The Stars My Destination is one of the few sf books that is included in almost every all-time best sf books I have ever seen, and I have seen many. If I see such a list without this book I will probably dismiss it. A man is a member of society first, and an individual second. You must go along with society, whether it chooses destruction or not. This was a golden age, a time of high adventure, rich living and hard dying ... but nobody thought so. This was a future of fortune and theft, pillage and rapine, culture and vice ... but nobody admitted it. This was an age of extremes, a fascinating century of freaks ... but nobody loved it.

Peter Y'ang-Yeovil: Head of a government Central Intelligence agency based on ancient Chinese principles who is also trying to find Nomad. He is "a member of the dreaded Society of Paper Men, and an adept of the Tsientsin Image Makers". Although of Chinese descent and able to speak fluent Mandarin, he does not look Chinese. There was some relevant history, though. Bester had been writing science fiction since the 1930’s. His first story published was “The Broken Axiom”, published in Thrilling Wonder Stories in April 1939. Previous to these, since the 1940’s Bester had worked on writing stories for comics, including Superman, The Phantom and The Green Lantern. It was Bester who wrote “The Lantern Oath.”

Bester also gets extra points for having written the silver age Green Lantern oath, a ditty almost as cool as the one quoted above about Gully Foyle.)

Clareson, Thomas (1992). "Science Fiction: The 1950s". Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. p.74. ISBN 0-87249-870-0. etmem gerekirse 'Kaplan! Kaplan!' biraz baştan savdığım bir kitap oldu. Ama bunun en büyük sebebi yazar. Mükemmel başlayan bir hikayeye eklenmiş kuru aksiyon sahneleri bana kalırsa özü öldürmüş. Okuması kolay bir kitap olduğunu düşünmüyorum, en azından benim için öyleydi. Ancak bu okuma zorluğunun ana sebebi dil değil, karakterler. Okuyabileceğiniz en enteresan karakterleri yaratmış Bester. Anlamlandırmak güç. Ve beni bilenler bilir böyle Gully gibi uçuk karakterlere bayılırım. Alışılmadık. Gerçi Gully için uçuk biraz hafif kalır, saykoyu tercih edeceğim. As this is one of the most beloved sf books ever recommendation is not usually necessary for regular sf readers, readers new to the genre will find this an ideal starting point. He was Gulliver Foyle, Mechanic's Mate 3rd Class, thirty years old, big boned and rough.. . and one hundred and seventy days adrift in space. He was Gully Foyle, the oiler, wiper, bunkerman; too easy for trouble, too slow for fun, too empty for friendship, too lazy for love. Bester has created a rich and complex future in the twenty-fifth century: mankind has spread across the solar system, there is a full-fledged war due to commercial tensions between the settled worlds, people no longer travel but rather "Jaunte" - that is, transport themselves at the speed of thought... in a way, it is information overload, and the author does the unspeakable thing of explaining it in detail to the reader in the prologue! (Blasphemy! Show, don't tell!) But he gets away with it by ensnaring us in the intricate tapestry, and immediately diving into the middle of the story.

It's one of those tough calls where the story has aged and isn't that good, but the book's legacy is huge. Three Star, 6 out of 12 for the characterisations and plot; a strong Four Star 8 out of 12 for the world building and the book's legacy; so a strong Three Star 7 out of 12 read overall. BUT... I have to say it, a must read for SF completists and/or those researching the roots of the genre. For DC comic book fans, Bester created the Solomon Grundy character! The novel included some early descriptions of proto-science and fictional technology, among them Bester's portrayal of psionics, [13] including the phenomenon of "jaunting", named after the scientist (Charles Fort Jaunte) who discovered it. Jaunting is the instantaneous teleportation of one's body (and anything one is wearing or carrying). One is able to move up to a thousand miles by just thinking.