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Starburst
Time, Space and the Future. Here is your passport into the fascinating world of science fiction...eleven dazzling, jet-propelled, rocket-paced tales of tomorrow by one of today's leading writers.
Contents:
Disappearing Act
Adam and No Eve
Star Light, Star Bright
The Roller Coaster
Oddy and Id
The Starcomber
Travel Diary
Fondly Fahrenheit
Hobson's Choice
The Die-Hard
Of Time and Third Avenue
Contents:
Disappearing Act
Adam and No Eve
Star Light, Star Bright
The Roller Coaster
Oddy and Id
The Starcomber
Travel Diary
Fondly Fahrenheit
Hobson's Choice
The Die-Hard
Of Time and Third Avenue
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
7 people are currently reading
468 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Bester
364 books945 followersAlfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books.
Though successful in all these fields, he is best remembered for his science fiction, including The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953, a story about murder in a future society where the police are telepathic, and The Stars My Destination, a 1956 SF classic about a man bent on revenge in a world where people can teleport, that inspired numerous authors in the genre and is considered an early precursor to the cyberpunk movement in the 1980s.
AKA:
Άλφρεντ Μπέστερ (Greek)
Though successful in all these fields, he is best remembered for his science fiction, including The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953, a story about murder in a future society where the police are telepathic, and The Stars My Destination, a 1956 SF classic about a man bent on revenge in a world where people can teleport, that inspired numerous authors in the genre and is considered an early precursor to the cyberpunk movement in the 1980s.
AKA:
Άλφρεντ Μπέστερ (Greek)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
March 8, 2020
Alfred Bester emerged during science fiction’s Golden Age and indelibly marked the ‘50’s with two groundbreaking novels (telepath detective story The Demolished Man, swashbuckling revenge tale The Stars my Destination) and roughly two dozen pieces of short fiction. Starburst collects under one cover eleven of the most ambitious and memorable of these short works.
As a reader Bester enjoyed a wide range of stories, from Alexander Dumas to James Joyce, but as a young writer he concentrated on science fiction. In 1942, in his late twenties, he began to write for DC and other comics (Batman, The Green Lantern, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician) and later for radio detective dramas (Nick Carter, The Shadow, Charlie Chan, Nero Wolfe). From comics he learned how to prepare a titanic battle and choose the right fantastic detail, and from the mysteries he learned how to write tough dialogue, craft a tight plot, and create a noir atmosphere. By the time he returned to short stories in the early ‘50’s, he had also acquired a fondness for outsize personalities, men with extraordinary gifts: the genius, the hero, the psychopath, and—the one who interested him most—the man who was a mixture of all three.
This fondness is demonstrated not only in his two novels but in many of the stories collected here. In “Adam and No Eve,” we meet scientific genius Steven Krane who is so reckless he would risk the murder of the Earth just to test his new rocket fuel, in “Fondly Fahrenheit” a psyschopathic android with a gift for murder, in “Star Light, Star Bright” a boy with a “genius” for being left alone, and in “Oddy and Id” a genius with a gift for extraordinary luck who is being groomed to be the ruler of the world. And then, perhaps the best of all, is “The Starcomber,” in which a Faustian artist of genius who has regressed into madness meets an improbable Mephistopheles and begins his journey to become a decision-making adult.
The other half-dozen stories—many of which are brief with expert plots and laconic dialogue--deal with everything from time-travelers with buyer’s remorse, a peculiarly unpleasant form of sex tourism, and the last defiant individualist left on earth.
This is a classic collection. Highly recommended.
February 26, 2021
This is a collection of eleven short stories by Alfred Bester. It is the first book I have read by this author, but I have read the book itself more than once in pre-GR days.
Most of the stories were written in the early 1950's with one (Adam And No Eve) previously published in 1941.
Generally the stories had a theme of the allure of time travel but the need to accept your own time; and the need to grow up, be a mature man or woman, to face your problems like an adult. All very good advice for any person in any age.
As in most story collections, I had my favorites. Adam And No Eve was one of them. In this story we meet Steven Krane, who is in a situation that he never expected, and one that he does not know how to handle. All he knows is that he must get to the sea. If he can find it. This story caught me off guard at the end and made me cry.
And it is not easy to read aloud when you are all weepy. Oh, I should mention that this was the latest book in the Zapata Reading Club. Two members, myself and my husband Marco. We used to read aloud together when we first moved to Mexico, but with one thing and another popping up that fun pastime got put aside.
