What do you think?
Rate this book
A Jungle of Stars
Paul Carlton Savage died on July 20, 1969, in Vietnam but that was only the start of his troubles! Approached by a mysterious entity called The Hunter, Savage was offered immortality in exchange for his services in The Hunter's continuing war against The Bromgrev. Suddenly, Savage found himself pitted against an enemy he had never seen, an enemy who could be anyone, anywhere, at any time . . . an enemy determined to destroy him and all who got in his way. And in this raging intergalactic war between Good and Evil, Savage discovered that he couldn't be sure whose side he was on . . . .
217 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 12, 1976
1 person is currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Jack L. Chalker
132 books354 followersBesides being a science fiction author, Jack Laurence Chalker was a Baltimore City Schools history teacher in Maryland for a time, a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association, and was involved in the founding of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Some of his books said that he was born in Norfolk, Virginia although he later claimed that was a mistake.
He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions from 1965 until 2004. He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, from 1960 to 1971 (a Hugo nominee in 1963 for Best Fanzine).
Chalker was married in 1978 and had two sons.
His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science-fiction convention committees. He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry.
Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice. He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005.
On September 18, 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack. He was later released, but was severely weakened. On December 6, 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February 11, 2005 of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Baltimore, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is Midnight at the Well of Souls (Well World, #1).
He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions from 1965 until 2004. He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, from 1960 to 1971 (a Hugo nominee in 1963 for Best Fanzine).
Chalker was married in 1978 and had two sons.
His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science-fiction convention committees. He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry.
Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice. He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005.
On September 18, 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack. He was later released, but was severely weakened. On December 6, 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February 11, 2005 of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Baltimore, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is Midnight at the Well of Souls (Well World, #1).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 7, 2025
A Jungle of Stars was Chalker's first published novel, and it's a pretty enjoyable space opera. It embraces some of the hallmarks of his later, much more well-known work, such as meddling superior aliens and post human and post death scenarios and frames it all in the cataclysmic war of The Hunters and The Bromgrev, an interesting good vs. evil study. (Especially when which is which is kind of up in the air.) Chalker told a self-contained story in a single book of two hundred or so pages, which is much tidier than his later stories than spanned thousands of pages across multiple volumes. It doesn't tie up everything neatly, but it's a fast and entertaining read. Del Rey published it in 1976 with a kind of bland and not really appealing H.R. Van Dongen cover.
July 9, 2015
The late Jack L. Chalker wrote some very creative books in his time, the pentalogy (plus) about Nathan Brazil and the mystery of the Well of Souls, the insightful satirical concept of a “fallen” (or should that be “risen”) demon working in an advertising agency (well before Don Draper haunted the Madison Avenue haunts of Mad Men), and a collaborative effort with Mike Resnick and the late George Alec Effinger called The Red Tape Wars. The latter may have been one of the funniest science-fiction novels I’ve ever read. Yet, A Jungle of Stars has none of the hallmarks of a Chalker novel. There are no brilliant revelations and, at least, once the prelude is out of the way, one pretty well knows who the potential bad boy (girl?) of the picture truly is.
A Jungle of Stars reads (to me, at least) like Chalker couldn’t make up his mind whether he wanted to write an interstellar spy story, romance novel (not primarily, but the tensions are all the way through the story), or cosmic Zoroastrian morality play. The climax is clever, in theory, but it is neither emotionally nor aesthetically satisfying enough for the set-up. When two virtual gods are dueling for the fate (perhaps, even authentic existence) of the universe, one expects some pyrotechnics and universe-rending convulsions. Instead, the conclusion offers little more than the trendy “God is Dead” edition of Time magazine back in the ‘60s.
When a virtual “shavetail” or “butter bar” (Second Lieutenant) gets sent to Vietnam, you know it’s trouble when the first information you receive is: “Paul Carleton Savage died for the first time on July 29, 1969, in a bit of characteristic Army brilliance.” Yet, just when one starts to digest the significance of this introductory material, a meteor crashes which is not quite what it seems. When said non-meteor crashes into a mountain lake, one senses the strands of story twisting together because a young woman driving a convertible while still on a drug-induced high crashes into that same lake. The subsequent investigations accomplish what the “Ghostbusters” long ago warned us against; they crossed the streams. And, that crossing of the streams pretty well sets the course for all of the subsequent events in the book, including its anti-climax, climax.
The following quotation is the eponymous origin of the book’s title. Although it offers something of a spoiler in that part of the story is about an alien invasion, but since the cover copy talks about involvement in an intergalactic war, I don’t think it will hurt to read it. “’No, do not look for civilizing influences,’ the old one continued, and she had taken the young Gayal’s arm and brought her over to a window. The sky was ablaze with stars, exactly like this night. ‘When all is said and done, you will find no paradise out there—only a jungle of stars.” (p. 82)
As with all Chalker’s books, there are some original ideas in A Jungle of Stars, but if the tale is in the telling, this isn’t a particularly good story; it’s more like a jungle of strands.
A Jungle of Stars reads (to me, at least) like Chalker couldn’t make up his mind whether he wanted to write an interstellar spy story, romance novel (not primarily, but the tensions are all the way through the story), or cosmic Zoroastrian morality play. The climax is clever, in theory, but it is neither emotionally nor aesthetically satisfying enough for the set-up. When two virtual gods are dueling for the fate (perhaps, even authentic existence) of the universe, one expects some pyrotechnics and universe-rending convulsions. Instead, the conclusion offers little more than the trendy “God is Dead” edition of Time magazine back in the ‘60s.
When a virtual “shavetail” or “butter bar” (Second Lieutenant) gets sent to Vietnam, you know it’s trouble when the first information you receive is: “Paul Carleton Savage died for the first time on July 29, 1969, in a bit of characteristic Army brilliance.” Yet, just when one starts to digest the significance of this introductory material, a meteor crashes which is not quite what it seems. When said non-meteor crashes into a mountain lake, one senses the strands of story twisting together because a young woman driving a convertible while still on a drug-induced high crashes into that same lake. The subsequent investigations accomplish what the “Ghostbusters” long ago warned us against; they crossed the streams. And, that crossing of the streams pretty well sets the course for all of the subsequent events in the book, including its anti-climax, climax.
The following quotation is the eponymous origin of the book’s title. Although it offers something of a spoiler in that part of the story is about an alien invasion, but since the cover copy talks about involvement in an intergalactic war, I don’t think it will hurt to read it. “’No, do not look for civilizing influences,’ the old one continued, and she had taken the young Gayal’s arm and brought her over to a window. The sky was ablaze with stars, exactly like this night. ‘When all is said and done, you will find no paradise out there—only a jungle of stars.” (p. 82)
As with all Chalker’s books, there are some original ideas in A Jungle of Stars, but if the tale is in the telling, this isn’t a particularly good story; it’s more like a jungle of strands.
May 19, 2011
My first book read by Chalker and I think it is his first book he wrote. I really enjoyed it. Can't wait to see if his other books are as good.
November 6, 2014
1977 grade B-
2994 grade C+
2994 grade C+
January 19, 2018
Read August 28, 1980.
May 10, 2024
Slow start but I enjoyed the world, universe and sort-of-gods (the Kreb) Chalker created. Paul Savage is a force to be reckoned with too. I read this book in two short days. What more can you ask of a sci-fi story but to hook you like that.
February 12, 2023
Pretty basic Chalker story, with same themes, interesting nonetheless.
Read
July 21, 2009First novel. Very good.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews