The Stars Are My Destination
The Stars My Destination Introduction “...The key turned in the lock of his soul and the door was opened. What emerged expunged the Common Man forever.” The Stars My Destination ~pg 22 Gully Foyle. Uneducated. No skills. No merits. No recommendations. A short description given by the author Alfred Bester of his main character as the stereotypical Common Man of humanity. A man who later motivated himself to become something more than just a ‘mere’ man. Within the few pages of just the first chapter, Bester had pulled me into the diluted, freakish mind of Gully Foyle.
the Story... As the story began, Gulliver Foyle was awaiting death aboard the wreckaged ship NOMAD in deep space. It’s been six months since the NOMAD was left out to rust. Foyle just happened to be the sole survivor. Until one day, a sister ship to the NOMAD, VORGA managed to cross paths with the wreckage. Foyle did everything he could to send out rescue signals. But alas, his actions were wasted time and effort, for she had rejected him. And thus began his quest for vengeance upon the VORGA. As his ship drifted out further into space, Foyle had spent his entire time aboard not welcoming death anymore. Instead he was now obsessing himself with the destruction of VORGA. For the first time in his life, Foyle was now motivated. He felt the need to punish and there was nothing anybody could do. He had vowed to himself to fight anything that was a threat towards his plans to destroy the ship that could have saved him. While floating, into an asteroid belt, he was saved by the Scientific People of the Sargasso Asteroid. A tiny planet that was built by man. Primarily made of rock and two hundred years of salvaged ships. The tiny planet had made a new addition to their planet and population. It’s rather ironic that of all people, Bester had decided to reverse the psychological role of scientists on this planet. He
the Story... As the story began, Gulliver Foyle was awaiting death aboard the wreckaged ship NOMAD in deep space. It’s been six months since the NOMAD was left out to rust. Foyle just happened to be the sole survivor. Until one day, a sister ship to the NOMAD, VORGA managed to cross paths with the wreckage. Foyle did everything he could to send out rescue signals. But alas, his actions were wasted time and effort, for she had rejected him. And thus began his quest for vengeance upon the VORGA. As his ship drifted out further into space, Foyle had spent his entire time aboard not welcoming death anymore. Instead he was now obsessing himself with the destruction of VORGA. For the first time in his life, Foyle was now motivated. He felt the need to punish and there was nothing anybody could do. He had vowed to himself to fight anything that was a threat towards his plans to destroy the ship that could have saved him. While floating, into an asteroid belt, he was saved by the Scientific People of the Sargasso Asteroid. A tiny planet that was built by man. Primarily made of rock and two hundred years of salvaged ships. The tiny planet had made a new addition to their planet and population. It’s rather ironic that of all people, Bester had decided to reverse the psychological role of scientists on this planet. He
Bibliography: 1. Bester, Alfred, “Alfred Bester,” Interview by Charles Platt in Dream Makers (New York: Berkeley Books, 1980), p.96 2. Bester, Alfred, “My Affair with Science Fiction,” Hell’s Cartographers (New York: Harper & Row, 1995), p.57 3. Rawdon, Michael, ‘Bookreviews’. Online posting. Reviewed Dec. 1996 Available: www.spies.com/~Rawdon/books/sf/bester.html