But now, with him still in Mexico, me in Arizona with Mom, and contact through telephone calls or emails only, we decided we would try to resurrect our reading hobby. I picked a few books out of my vast collection, looking for ones I thought would interest him and would also be fairly quick to read. No thousand page chunksters on our lists! We take turns picking and we read three times a week. Well, I read. lol
If I have already reviewed a ZRC book for GR, I decided I would not list it officially as Currently Reading. That is why this is our third reading selection but only the first title to be reviewed and added to this bookshelf. It is my turn to pick the next book, and although I will not say here what it will be (Marco reads my reviews and I want to surprise him on Saturday, our next reading day) I will say that I have reviewed it for GR back in 2015.
Now, back to what I am supposed to be talking about in a review: the book!
It was quite clear that like most sci-fi authors of his day, Bester was concerned with the looming threat of nuclear war. And the thought of escape. One story in particular explored this topic. Hobson's Choice tells what happens to a statistician when he tries to find the reason for a population surge in an area where one of The Bombs fell. What does he discover and what will the discovery mean for him?
One story that I did not like at all was The Starcomber. Mostly because it was very difficult to read aloud. As clever as it can be to have a character who uses eccentric language and a plot line that repeats itself every few pages with only slight differences, to read such a story aloud was sheer torture. I confess by the end I was reading very fast, and not from excitement, just from my need to get done!
Something that is interesting to me about reading like this is our different reactions to each story. Sometimes I was confused by the comments Marco made about a story, sometimes he was confused by mine. Once we had a good laugh when I asked him what his reaction had to do with the particular story we had just finished and he admitted he did not know, it was just what had popped into his head as he listened to me read. lol
So the Zapata Reading Club is fulfilling its purpose: we are entertained, we have many more topics to discuss (on top of the zillions of things we already talk about), and we share a little magic the way we used to when we were actually able to be in the same country. On Reading Days, the world shrinks to myself, Marco and the characters on the page. And when I finish for that day, whether it is in tears or laughter or sometimes more than a little confusion, we have shared another moment that makes our present a happy one and keeps us moving towards our future.
I highly recommend both this book and the idea of reading aloud with your partner. Try it sometime and see for yourself how much fun you can have!
Most of the stories were written in the early 1950's with one (Adam And No Eve) previously published in 1941.
Generally the stories had a theme of the allure of time travel but the need to accept your own time; and the need to grow up, be a mature man or woman, to face your problems like an adult. All very good advice for any person in any age.
As in most story collections, I had my favorites. Adam And No Eve was one of them. In this story we meet Steven Krane, who is in a situation that he never expected, and one that he does not know how to handle. All he knows is that he must get to the sea. If he can find it. This story caught me off guard at the end and made me cry.
And it is not easy to read aloud when you are all weepy. Oh, I should mention that this was the latest book in the Zapata Reading Club. Two members, myself and my husband Marco. We used to read aloud together when we first moved to Mexico, but with one thing and another popping up that fun pastime got put aside.
But now, with him still in Mexico, me in Arizona with Mom, and contact through telephone calls or emails only, we decided we would try to resurrect our reading hobby. I picked a few books out of my vast collection, looking for ones I thought would interest him and would also be fairly quick to read. No thousand page chunksters on our lists! We take turns picking and we read three times a week. Well, I read. lol
If I have already reviewed a ZRC book for GR, I decided I would not list it officially as Currently Reading. That is why this is our third reading selection but only the first title to be reviewed and added to this bookshelf. It is my turn to pick the next book, and although I will not say here what it will be (Marco reads my reviews and I want to surprise him on Saturday, our next reading day) I will say that I have reviewed it for GR back in 2015.
Now, back to what I am supposed to be talking about in a review: the book!
It was quite clear that like most sci-fi authors of his day, Bester was concerned with the looming threat of nuclear war. And the thought of escape. One story in particular explored this topic. Hobson's Choice tells what happens to a statistician when he tries to find the reason for a population surge in an area where one of The Bombs fell. What does he discover and what will the discovery mean for him?
One story that I did not like at all was The Starcomber. Mostly because it was very difficult to read aloud. As clever as it can be to have a character who uses eccentric language and a plot line that repeats itself every few pages with only slight differences, to read such a story aloud was sheer torture. I confess by the end I was reading very fast, and not from excitement, just from my need to get done!
