The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Review by Bill Johnston
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester is a stock story of one man against powerful people and world governments, but is very well done. The survival of the main character is rather plausible because he has more money than he could possibly spend and no one knows what he looks like. The story takes place in a society where teleporting is taught and almost everyone can do it. This causes the collapse of several industrial empires, an economic imbalance between Earth and the colonies, and eventually, a war. Unfortunately for him, the main character has a small quantity of an experimental war material and has no idea what it is.
I have also read The Demolished Man and Starburst by Bester. The Demolished Man won the first Hugo award and is comparable in quality to The Stars My Destination. It deals with crime in a telepathic society. Starburst is a collection of stories dealing with strange psychic powers, and is not up to the quality of his novels.
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