although the women he partners with are portrayed as smart and resourceful.
But other forces conspire to rehumanize him. The reader is left to decide whether he redeems himself.
Four fifths of the book is a slam-bang pulpy adventure, but the last fifth gets a bit grandiose and preachy, somewhat dampening my enjoyment. Still, this book is one of the classics of science fiction for a reason. The action and settings are exciting and surprising. I hovered between giving it three or four stars, but settled on four.
oakes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
zubers's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I don’t know how to rate this. The characters were all…bad? It felt like the women were badly written and the men were also flat/terrible but on purpose. It kind of read like Snow Crash in that it had a plot but also had to quickly explain the technologies & culture of the future. Interesting thoughts in here, interesting ending - feels like a book that’s kind of all about the ending. I was reading it quickly as the mystery did intrigue me.
Okay how about a 2.5? Apparently it was a big deal for sci fi? I did read it because it was mentioned in an interview with SA Corey. And I definitely could see its influence on The Expanse series.
Okay how about a 2.5? Apparently it was a big deal for sci fi? I did read it because it was mentioned in an interview with SA Corey. And I definitely could see its influence on The Expanse series.
Content Warnings
Minor: Genocide and Rape
idkwnisu's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25