Rating: 
Summary: Start here.
Review: When I (a not-too-informed-SF-reader) said I wanted to read a good science-fiction novel that does not require being familiar with dozens of other SF-works for reference, a friend of mine recommended "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester and he was right. I have read a number of SF-novels since, and now I can see how basic and important this one is. Here is why.With very imaginative descriptions of possible future technology, Alfred Bester has set standards for some later developments in cyber-punk and likes. Some of the most fascinating among these are drugs that he describes and that put humans into state of very primitive animals (python, for example), and, of course, jaunting technique and PyrE, the omnidestructive matter. In these two futuristic concepts lies the real greatness of Bester's idea while writing this book. Although heavily supplied with all sorts of "advanced technologies", he makes a point of making them essentially connected with humans and power of their mind (jaunting being possible only with the power of thinking; PyrE activated only by the wish). With these ideas, Bester is trying to tell us that there is no force bigger than human mind, instinct and emotion. The idea is personified in Gulliver Foyle, madly driven character who has been left in destroyed spaceship in outer space, to float for years before he was spotted by another vessel, and even then not rescued from his "floating coffin". Managing to find his rescue on a nearby planet (society of which has left an unerasable mark on his face, brought out every time he loses his balance), he finds his way back to Terra (Earth) and pledges revenge on "Vorga", the spaceship that failed to rescue him. Foyle is unstoppable, and he does not choose the means to his end. Eventually, that brings him to be the person upon whom the future of the all humanity lies. Foyle's character is very well described, in depth and range equally. He is violent, immoral and uncontrollable, like everyone's unconsciousness. However, his unrelentlessness proves to be the driving force of the plot, and a convincing one too. One star less goes to the superficial treatment of some other, possibly interesting characters (Dagenham, Olivia Presteign), and a bit rushed ending. Still, it is one of the best SF novels I have ever read, and one of the better novels in general. If you are looking for a start in reading science-fiction, start here.
Rating: 
Summary: A loathsome protagonist--a FABU read!!!!!
Review: It's pretty rare to find yourself rooting for a fellow with no redeeming qualities, but I found myself doing just that for Gully. He's a sneak; a snake; a creep. But you just have to stay with him while he jaunts. You'll find that most people will rate The Demolished Man as better than Stars My Destination, but I wouldn't. THIS is the novel that pops and sings and makes your heart race while the bile rises. It keeps you reading ... letting the wondering come later. Almost more like watching a movie than reading, this book is visual and episodic. Sure, it brings in a few cheap tricks to move the plot. But you know what? You won't care. This is the book I buy at least once a year just to give away.
Rating: 
Summary: A major disappointment
Review: Bester is a skilled writer with a keen imagination, and this book has long held a position of awed respect among readers of science fiction. So why was I so disappointed? The major problem: I found the characters repellent. Not just evil -- some of fiction's most memorable characters have been utterly villainous -- but petty, monomaniacal, and (worst of all) boring. Only Gully Foyle, the protagonist, manages to develop into anything resembling an actual human being towards the end of the book; everyone else is made out of smelly cardboard. A second problem is that Bester seems more intent on social commentary than good fiction. This is obviously a matter of taste: those who are fascinated with the political ramifications of advanced technology are much more likely to enjoy this book than those of us who are simply looking for a futuristic story with interesting characters.
Rating:
Summary: Groundbreaking 50's work
Review: Bester was a groundbreaking Sci-Fi author in the 1950's with this book and "The Demolished Man," which won the first Hugo award. It is basically a retelling of the story from "The Count of Monte Cristo" in Sci-Fi form, but it loses none of its power for that, and the story certainly stands on its own merits. The transformation of Gulliver Foyle from an ignorant, low-grade spacehand to a shrewd, intelligent, and educated, but tortured man capable of carrying out his revenge on the Vorga crew, is one of the great character portrayals in Sci-Fi.
Rating:
Summary: Great action and a great ending.
Review: Bester has a gift for dynamic storytelling as well as delivering powerful and thought-provoking messages. Set against the backdrop of a burgeoning solar civil war, the first half of this book kept me hooked with its relentless action and well-rounded characters. I started to get disappointed when the second half started off with a vengeance in action theme but the ending brought intelligent thought back into the story with some very satisfying plotline wrapups. If you want hard science fiction that will inspire you after the ending, this is it.
Rating:
Summary: Weird tatoo is the key.
Review: I can't explain the success of this novel. It is in fact well written, but a bit generic as far as good sci-fi novels go. It must then be the weird tatoo of the main character - maybe it allows today's youth (read: dorks reading sci-fi/fantasy) to bond on a higher level with the main character? Otherwise, the story offers a great plot, lots of spaceships, freshly designed societies, and the struggle between the questionable good and limitless evil. A must for any sci-fi reader.
Rating:
Summary: Tyger, Tyger...
Review: this is one of the best sci-fi books I have ever bothered to pick up and read. it taps on primitive man, and allows you to watch him evolve into a sighisticated creature that can deal and grasp the concepts of modern man. some people might not like it due to the touchy subjects of rape, and his basic fire that keeps him going, destruction. But in the long run all that he is in the beggining is who we all are at the root of our heritage. that was how our society was founded, so how can it be denyed? I thought this was a great book, with not only a well thought out story line, but a good way to put in prospective the evolution of man.
Rating:
Summary: The Stars My Destination
Review: Superb science fiction. Bester has a wonderful style. He once wrote comic books & the economy of words he acquired makes for wonderful, fast moving, eye popping action. That along with an imaginative plot makes it one of the best sci fi novels ever.
Rating:
Summary: Bester! That says it all!
Review: It was not an accident that one of the great in-jokes of Babylon 5 was that the evil genius of Psi-Corps was named Alfred Bester. I have been reading science fiction since I was old enough to read. Theodore Cogswell, (you'll have to hunt for him, but do it!) was a personal friend of the family. I knew people who lived in the original Slan-Shacks. Bester was the best! Don't just read this book. Make it your life's quest to find every word he ever wrote, SF or otherwise because "the man could write!" Bester's particular genius lay in the fact that he was simply years ahead of his time. When other science fiction writers were still trying to explain how faster-the-light travel would work, Bester was exploring the social and psychological impact of how to commit a crime in a society of telepaths. In short, he was one of the first to write social science fiction. Read him. Admire him. Be glad he lived and gladder that he wrote.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent science fiction
Review: One of the finest sci-fi books written. even though this was written at the tail end of the 50's it is still plausible and relevand, unlike so much science fiction these days. the characters are engaging reflections of the three conflict paradigms in all writing - man vs. self, man vs. environment, and man vs. other. foyle shows how man can elevate himself from the level of beast to the level of gods, but only through immense, internal effort. Strongly reminiscent of Jack London's SeaWolf - the man, the yeast, struggling to survive to the end. they are all the same.
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