Something that is interesting to me about reading like this is our different reactions to each story. Sometimes I was confused by the comments Marco made about a story, sometimes he was confused by mine. Once we had a good laugh when I asked him what his reaction had to do with the particular story we had just finished and he admitted he did not know, it was just what had popped into his head as he listened to me read. lol
So the Zapata Reading Club is fulfilling its purpose: we are entertained, we have many more topics to discuss (on top of the zillions of things we already talk about), and we share a little magic the way we used to when we were actually able to be in the same country. On Reading Days, the world shrinks to myself, Marco and the characters on the page. And when I finish for that day, whether it is in tears or laughter or sometimes more than a little confusion, we have shared another moment that makes our present a happy one and keeps us moving towards our future.
I highly recommend both this book and the idea of reading aloud with your partner. Try it sometime and see for yourself how much fun you can have!
August 8, 2025
Auch in seinen Stories pflegt Bester den dymnaischen Stil, der mir schon beim vor kurzem gelesen Roman "Sturm aufs Universum" aufgefallen ist.
Er liebte offenbar Zeimaschinen und Psi. Die Vorstellung, dass jemand das Talent haben könnte, seine Wünsche wahr werden zu lassen, kam in mehreren Stories vor.
Manche Stories sind durchkomponiert und haben eine starke Pointe. Andere sind eher undiszipliniert. Manche sind einfach zu verstehen, andere eher rätselhaft. Aber langweilig ist keine davon. 2.5/5
Er liebte offenbar Zeimaschinen und Psi. Die Vorstellung, dass jemand das Talent haben könnte, seine Wünsche wahr werden zu lassen, kam in mehreren Stories vor.
Manche Stories sind durchkomponiert und haben eine starke Pointe. Andere sind eher undiszipliniert. Manche sind einfach zu verstehen, andere eher rätselhaft. Aber langweilig ist keine davon. 2.5/5
Want to read
October 5, 2023Contains the stories:
Disappearing Act
Adam And No Eve
Star Light, Star Bright
The Roller Coaster
Oddy and Id
The Starcomber (AKA 5,271,009)
Travel Diary
Fondly Fahrenheit - 4/5 - a murderous android and its owner
Hobson's Choice
The Die-Hard
Of Time and Third Avenue
Disappearing Act
Adam And No Eve
Star Light, Star Bright
The Roller Coaster
Oddy and Id
The Starcomber (AKA 5,271,009)
Travel Diary
Fondly Fahrenheit - 4/5 - a murderous android and its owner
Hobson's Choice
The Die-Hard
Of Time and Third Avenue
July 13, 2022
I started listening to this while half asleep and didn't realise it was a collection of stories. I couldn't work out what was going on and initially my notes were just me trying to figure it out. It didn't help that the first story would flash to different time periods with different characters without explanation.
Once I started again, after a nap, the situation became clear and I was able to enjoy the book as it was intended.
I'm not great with accents, but I "heard" all of these stories in an old Manhattan accent, (think Richard Feynman). It's probably the incorrect accent to attribute to the language used, but all of these stories did have a particular lingo. For example the following quoted exchange came up regularly:
"The hell you say"
"The hell I don't"
There's a bit of a formula to most of these. They mostly involve a few people discussing some strange phenomenon. One person describing what they've seen to the incredulous other(s). And they don't much explore the consequences unless by way of a little twist at the end.
These are not really "what if" stories because they don't really explore the consequences very much. These are more like "look at this curiosity" stories, perhaps designed to leave you to do the imaginative explorations.
I was pretty bored with the first few stories but then I thought that the second half was much better. It's my first read of Alfred Bester and I'm interested in checking out his novels.
Disappearing Act. (3 stars)
The opening is a fairly bleak snapshot of a nuclear war. This is about a wartime illness that affects patients rather uniquely. These patients are casualties of the new warfare (i.e. nuclear) and the "experts" believe they can now use their minds to teleport, sort of. It's been a while since I read a story where the teleportation was a mental trick rather than a technological feat.
Adam and No Eve. (3 stars)
A new rocket fuel brings about a catastrophe. This is a story of over confidence and perhaps carelessness in science. About not knowing when to stop pushing the envelope. Thankfully in the end, life goes on even without us. - "Life is too beautiful to perish at the mad act of one mad creature."
Star Light, Star Bright. (3 stars)
"He was afflicted with an education and a sense of humor." - In this one a couple of cons bump heads and then team up to find a boy genius. The plan is to cash in on the child's talents but things don't go to plan. A bit of a lame story with a good ending.
