Gully Foyle is my name, and Terra is my nation…
Finished The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester Wednesday night. Very good book.
Gully Foyle, an illiterate space bum with zero prospects, has been trapped in space living in the only remaining airtight area of his ship (the Nomad), a 4×9 foot tool locker. For 6 months he lives like this, playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette with air canisters, then one day a ship appears. Thrilled at the thought of rescue, Foyle sets off a series of distress flares to attract attention to himself. The ship draws level, then in an instant is gone along with any hope of rescue for Gully Foyle. This is enough to ‘wake’ Foyle up from a life of passivity and give him the drive he needs to get out of this situation. To hunt and kill whoever gave the order to leave him out there. All he has is the name of the ship, Vorga, and a a murderous thirst for vengeance.
Foyle is a great character. On the one hand you can get behind his quest for revenge and cheer him on in his mission, on the other hand, Foyle is a rapist and a murderer and probably has more bad traits than good. This is a man so consumed by revenge he will do anything to reach that goal. In one part of the book, after discovering that 2 of his 3 leads have had medical procedures performed on them, designed to stop the heart if sensitive information is about to be revealed, the third lead is knocked out cold and using Foyle’s cybernetically enhanced speed and hypnosis training, he removes his heart, then connects him back up to a pump system designed to keep blood circulating around the body without a heart. Threatening to keep him alive like this for a long, long time, Foyle soon discovers the information he requires.
Throughout the book, Foyle transforms from an uneducated space bum, to an intelligent, medically enhanced, ruthless killer… before finally becoming almost a God at the end. I really enjoyed the end, but can’t talk much about it without giving spoilers away so go check it out for yourself.
Everything I have read from the SF Masterworks range so far has been gold, and this was no exception. A solid 5/5
Next up is #6 on the Masterworks list, Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
