The Stars by Destination

The way the book described teleportation in the introduction was real cool. It felt like I was reading a newspaper article or historical document. It seemed real and logical. I understand teleportation has been done before but the writing of this was different from what else I've read. It was a good set up. The organization of the writing really made things seem futuristic.

At first I was worried about Gully Foyle, I thought he'd be a typical oldschool scifi hero. But he really caught my attention! Foyle is describes a very common man, well maybe a bit more lethargic than the common man and he's been surviving by himself in a wreckage in space for over a hundred days. A truly hopeless situation. I can't think of a more hopeless situation than being alone in space. Just by reading his thought he seems like a man that given up, he even calls his little room his coffin. "Deep space is my dwelling place and death's my destination." That sounds like a man ready to die. (if he's so ready to die why did he try hard to survive for over a hundred days.) But Foyle's "Aha!" moment is when a ship that could rescue him simply flies past him instead.

Foyle goes into a rage. A simple animalistic hate and fury forces him to move forward. It's great to see such familiar anger in a futuristic book. I think this rage helps motivate Foyle to save himself by salvaging the pieces. And propelling himself to safety. But Foyle reaction to the ship simply passing him is enticing. This is a man who had essentially given up on survival. This might've been because he was just a man in space. And you can't really get angry at space for killing you, it's like blaming nature for your problems. When the Ship, Vorga, ignore Foyles signal for help he goes into pure fury. He has a scape goat now. He has something to hate for all his trouble. And this hate its what saves him. Though unlike before he's not driven to survive, he's driven to seek revenge. At this point Foyle isn't some clean cut space cadet. He looks and talks like a primitive madman.

I regret not finishing this book but I'll probably save it for a plane ride and finish it