The Roller Coaster. (1 star)
This one starts out pretty rough and you might just want to skip it. A cad is harassing and assaulting a woman with a knife and demanding sex. It's very unsavoury. Not long after that there's a bit of a jarring line about kids, - "Who can tell if a kid really knows someone or not? They're only half human anyway." - So after a page this story is pretty 1 star and I'm thinking that we better be getting a great concept heavy story. Well it's not really that. One man telling another about his imaginary romance that ended in an imaginary murder and the very real departure of his now ex-wife. The end is a bit of a twist but didn't make up for it.
Oddy and Id. (3 stars)
About a man who is prone to good luck. - "Natural phenomena are less often produced by nature and more often produced by man." - The end of this one is a bit more fun than the others. 3 lucky stars.
The Starcomber. (3 stars)
This one involves another lucky guy, who also appears mildly insane or at least barely comprehensible to the people around him. When he talks he mixes up languages and puts out quite a few quirky turns of phrase. - "Speak, old fish and chips." - Starcomber breaks the mould a bit and does more showing than telling. It's unfortunate that I didn't enjoy the concept very much because it was a more enjoyable bit of storytelling. An artist regresses first mentally and then physically to childhood. There's something about alien opressors in the middle but I didn't get it. The end is about how children are generally ignored. This story is also quite a bit longer than the others. Also, this one says "God damn" a lot.
Travel Diary. (4 stars)
Diary entries and snippets of text from in-universe historical texts take us through the first truly scifi tale in the collection. FTL travel allows our diarist to see the solar system and beyond. When they get out to Alpha Centauri they muscle their way into a time travelling excursion. - "Funniest thing about the trip is fact that we could hardly understand the people there. In 1665 they couldn't speak their own English." - probably the most fun in the collection and my personal favourite. It ends with a quote that I find hilarious - "The universe is a great place to visit, but I'd sure hate to live there."
Fondly Fahrenheit. (4 stars)
This setting is gritty and brutal. It's about an android who has somehow broken their prime directive, to do no harm to humans. It also touched on the difficulty of finding usefulness in a world where robots and androids perform all of the work. There are clues about why the malfunction occurs and also clues foreshadowing the final twist throughout the story. It's written with a little bit of a poetic verse feeling about it and I quite enjoyed it.
Hobson's Choice. (4 stars)
This is a wartime story. A researcher is trying to understand why the birthrate is booming at the centre of a disaster area while it steadily drops off in any direction away from that location. All of this, though, is a preamble for the interesting discussion about time travel that finishes out the story.
The Die-Hard. (2 stars)
There was not much to this. Just a conversation between an older generation dude and some younger folks. To no surprise the "Old One" thinks that modern life enhancements are taking our humanity away.
Of Time and Third Avenue. (3 stars)
This one is little more than a conversation about the perils of knowing the future but I enjoyed it.
Once I started again, after a nap, the situation became clear and I was able to enjoy the book as it was intended.
I'm not great with accents, but I "heard" all of these stories in an old Manhattan accent, (think Richard Feynman). It's probably the incorrect accent to attribute to the language used, but all of these stories did have a particular lingo. For example the following quoted exchange came up regularly:
"The hell you say"
"The hell I don't"
There's a bit of a formula to most of these. They mostly involve a few people discussing some strange phenomenon. One person describing what they've seen to the incredulous other(s). And they don't much explore the consequences unless by way of a little twist at the end.
These are not really "what if" stories because they don't really explore the consequences very much. These are more like "look at this curiosity" stories, perhaps designed to leave you to do the imaginative explorations.
I was pretty bored with the first few stories but then I thought that the second half was much better. It's my first read of Alfred Bester and I'm interested in checking out his novels.
Disappearing Act. (3 stars)
The opening is a fairly bleak snapshot of a nuclear war. This is about a wartime illness that affects patients rather uniquely. These patients are casualties of the new warfare (i.e. nuclear) and the "experts" believe they can now use their minds to teleport, sort of. It's been a while since I read a story where the teleportation was a mental trick rather than a technological feat.
Adam and No Eve. (3 stars)
A new rocket fuel brings about a catastrophe. This is a story of over confidence and perhaps carelessness in science. About not knowing when to stop pushing the envelope. Thankfully in the end, life goes on even without us. - "Life is too beautiful to perish at the mad act of one mad creature."
Star Light, Star Bright. (3 stars)
"He was afflicted with an education and a sense of humor." - In this one a couple of cons bump heads and then team up to find a boy genius. The plan is to cash in on the child's talents but things don't go to plan. A bit of a lame story with a good ending.
