Star Bridge
by Jack Williamson, James E. Gunn
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The galaxy's inhabited planets are held together by the repressive Eron Company, the apparent holder of the secret to faster-than-light travel through the Tubes, the network linking the scattered worlds together. Mysterious parties have hired the adventurer Horn to assassinate the company's general manager, Garth Kohlnar. Horn completes his mission, and in the ensuing manhunt encounters Wendre Kohlnar, the daughter and now possibly the heir of the dead man. Escaping through a show more transdimensional Tube, Horn finds himself on the planet Eron, a world consumed by the Eron Company. There he encounters a corrupt aristocracy, a brewing power struggle over the succession, a covert revolution, and the mystery of who actually knows the secret of the Tubes. James Gunn and Jack Williamson'sStar Bridgemarks the return of a classic, high-concept space opera by two SF Grand Masters show lessTags
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This is good, old-fashioned science fiction with only one human woman in the entire book; she's beautiful, smart, powerful, but in need of saving at some point in the story. Like good, old-fashioned science fiction, there is some exploration of important ideas, in this case, about empires and democracies and individualism and caring for others.
A quote I liked, appears towards the end, when the rugged, individualist hero realizes
"No man can act alone; he is bound up in humanity. No man suffers alone; humanity suffers with him. Injustice to one is injustice to all; every man should resent it as if it happened to him; it did.. . . There was a simple way of saying it all: no matter how far apart people seem, there is a bridge that joins show more them all." [p. 149]
In this case, the bridge is not only figurative: there are tubes that allow people and communication to travel much faster than the speed of light.
In other words, as John Donne said centuries ago (1624), "No man is an island."
And then the hero sees that this realization "was worth dying for. But even more important, it was a reason for living." [p. 149] Nice.
There's also a lot of killing, and even a pirate! The story starts in a timeless Colorado dessert with the hero on a pony, but it soon becomes obvious that it takes place well into the future.
There is a Wikipedia article about the book. Jack Williamson started it, had trouble finishing it, and gave it to James E. Gunn to complete. The front cover blurb by Samuel R. Delaney, "one of the most vital images in science fiction," is what prompted me to buy the book.
The book was written before political correctness became a thing, but I think it's easy enough to change "man" to "person" and "savage" to something better or argue that the story is told from the point of view of a flawed man (or person) and the words and attitudes are his. show less
A quote I liked, appears towards the end, when the rugged, individualist hero realizes
"No man can act alone; he is bound up in humanity. No man suffers alone; humanity suffers with him. Injustice to one is injustice to all; every man should resent it as if it happened to him; it did.. . . There was a simple way of saying it all: no matter how far apart people seem, there is a bridge that joins show more them all." [p. 149]
In this case, the bridge is not only figurative: there are tubes that allow people and communication to travel much faster than the speed of light.
In other words, as John Donne said centuries ago (1624), "No man is an island."
And then the hero sees that this realization "was worth dying for. But even more important, it was a reason for living." [p. 149] Nice.
There's also a lot of killing, and even a pirate! The story starts in a timeless Colorado dessert with the hero on a pony, but it soon becomes obvious that it takes place well into the future.
There is a Wikipedia article about the book. Jack Williamson started it, had trouble finishing it, and gave it to James E. Gunn to complete. The front cover blurb by Samuel R. Delaney, "one of the most vital images in science fiction," is what prompted me to buy the book.
The book was written before political correctness became a thing, but I think it's easy enough to change "man" to "person" and "savage" to something better or argue that the story is told from the point of view of a flawed man (or person) and the words and attitudes are his. show less
1950s SF with the overblown portentiousness and beginning-of-chapter aphorisms of 1950s SF. But if successfully convinces you that it's as racist as 1950s SF often is, and then successfully subverts that assumption it only a little, so it's not wholly predictable.
Reprint of a 1955 novel in which one man takes on the oppressive regime of a pan-galactic corporation. Solid adventure with a good dose of philosophy mixed in.
This is a classic 50's space opera with the typical plot of lone, independent (but not really) gunslinger takes on an evil empire and wins. The characters are a bit 2-dimensional and the only female character is quite stereotyped. The plot has a couple of interesting twists and there is lots of action.
This book starts slow with an assassination of a leader by Horn who later leads to a revolution with slaves rising up and overthrowing their masters at Enron. The chinese wiseman and his parrot are interesting and come in/out of the plot.
It is rather dated, 1950.s style of writing but not objectionably so.
It is rather dated, 1950.s style of writing but not objectionably so.
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210+ Works 10,095 Members
Author Jack Williamson was born in Bisbee, Arizona on April 29, 1908. In the 1950's, he received both his BA and MA degress in English from Eastern New Mexico University. After receiving his PhD from the University of Colorado, he taught linguistics, the modern novel and literary criticism at Eastern New Mexico University until he retired in 1977. show more At the age of 20, he published his first story, The Metal Man, in a December 1928 issue of Amazing Stories. Since then he has written more than 50 novels and at least 15 short story collections. Some of his best known works are The Humanoids, The Legion of Time, Manseed, and Lifeburst. He also published numerous collaborations with fellow science fiction author Frederik Pohl. He received numerous awards including the Pilgrim Award from the Science Fiction Research Association, the Hugo Award, and the Nebula Award. He was an inaugural inductee in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame and was named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1976. He died at his home in Portales, New Mexico on November 10, 2006. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
158+ Works 4,589 Members
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Star Bridge
- Original title
- Star Bridge
- Original publication date
- 1955
- People/Characters*
- Alan Horn; Oliver Wu; Lil; Garth Kohlnar; Ronholm; Fenelon (show all 11); Wendre Kohlnar; Duchane; Matal; Redblade; Peter Sair
- Important places
- Earth; Eron
- First words
- Prologue "A Historian is not just a chronicler of what has been,' the Historian said. "The fruit of his labors is a series of terms from which the future can be extrapolated.
"His significant function is not bookkeeping bu... (show all)t prediction."
Swiftly then, in flowing characters, he began to write:
The flaming wheel of the sun had passed teh apogee of its journey across the sky. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Some men are intereted only in means; some work for immediate goals like freedom; a few are concerned with results far in the future."
- Blurbers
- Delaney, Samuel R.
- Original language
- Inglés; English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 309
- Popularity
- 102,915
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.35)
- Languages
- English, French, German, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 17
