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Star Maker

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Widely regarded as one of the true classics of science fiction, Star Maker is a poetic and deeply philosophical work. The story details the mental journey of an unnamed narrator who is transported not only to other worlds but also other galaxies and parallel universes, until he eventually becomes part of the "cosmic mind." First published in 1937, Olaf Stapledon's descriptions of alien life are a political commentary on human life in the turbulent inter-war years. The book challenges preconceived notions of intelligence and awareness, and ultimately argues for a broadened perspective that would free us from culturally ingrained thought and our inevitable anthropomorphism. This is the first scholarly edition of a book that influenced such writers as C.S. Lewis and Arthur C. Clarke and which Jorge Luis Borges called "a prodigious novel."

ISBN-13: 9781684224395

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Martino Fine Books

Publication Date: 03-12-2020

Pages: 196

Product Dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.45(d)

OLAF STAPLEDON (1886-1950) served as Lecturer in Psychology and Philosophy at Liverpool University. PATRICK A. MCCARTHY is Professor of English at the University of Miami, author of Olaf Stapledon (1982) and editor of The Legacy of Olaf Stapledon (1989). FREEMAN J. DYSON is Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, NJ. He conceived the Dyson Sphere, has designed nuclear reactors and writes on the relationship of science to literature and theology.

What People are Saying About This

Robert Shelton

“Star Maker is a masterpiece in the field of science fiction, a bursting to the brim compendium of ideas for later science fiction writers.”

From the Publisher

"A buried treasure of 20th century literature reemerges in this splendid and practical edition. McCarthy's revealing introduction and notes display the genius of Star Maker to a new century."—Robert Crossley, author of Olaf Stapledon: Speaking for the Future

"A buried treasure of 20th century literature reemerges in this splendid and practical edition. McCarthy's revealing introduction and notes display the genius of Star Maker to a new century."—Robert Crossley, author of Olaf Stapledon: Speaking for the Future

"Star Maker is a masterpiece in the field of science fiction, a bursting to the brim compendium of ideas for later science fiction writers."—Robert Shelton, Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Michigan State University

Robert Crossley

"A buried treasure of 20th century literature reemerges in this splendid and practical edition. McCarthy's revealing introduction and notes display the genius of Star Maker to a new century."
— Robert Crossley, author of Olaf Stapledon: Speaking for the Future

Table of Contents

Foreword xi
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction xix
Preface 3
I The Earth 7
1. The Starting Point 7
2. Earth Among the Stars 11
II Interstellar Travel 16
III The Other Earth 27
1. On the Other Earth 27
2. A Busy World 32
3. Prospects of the Race 47
IV I Travel Again 60
V Worlds Innumerable 70
1. The Diversity of Worlds 70
2. Strange Mankinds 77
3. Nautiloids 87
VI Intimations of the Star Maker 94
VII More Worlds 100
1. A Symbiotic Race 100
2. Composite Beings 111
3. Plant Men and Others 120
VIII Concerning the Explorers 131
IX The Community of Worlds 137
1. Busy Utopias 137
2. Intermundane Strife 146
3. A Crisis in Galactic History 158
4. Triumph in a Sub-Galaxy 161
5. The Tragedy of the Perverts 168
6. A Galactic Utopia 172
X A Vision of the Galaxy 177
XI Stars and Vermin 187
1. The Many Galaxies 187
2. Disaster in Our Galaxy 189
3. Stars 194
4. Galactic Symbiosis 204
XII A Stunted Cosmical Spirit 210
XIII The Beginning and the End 213
1. Back to the Nebulae 213
2. The Supreme Moment Nears 218
3. The Supreme Moment and After 223
XIV The Myth of Creation 232
XV The Maker and His Works 236
1. Immature Creating 236
2. Mature Creating 246
3. The Ultimate Cosmos and the Eternal Spirit 253
XVI Epilogue: Back to Earth 258
A Note on Magnitude 265
Time Scales 267
Glossary 271
Notes 281
Bibliography 307