The Roller Coaster. (1 star)
This one starts out pretty rough and you might just want to skip it. A cad is harassing and assaulting a woman with a knife and demanding sex. It's very unsavoury. Not long after that there's a bit of a jarring line about kids, - "Who can tell if a kid really knows someone or not? They're only half human anyway." - So after a page this story is pretty 1 star and I'm thinking that we better be getting a great concept heavy story. Well it's not really that. One man telling another about his imaginary romance that ended in an imaginary murder and the very real departure of his now ex-wife. The end is a bit of a twist but didn't make up for it.
Oddy and Id. (3 stars)
About a man who is prone to good luck. - "Natural phenomena are less often produced by nature and more often produced by man." - The end of this one is a bit more fun than the others. 3 lucky stars.
The Starcomber. (3 stars)
This one involves another lucky guy, who also appears mildly insane or at least barely comprehensible to the people around him. When he talks he mixes up languages and puts out quite a few quirky turns of phrase. - "Speak, old fish and chips." - Starcomber breaks the mould a bit and does more showing than telling. It's unfortunate that I didn't enjoy the concept very much because it was a more enjoyable bit of storytelling. An artist regresses first mentally and then physically to childhood. There's something about alien opressors in the middle but I didn't get it. The end is about how children are generally ignored. This story is also quite a bit longer than the others. Also, this one says "God damn" a lot.
Travel Diary. (4 stars)
Diary entries and snippets of text from in-universe historical texts take us through the first truly scifi tale in the collection. FTL travel allows our diarist to see the solar system and beyond. When they get out to Alpha Centauri they muscle their way into a time travelling excursion. - "Funniest thing about the trip is fact that we could hardly understand the people there. In 1665 they couldn't speak their own English." - probably the most fun in the collection and my personal favourite. It ends with a quote that I find hilarious - "The universe is a great place to visit, but I'd sure hate to live there."
Fondly Fahrenheit. (4 stars)
This setting is gritty and brutal. It's about an android who has somehow broken their prime directive, to do no harm to humans. It also touched on the difficulty of finding usefulness in a world where robots and androids perform all of the work. There are clues about why the malfunction occurs and also clues foreshadowing the final twist throughout the story. It's written with a little bit of a poetic verse feeling about it and I quite enjoyed it.
Hobson's Choice. (4 stars)
This is a wartime story. A researcher is trying to understand why the birthrate is booming at the centre of a disaster area while it steadily drops off in any direction away from that location. All of this, though, is a preamble for the interesting discussion about time travel that finishes out the story.
The Die-Hard. (2 stars)
There was not much to this. Just a conversation between an older generation dude and some younger folks. To no surprise the "Old One" thinks that modern life enhancements are taking our humanity away.
Of Time and Third Avenue. (3 stars)
This one is little more than a conversation about the perils of knowing the future but I enjoyed it.
Read
November 24, 2023I completely forgot I read this the first week of school
June 4, 2020
This is a pretty good collection, but kinda badly mislabelled.. only the 1 of the 11 stories take place in space.. most are post-atomic war, or a present setting. I guess someone must have just really liked the art.
I think a couple of the stories were a bit too similar to be in the same collection... I suspect they would have read better alone, but otherwise it's well worth reading if you haven't read them.
Dissapearing Act(1953): In the War for the American Dream, General Carpenter has molded America into a nationof experts..every knows some specific job. Can the secret of Ward T at St. Albans be the key to victory?
AWESOME anti-war message that walks the line between telling a good story and delivering its moral.
I liked this one even over the more famous one later.
Adam and no Eve (1941): The sole survivor of a space travel accident struggles to survive and re-poulate Earth... a little too similar to the one before it in setting, but not bad.
I like the concept of a 'last man on Earth' doing all he can to try to re-ignite the species.
Star Light, Star Bright (1952): A principal and a mobster team up to find a ten year old who seems ahead of his time...is a genius, a mutant or something else? Good story, would make a great episode of Twilight Zone.
The Roller Coaster (1953): A bit of a new twist on Time Travel... Decent for a 7 page story.
Oddy and Id (1950): Alot like Star Light, Star Bright, but with a more sinister twist, and set in the future a bit. Meh.
Probably the only one in the collection I felt wasn't worth it.
