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Alfred Bester died in 1987, so often gets overlooked by modern SF readers - this is a real shame as he was a remarkable writer. At his best, Bester's books, always driven by a psychological bent, sizzle, throwing amazing ideas and visions at the reader with breakneck speed. He is best known for his first two novels, the Demolished Man and The Stars my Destination (published in the UK as Tiger! Tiger!), but has recently re-emerged in posthumous collaboration with Roger Zelazny.

  The Demolished Man -
First winner of the Hugo award for best SF novel, this is a story of a murder committed in a society that makes murder impossible, thanks to monitoring by telepathic Espers. In itself the the cleverness of the murderer and the Esper who tracks him down are great, but what really makes the book is the pace, the excitement, the hard-edged fireworks of Bester's style which makes a comfortable bridge between a film noir detective like Philip Marlowe and cyberpunk. Extraordinary.  New 1 September 2001

The Stars My Destination (aka Tiger! Tiger!) -  
Bester eclipsed his first novel, The Demolished Man, with this remarkable tale of Gully Foyle, transformed from semi-literate bum to anti-hero and freak in a wonderful, lurid, collapsing 25th century world that was obviously the inspirational ancestor of the likes of Blade Runner. Get past the slightly turgid, pseudo-historical introduction and you're away. Now admittedly in some ways this book shows its age (most notably in its attitude to women, though even this is partially plot driven). But you have to remember it was written in 1956. And you can forgive Bester a lot. At the heart of the book is the jaunte, the ability to transfer yourself from place to place by mental power, an accidentally discovered ability that has transformed and divided society.

The main characters are human, but anything but loveable - all are driven, either by the urge to revenge or the search for power or the desire for money. Most are killers. It's no conventional book - nor should you look for a conventional happy ending. The book itself is mostly a powerful page turner, with some spectacular originality in presentation that leaps from the page in psychedelic profusion when the "hero" has a temporary confusion of his senses. Scintillating, breathtaking and wonderful. The book was originally published in the UK under the title Tiger! Tiger!, but now seems to be universally known by its (much weaker) US title, The Stars my Destination. This is one of our regular dips into the history books to bring up a novel that should be on the shelves of anyone interested looking for the best that science fiction has to offer. Updated 19 October 2004

  Psychoshop (with Roger Zelazny)  

This fascinating book was started by Bester and finished by Zelazny. Bester really invented modern science fiction, moving away from the cardboard characterizations of the earlier authors. His books sizzle, glitter, scintillate. You can see much of this in Psychoshop, yet it's overlaid with Zelazny's wit and charm. What's it about? At its most basic, a psychic pawnbroker's shop based around a black hole that has been trading in physical and mental capabilities for over 2000 years. But there's much more to it - and to the main characters - than first seems the case.  New 27 August 2001

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