Itemize Books In Pursuance Of Star Maker
Original Title: | Star Maker |
ISBN: | 1857988078 (ISBN13: 9781857988079) |
Edition Language: | English |
Olaf Stapledon
Paperback | Pages: 272 pages Rating: 3.93 | 6211 Users | 502 Reviews
Specify Based On Books Star Maker
Title | : | Star Maker |
Author | : | Olaf Stapledon |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | SF Masterworks |
Pages | : | Pages: 272 pages |
Published | : | November 11th 1999 by Millennium Paperbacks (first published 1937) |
Categories | : | Science Fiction. Fiction. Philosophy. Classics |
Commentary To Books Star Maker
Star Maker is a science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, published in 1937. The book describes a history of life in the universe, dwarfing in scale Stapledon's previous book, Last and First Men (1930), a history of the human species over two billion years. Star Maker tackles philosophical themes such as the essence of life, of birth, decay and death, and the relationship between creation and creator. A pervading theme is that of progressive unity within and between different civilizations. Some of the elements and themes briefly discussed prefigure later fiction concerning genetic engineering and alien life forms. Arthur C. Clarke considered Star Maker to be one of the finest works of science fiction ever written.Rating Based On Books Star Maker
Ratings: 3.93 From 6211 Users | 502 ReviewsNotice Based On Books Star Maker
All hail the master Stapledon! With his no plot, no struggle, no conflict, textbookshual novels, hahaha. It stands on its own as a gorgeous and inventive investigation of humanity, but I also can't help but see this as an allegory of pre- and inter-war year tensions, with alien depictions reflecting early 20th assertions of national identity, as if Stapledon is trying to pinpoint the common bit of humanity left in the ruthless world powers of the 1930s. Another for the re-read shelf! Another forThe forward to this book promises "more than science fiction" but, alas, the book delivers something rather less. Part of the problem is, the book is old, written in 1937, before some scientific discoveries were widely accepted/known, and before others were even made. Also, the author isn't very science literate. Just enough to be dangerous.Basically, the narrator goes on a magical journey through time and space, sees lots of aliens, and meets god "the star maker". The whole story is narrated,
It is near impossible to imagine a novel with a greater scope than this one, which spans all of cosmic eternity from big bang to the energy death of the universe... and perhaps beyond. In Stapleton's convulsively expanding reference frame humans are almost immediately inconsequential, and shortly thereafter almost any reference to specific planet or even solar system. Some narrative momentum and personal attachment is sacrificed to the remarkable breadth, but this is necessary, and he gets
Star Maker must have been at least a little old-fashioned even when it was published in 1937. Stapledon uses the framing technique of Eddison and others, very much like Hodgson in The House on the Borderland to tell the story of a man who travels the cosmos by intellect alone. It is also more Wells than Wells in its didacticism. There isnt much of a story here; its a journey of observation, explaining how the universe works, from the microscopic level to the divine.Despite it being basically a
Wow. Just wow. This novel disproves the general assumption that golden age SF is either hokey or unscientific.In fact, it starts out like a strong hard-SF exploration novel touching on many possible alien races, mindsets, and physiologies, but it dives right down the rabbit hole into vast combined telepathic minds, galactic societies that actually are GALACTIC in scale, telepathic communication with multiple galaxies, and even to the discovery the rich stellar intelligence. That's right.
I've never written a review for a book before, but this one left such a strong impression on me that I think I should write one.First of all, it is not an easy read. The whole book is essentially prose-poetry. There is no dialogue - every page is filled with rich, detailed, poetic descriptions. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it meant that it took me a while longer to finish the book.Each page is also likely to contain some deep philosophical or spiritual idea. After reading a page or two I
Wow. Just wow. This novel disproves the general assumption that golden age SF is either hokey or unscientific.In fact, it starts out like a strong hard-SF exploration novel touching on many possible alien races, mindsets, and physiologies, but it dives right down the rabbit hole into vast combined telepathic minds, galactic societies that actually are GALACTIC in scale, telepathic communication with multiple galaxies, and even to the discovery the rich stellar intelligence. That's right.
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