5,271,009 (or, The Starcomber) (1954): Yet another one about a guy that can do anything he wants, only this one has a Latin name and talks with weird idioms, so he made me thing of the MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD. He wants a painting, but his favorite artist has lost his muse... he kidnaps him and uses his wizard powers to put the guy through a a bunch of different scenarios that are very much stories within the story. Those are good(especially one where he puts the guys 33 year old brain in his 10 year old self), but the main story doesn't end... just implies that it's keep happening 5,271,009 times. No idea if that number has signifigance or not... is that a word maybe if you put it on a calcuator upside down... Boolies? I got nothing. I hate stories that don't end, but the stories-within-the-story were good enough to be worth the read
Travel Diary (no date): cute fill in of a rich socialite on galactic vacation... made me smile a couple times.
Fondly Fahrenheit (1954): This one is in the Sci-Fi Hall of Fame book... a Asimov-ian Android goes bad, and his drifter owner has to deal with the consquences... excellent, fun story I've read before.
Hobson's Choice (1952): In WWIII America, a statistican finds out the population is miraculously growing.. the cause sends him on a trip to Kansas... and to some time travellers. Not a particularly good plot, but some very interesting thoughts about time travel, and a cool formatting trick I didn't really get until the end.
This felt alot like Time Hoppers by Robert Silverberg, only in a shorter form. Makes me wonder if there's a connection (Time Hoppers was writting in 1967).
The Die Hard (no date): A far future version on an old guy telling the kids to get off his lawn, more or less. Just a short fill in.
Of Time and 3rd Avenue (1951): A man buying a 1950 almanac gets a 1990 one instead, and someone from 1990 comes to get it back... this one is HILARIOUS for the extreme language and culture changes it implies just 40 years in the future.. cool twist ending, too... great for such a short (8 pages) story
.. but I suspect it wasn't thought so at the time.
-----------------
2020 edit: Apparently I had 2 copies of this in my pile(though, judging by the fact the alternate title of Starcomber isn't listed, maybe a different version)... I was pretty sure as I was reading it I'd read it before, but with short story collections, one can never be sure if it was in a different collection or not.
As I go back and read my comments from 5 years ago, I find my opinions haven't changed much... I definitely thought of alot of the same things as I was reading.
I did like Starcomber even less, though.
I think I really need to read Demolished Man one of these days to get a true read on the author who one of my favorite sci fi villains was named after.
I think a couple of the stories were a bit too similar to be in the same collection... I suspect they would have read better alone, but otherwise it's well worth reading if you haven't read them.
Dissapearing Act(1953): In the War for the American Dream, General Carpenter has molded America into a nationof experts..every knows some specific job. Can the secret of Ward T at St. Albans be the key to victory?
AWESOME anti-war message that walks the line between telling a good story and delivering its moral.
I liked this one even over the more famous one later.
Adam and no Eve (1941): The sole survivor of a space travel accident struggles to survive and re-poulate Earth... a little too similar to the one before it in setting, but not bad.
I like the concept of a 'last man on Earth' doing all he can to try to re-ignite the species.
Star Light, Star Bright (1952): A principal and a mobster team up to find a ten year old who seems ahead of his time...is a genius, a mutant or something else? Good story, would make a great episode of Twilight Zone.
The Roller Coaster (1953): A bit of a new twist on Time Travel... Decent for a 7 page story.
Oddy and Id (1950): Alot like Star Light, Star Bright, but with a more sinister twist, and set in the future a bit. Meh.
Probably the only one in the collection I felt wasn't worth it.
5,271,009 (or, The Starcomber) (1954): Yet another one about a guy that can do anything he wants, only this one has a Latin name and talks with weird idioms, so he made me thing of the MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD. He wants a painting, but his favorite artist has lost his muse... he kidnaps him and uses his wizard powers to put the guy through a a bunch of different scenarios that are very much stories within the story. Those are good(especially one where he puts the guys 33 year old brain in his 10 year old self), but the main story doesn't end... just implies that it's keep happening 5,271,009 times. No idea if that number has signifigance or not... is that a word maybe if you put it on a calcuator upside down... Boolies? I got nothing. I hate stories that don't end, but the stories-within-the-story were good enough to be worth the read
Travel Diary (no date): cute fill in of a rich socialite on galactic vacation... made me smile a couple times.
Fondly Fahrenheit (1954): This one is in the Sci-Fi Hall of Fame book... a Asimov-ian Android goes bad, and his drifter owner has to deal with the consquences... excellent, fun story I've read before.
Hobson's Choice (1952): In WWIII America, a statistican finds out the population is miraculously growing.. the cause sends him on a trip to Kansas... and to some time travellers. Not a particularly good plot, but some very interesting thoughts about time travel, and a cool formatting trick I didn't really get until the end.
This felt alot like Time Hoppers by Robert Silverberg, only in a shorter form. Makes me wonder if there's a connection (Time Hoppers was writting in 1967).
