“Alfred Bester’s short stories are fevered, mile-a-minute narratives, and “5,271,009” has even more ideas than most: the protagonist keeps jumping through clichéd paradises of science fiction (the last man on earth, a kid with the knowledge of his adult self, the usual), realizing each one isn’t actually that great, and moving on to the next. One number keeps reappearing over and over, but it’s not until we reach the end that the meaning of it all is revealed.

According to Bester himself, the entire romp was inspired by one illustration, a picture of a space convict chained to a meteoroid. The number on his black and white striped jumpsuit became the driving force behind the bizarre short story.”

From 42 to 2001: Science Fiction by the Numbers

A stunning uncredited cover, via Ski-Ffy.

Howard Chaykin, from his 1979 graphic novel adaptation of Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination

Jerome Podwil

Bob Pepper

From Howard Chaykin’s stunning 1979 graphic novel adaptation of Alfred Bester’s sci-fi classic, The Stars My Destination.

Alfred Bester

“Bester’s name is surprisingly
well-suited: he bests most science fiction authors out there. The winner of the
very first Hugo award in 1953, Bester pens idea-based works that feverishly
burn through wacky concepts. Though known for short stories, his best works are
generally considered to be The Demolished
Man, a murder mystery set in a world of telepaths, and The Stars My Destination, which is best described as a ton of cool
ideas wrapped into a Count of Monte
Cristo–style revenge tale. They’re true classics of SF. Sadly, Bester wound
down in the 70s and 80s, and his final novel The Deceivers is considered his worst.”

– An excerpt about one of my favorite authors, from my guide: Asimov to Zelazny: The Science Fiction Author Manual

“Pointing out all the cool ideas in this book would mean a list a page long. There’s PyrE, the incendiary substance that explodes if you think at it just right. There’s a beautiful heartless Snow Maiden with coral eyes who can only see in the ends of the spectrum invisible to the rest of us. There are the cult of Skoptsis, who have for religious reasons had their entire sensory imputs cut off. There`s the radioactive spymaster with his skull-like face who can only speak with his beloved through a panel of lead glass three inches thick. There’s the pornography of taboo religion, the Cellar Christians. There’s the Burning Man (of course, at eleven I pictured the Human Torch in rags) who appears at critical moments like an inscrutable omen. There’s much more. Bester could have kept a magazine going for years by feeding out these concepts to different writers to develop into stories.”

Read a glowing review of The Stars My Destination.

Artist above: Michael Horen