Star Maker eBook Olaf Stapledon
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Star Maker is a science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, published in 1937. The book describes a history of life in the universe, dwarfing in scale Stapledon's previous book, Last and First Men (1930), a history of the human species over two billion years. Star Maker tackles philosophical themes such as the essence of life, of birth, decay and death, and the relationship between creation and creator. A pervading theme is that of progressive unity within and between different civilizations. Some of the elements and themes briefly discussed prefigure later fiction concerning genetic engineering and alien life forms. Arthur C. Clarke considered Star Maker to be one of the finest works of science fiction ever written. A single human narrator from England is transported out of his body via unexplained means. He realizes he is able to explore space and other planets. After exploring a civilization on another planet in our galaxy at a level of development similar to our own that existed millions of years ago thousands of light years from Earth (the "Other Earth") in some detail, his mind merges with that of one of its inhabitants, and as they travel together, they are joined by still more minds or group-minds. This snowballing process is paralleled by the expansion of the book's scale, describing more and more planets in less and less detail. The disembodied travelers encounter many ideas that are interesting from both science-fictional and philosophical points of view. These include the first known instance of what is now called the Dyson sphere; a reference to a scenario closely predicting the later zoo hypothesis or Star Trek's Prime Directive; many imaginative descriptions of species, civilizations and methods of warfare; descriptions of the Multiverse; and the idea that the stars and even pre-galactic nebulae are intelligent beings, operating on vast time scales.
Star Maker eBook Olaf Stapledon
I bought this book because I was interested in Stapledon's depiction of the possible future of humanity. I wasn't aware when I bought the 'Millennium Edition' that the entire section on the First Men- Stapledon's prediction of human society's development between 1930 and the eventual collapse into worldwide barbarism- had been completely rewritten to make it 'easier' for modern readers to digest without excessive disbelief. Yes, Stapledon's predictions of a League of Nations world power and the various wars in Europe and the unification of science and religion in the United States have no resemblance to the reality we've lived through so far, but so what? Part of the point of buying older books and reading older predictions is seeing what the authors of the past thought would shape the world of the future.The Millennium Edition does warn readers about this rewrite in a small preface, but I didn't see the warning until after I'd bought the book. I hadn't thought I would need to check samples of the book to make sure I was getting what I wanted. I realize that I wrote a glowing review of The Night Land: A Story Retold, but there's a difference. The Night Land's original style was almost unreadable. (I tried. I tried so hard.) The Night Land: A Story Retold warned you *right in the title* of what you were getting. And The Night Land: A Story Retold may have removed several of the author's philosophical points, mostly having to do with Edwardian beliefs about gender roles persisting so far into the future that the Sun had gone out, but it didn't take a socialist writer's work and rewrite it to say that human civilization essentially collapsed because people refused to attempt to economically succeed on their own and fell into a leisure-induced society-wide coma, which is the impression one gets from the rewritten first chapter.
Long story short, I'd have appreciated more warning of the rewrite and what it entailed.
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Star Maker eBook Olaf Stapledon Reviews
I absolutely loved this. Plant people, composite minds, intelligent stars - and an exploration into some of life's biggest questions. This book is a history of the universe, told by an Englishman who mysteriously floats into the sky one night while contemplating its immensity. It does not contain many of the traditional elements of a novel. For example, there are not many "characters" in the traditional sense. But what it does have is a beautifully crafted series of interwoven alien histories, sci-fi-type hypotheses, and spiritual and philosophical musings.
One thing that surprised me is how specific some of the answers to these big questions get toward the end. It's not just some vague notion of the "unified spirit," it's much more detailed than that. I suspect that not all readers will like these answers, but I found them to be compelling and fascinating possibilities.
I also think this is a must read for any sci-fi fan. It was first published in 1937, at the dawn of sci-fi's Golden Age, making the ideas expressed all the more impressive and important. The final pages of the book tie its themes back to what was happening in Europe when it was written, which I found brilliant and poignant at the same time.
One technical note apostrophes appear as "f"s and quotation marks appear as "g"s and "h"s in the version. This was not a problem for me once I got used to it, but if that sort of thing bothers you, you might want to get the paperback.
Four or five stars for Stapledon’s original masterpiece. One star for a gratuitous rewrite of the first few chapters in an attempt to make the work more palatable to modern readers. ZERO stars for listing this edition on with no indication that the early chapters have been (anonymously!) bastardized.
The rewrite of the early chapters ostensibly makes the more more palatable by ‘correcting’ Stapledon’s 1930 predictions to reflect actual events, and then extrapolating a 2015 vision of global and societal trends into the future far enough that the anonymous author’s and Stapledon’s timelines can once again intersect. In my opinion, as of 2018, this was a mistake of epic proportions.
Microscopic details from today’s op-ed pages become trends of millennial magnitude, totally ruining the grandeur and sweep of the original. And in today’s polarized world, any contemporary reader is going to be distracted by the author’s take on current events.
I would recommend avoiding this ‘Millenium Edition’ like the plague and tracking down the original. Unfortunately, the lack of transparency on the product page[s] makes that impossible at this time.
I bought this book because I was interested in Stapledon's depiction of the possible future of humanity. I wasn't aware when I bought the 'Millennium Edition' that the entire section on the First Men- Stapledon's prediction of human society's development between 1930 and the eventual collapse into worldwide barbarism- had been completely rewritten to make it 'easier' for modern readers to digest without excessive disbelief. Yes, Stapledon's predictions of a League of Nations world power and the various wars in Europe and the unification of science and religion in the United States have no resemblance to the reality we've lived through so far, but so what? Part of the point of buying older books and reading older predictions is seeing what the authors of the past thought would shape the world of the future.
The Millennium Edition does warn readers about this rewrite in a small preface, but I didn't see the warning until after I'd bought the book. I hadn't thought I would need to check samples of the book to make sure I was getting what I wanted. I realize that I wrote a glowing review of The Night Land A Story Retold, but there's a difference. The Night Land's original style was almost unreadable. (I tried. I tried so hard.) The Night Land A Story Retold warned you *right in the title* of what you were getting. And The Night Land A Story Retold may have removed several of the author's philosophical points, mostly having to do with Edwardian beliefs about gender roles persisting so far into the future that the Sun had gone out, but it didn't take a socialist writer's work and rewrite it to say that human civilization essentially collapsed because people refused to attempt to economically succeed on their own and fell into a leisure-induced society-wide coma, which is the impression one gets from the rewritten first chapter.
Long story short, I'd have appreciated more warning of the rewrite and what it entailed.
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