The Stars My Destination Study Guide

The Stars My Destination

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

The Stars My Destination is the science fiction story of revenge-driven escaped prisoner Gully Foyle, an analogue to Alexander Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo. Foyle remakes himself to seek revenge on a former employer, a powerful corporation which ignored him after the wreck of his cargo ship. The plot also deals with how jaunting, the ability to teleport matter through space, has destabilized human society throughout the galaxy and on Earth, now called Terra.

The Stars My Destination Characters

Table of Contents
  • Gulliver Foyle: Last remaining survivor of a merchant spaceship, the Nomad . Captured by the "Scientific People" on an asteroid, he is tattooed on his face according to their customs. The tattoos are later removed, but the scars left under his skin become visible when his emotions get out of control.
  • The Presteign: Head of the wealthy Presteign clan, whose interests include a chain of luxury department stores, each managed by an identical "Mr. Presto". Wealthy people like Presteign demonstrate their status by using outmoded methods of transportation and never jaunting if they can avoid it. Presteign holds court in his Star Chamber, an elaborate old-fashioned office equipped with a bar, and staffed by robots. It is designed to disorient visitors and give him the psychological edge.
  • Robin Wednesbury: A Telesend, a one-way telepath who can send thoughts but not receive them. Foyle meets her in "jaunte rehab" while pretending to be someone who has lost the ability to jaunte. She discovers his deception but he kidnaps her and rapes her to intimidate her into silence. Later, as Fourmyle, he recruits her to help him navigate the upper echelons of society. After she discovers who he really is, he offers her the prospect of finding her family, who were refugees on the Vorga .
  • Jisbella ("Jiz") McQueen: Serving five years of "cure" in Gouffre Martel for larceny. She turned to crime in rebellion against the limitations imposed on women to "protect" them in a world where everyone can teleport. She escapes with Foyle and takes him to a criminal doctor who is able to bleach out his tattoos by applying a chemical with a tattoo needle. The process is agony for Foyle but Jisbella makes him endure it out of disgust for him.
  • Saul Dagenham: The head of a private "special services" agency contracted by Presteign to interrogate Gully Foyle and force him to reveal the location of the Nomad . Dagenham was a nuclear scientist who became radioactive in an accident. He cannot remain in a room with other people for more than a short time. The agents of "Dagenham Couriers Inc." are a bizarre collection of freaks who specialize in "FFCC", or "Fun, Fantasy, Confusion and Catastrophe" to carry out their missions of theft, kidnapping and espionage.
  • Peter Yang-Yeovil: Head of a government Central Intelligence agency based on ancient Chinese principles, who is also trying to find Nomad . He is "a member of the dreaded Society of Paper Men, and an adept of the Tsientsin Image Makers". Although of Chinese descent and able to speak fluent Mandarin, he does not look Chinese.
  • Olivia Presteign: Daughter of Presteign. She is an albino who is blind to visible light, but can see in infrared and some radio waves. Like Jisbella, she too is in revolt against her treatment as a woman, and as a genetic anomaly. Her rebellion takes the form of interplanetary smuggling of refugees. It was on one such mission that she ordered her ship, the Vorga , to ignore the distress calls from Nomad .
  • Regis Sheffield: A high-priced lawyer working for Presteign, he is actually an agent of the Outer Satellites coalition.
  • "Bunny", Sheffield's personal secretary. He is apparently Chinese, speaks Mandarin with difficulty, and is said to resemble a frightened rabbit, hence the nickname.

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