The Die Hard (no date): A far future version on an old guy telling the kids to get off his lawn, more or less. Just a short fill in.
Of Time and 3rd Avenue (1951): A man buying a 1950 almanac gets a 1990 one instead, and someone from 1990 comes to get it back... this one is HILARIOUS for the extreme language and culture changes it implies just 40 years in the future.. cool twist ending, too... great for such a short (8 pages) story
.. but I suspect it wasn't thought so at the time.
-----------------
2020 edit: Apparently I had 2 copies of this in my pile(though, judging by the fact the alternate title of Starcomber isn't listed, maybe a different version)... I was pretty sure as I was reading it I'd read it before, but with short story collections, one can never be sure if it was in a different collection or not.
As I go back and read my comments from 5 years ago, I find my opinions haven't changed much... I definitely thought of alot of the same things as I was reading.
I did like Starcomber even less, though.
I think I really need to read Demolished Man one of these days to get a true read on the author who one of my favorite sci fi villains was named after.
October 29, 2009
Alfred Bester is a new author for me; he was a "big gun" writer in the fifties, having won several "SF Novel of the Year" awards. Such is the fleetingness of fame; I had never heard of him. I am the poorer for not having read him before, and the richer for having found him.
Starburst is an anthology of his short fiction, so it's a great way to get started. His fiction is the kind of SF that doesn't get written anymore--smart, idea driven, witty. Some things grate; by contemporary standards, many stories are over-narrated, a la Isaac Asimov. Even with the presence of many characters, the main voice in the story is still the narrator's. Like the best of Asimov, though, the reader doesn't mind, because the voice is one that's worth hearing.
Many of the stories are old-style fifties "punch line" stories, in which the story sets up a mystery or raises questions, and everything waits for and is resolved in the last line of the story. These are fun but don't "stick" the way some of the other stories do.
Bester's characters often desire escape, often wishing they could live in another time and place. In many of the stories, the characters get what they wish for, and live to regret it. Bester's heroes are often chronologically grown men who need to grow up, and who have illustion painfully stripped away; sometimes they are better off for confronting reality, and at other times, not.
Like many other mid-century authors, Bester is concerned with the arms race, with the possibility of nuclear war, and with the fear that the world won't survive humankind's stupidity.
Really good fiction; if you grew up reading SF and liked the short storeis of authors like Isaac Asimov or Robert Heinlein, you will really enjoy Starburst and the opportunity of getting to know Alfred Bester.
Starburst is an anthology of his short fiction, so it's a great way to get started. His fiction is the kind of SF that doesn't get written anymore--smart, idea driven, witty. Some things grate; by contemporary standards, many stories are over-narrated, a la Isaac Asimov. Even with the presence of many characters, the main voice in the story is still the narrator's. Like the best of Asimov, though, the reader doesn't mind, because the voice is one that's worth hearing.
Many of the stories are old-style fifties "punch line" stories, in which the story sets up a mystery or raises questions, and everything waits for and is resolved in the last line of the story. These are fun but don't "stick" the way some of the other stories do.
Bester's characters often desire escape, often wishing they could live in another time and place. In many of the stories, the characters get what they wish for, and live to regret it. Bester's heroes are often chronologically grown men who need to grow up, and who have illustion painfully stripped away; sometimes they are better off for confronting reality, and at other times, not.
Like many other mid-century authors, Bester is concerned with the arms race, with the possibility of nuclear war, and with the fear that the world won't survive humankind's stupidity.
Really good fiction; if you grew up reading SF and liked the short storeis of authors like Isaac Asimov or Robert Heinlein, you will really enjoy Starburst and the opportunity of getting to know Alfred Bester.
May 11, 2020
I was disappointed by how much I did not enjoy most of these short stories, particularly because I found The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man really remarkable. (Part of why it took me months to get through this slim book.) Bester is a better novelist than short story writer. "Fondly Fahrenheit" and "Disappearing Act" were pretty good; the rest were forgettable.
July 22, 2020
All very interesting stories. Not typically a fan of science fiction I would say but this was quite the read.
March 28, 2011
"Can you spare price of one cup coffee, honorable sir? I am indigent organism which are hungering." The stories in here are deeper and better than the cover blurbs would have you believe. This quote is from "Hobson's Choice" which is about people, feeling out of place and unhappy in their time, but who don't really belong to any other time. Some of my other favorites include "Oddy and Id" and "Disappearing Act."
April 9, 2011
Cold War Sci-Fi stories from the 50's firmly grounded in morality. Time travel, nuclear warfare and a touch of whimsy. Favorites are "The Roller Coaster" about a thrill seeking couple from the future playing havoc on lost souls in the 1950's, "Of Time and Third Avenue" about man who purchases an Almanac from the future, and "Disappearing Act" about the war for the American Dream and the shell-shocked "veterans" who keep vanishing from Ward T. Cool stuff.
April 2, 2020
I bought a small stack of old mass market sci-fi books for 25 cents each a while back and so far, out of the ones I've read, I'm not sure if I got my moneys worth. This book is a fairly entertaining collection of sci-fi short stories. The stories ranged from so-so to decent reads but none stood out enough to be singled out.
July 2, 2017
I found this book, a collection of short stories, as I started decluttering my house. It was only after I began reading the first story that I realized I remembered its every word. Now, over sixty years later, it's obvious why Alfred Bester is my favorite author.
December 16, 2018
3.5 stars
A solid collection from Bester. Some of the stories have a great hook or twist, and I was impressed how much focus Bester put into beating up on sci-fi as escapism in these stories.
A solid collection from Bester. Some of the stories have a great hook or twist, and I was impressed how much focus Bester put into beating up on sci-fi as escapism in these stories.
June 20, 2019
While it's been many years since I've read this collection, I still remember many of the stories, which is unusual. I recommend it if you like Golden Age oddities.
August 29, 2019
This book contains a set of short stories worth reading.
Read
January 24, 2021Golden Age short stories, complete with pulpy goodness!
October 9, 2021
Mixed collection short stories, from *** to *****
November 21, 2021
4 out of 5
November 25, 2021
Some great concepts but the style has not dated well over the years.
March 15, 2022
Enjoyed Adam and No Eve, Fondly Fahrenheit and Of Tine and Third Avenue the most.
July 2, 2022
Worthwhile collection of Twilight Zone style zingers. Most dealing with time travel. Skip over The Starcomber, a dated hipster exercise in authorial excess (much like this sentence!)
July 15, 2024
Schräge Geschichten von Zeitreisen, Mutanten, schizophräne Androiden, Allmachtphantasien und Weltuntergängen. Etwas in die Jahre gekommen und nicht unbedingt die besten Geschichten von Alfred Bester.
December 8, 2024
Brilliant early work by Bester. Not a bad story in the bunch.
January 11, 2025
good book some of the stories i found were alot worse than the others but overall a good read.
October 14, 2023
11 stories:
Disappearing Act (1953)
Adam and No Eve (1941)
Star Light, Star Bright (1953)
The Roller Coaster (1953)
Oddy and Id (1950)
The Starcomber (1958) • (variant of 5,271,009)
Travel Diary (1958)
Fondly Fahrenheit (1954)
Hobson's Choice (1952)
The Die-Hard (1958)
Of Time and Third Avenue (1951)
Disappearing Act (1953)
Adam and No Eve (1941)
Star Light, Star Bright (1953)
The Roller Coaster (1953)
Oddy and Id (1950)
The Starcomber (1958) • (variant of 5,271,009)
Travel Diary (1958)
Fondly Fahrenheit (1954)
Hobson's Choice (1952)
The Die-Hard (1958)
Of Time and Third Avenue (1951)
February 14, 2025
Alfred Bester's writing is akin to the soft science-fiction of Ray Bradbury, both including the likes of time travel, supernatural characters, and the affected human condition of the future. But Bester (at least in this collection) is distinct in his variability of quality. While some were middling and gave me the impression of having been written with the sole purpose of paying the bills, others were so bafflingly unique and experimental that I felt this volume deserved a rating of this level just based on the originality of those pieces.
January 29, 2008
Bester is a hell of a writer, someone who can quickly and thoroughly create a world, paint a character with convincing shadings of moral and emotional ambiguity, and generally hold your attention from beginning to end. And he writes convincingly and engagingly about at least three things: time travel, the perils of wish fulfillment (i.e. be careful what you wish for), and the dangers of too much knowledge or curiosity. I say "at least", because the stories in Starburst clung almost single-mindedly to these themes, each story another iteration of one or all of them. Best read as a theme and variations.
September 24, 2010
A collection of each have a science fiction twist and range from quaint to very odd. The book was written in the 50's and much like other Sci-Fi books written in the area, it is very dated although it is still an enjoyable read. Many have reminiscent themes one may remember from more recent works including twilight zone episodes and back to the future. All in all, its worth it to find a copy.
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