Tiger! tiger!
by Alfred Bester · first published 1956
90% recommend10% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Fast-paced science fiction featuring a vengeful antihero and a Count of Monte Cristo style plot built on teleportation. It is an early forerunner of cyberpunk and still holds up for science fiction fans.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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There are some great books on the list, however it should be a criminal offense to not include Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination (first published as Tiger! Tiger!). It's best summed up as The Count of Monte Cristo, in space. Bester's novel is in many ways the forerunner of the cyberpunk genre.
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗The Star's My Destination by Alfred Bester (also known as Tiger Tiger). Really great Count of Monte Cristo type plot with teleportation and a great antihero. I'm surprised it hasn't been adapted to film or long form series yet. Anathem by Neal Stephenson is superb and…
on “Ask HN: What are the best Sci-Fi books you've ever read?” ↗Tiger Tiger, or its American name The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. I'm not sure at all how the ending would get translated to film but god would it make for a great movie.
on “Ask HN: Which SciFi novel(s) would you want made into a TV series?” ↗…to a bit of a mystery book (who is this main character anyway?)). Finally, a must-read (preferably the sci-fi masterworks edition with a foreword by Gibson): Alfred Bester, "The Stars My Destination / Tiger, Tiger".
on “Electric Sheep on Ubuntu Linux 17.10” ↗i like heinlein's "moon is a harsh mistress" and alfred-bester's "tiger-tiger / stars-my-destination". kinda old school though.
on “Ask YC: What's the most inspiring sci-fi book you've read?” ↗…definitely read it after this -- as a past reader of Stand on Zanzibar and The Sheep Look Up, I feel surprised to have never heard of it! On the topic of early cyberpunk, I personally feel Alfred Bester's Tiger! Tiger! aka The Stars My Destination, from _1957_, hits all the key notes -- which I won't go into for sake of spoilers. But if you like cyberpunk or science fiction in general: go read that book!
on “John Brunner's “Stand on Zanzibar” spookily predicted today” ↗The Stars My Destination (or Tiger! Tiger! depending on when and where it was published) by Alfred Bester
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books or essays written at least 100 years ago?” ↗…precognition, teleportation, etc. - Asimov’s Foundation series - Herbert’s Dune series - Larry Niven’s Known Space stories - Heinlein’s Stranger from a Strange Land - Alfred Bester’s Demolished Man and Tiger Tiger - Clarke’s Childhood’s End I’m sure there are more that I forgot to mention. It really did seem to be a pervasive expectation that the mind was the next frontier for seemingly magical scientific advancements.…
on “Tomorrow people: For a century, it felt like telepathy was around the corner” ↗"Tiger, Tiger" (or "The Stars My Destination" in the USA) by Alfred Bester.
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite fiction book?” ↗…Anthony Boucher, copies of which are always dirt cheap on Amazon; it got a few duds, but it's one of the best collections I've ever read, and an amazing introduction (has The Stars My Destination [as Tiger! Tiger!], the Chrysalids, Waldo, the Weapon Shops of Isher, among loads of other stuff). This site is amazing as well, if you can hack the weird design: http://greatsfandf.com/
on “Beginnings of Science Fiction” ↗…The Gods Themselves Clarke: Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama Herbert: Dune, Whipping Star Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 Bester: The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination (also called "Tiger, Tiger") Niven: Ringworld Niven and Pournelle: The Mote in God's Eye, Footfall Gibson: Neuromancer Stephenson: Snow Crash, The Diamond Age Bear: The Forge of God, Eon Sagan: Contact…
on “Beginnings of Science Fiction” ↗…Bruce Sterling did a lot to cement cyberpunk as a strong genere (not alone, Vernor Vinge, Philip K Dick certainly played a big part). But the line continues back - William Gibson wrote a new foreword to Tiger, Tiger / The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. And Richard Morgan's series Altered Carbon continue forward in this vein of combining punk/pulp, dystopia and technology. Personally I grown more and more…
on “How William Gibson Keeps His Science Fiction Real” ↗Unrelated funny little fact for lovers of scifi novels: Pyre (PyrE) was the name of an extremely rare element and main plot device for the novel Tiger! Tiger! (aka. "The Stars My Destination"), by Alfred Bester: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRJVUPC/ Maybe not the best science fiction book of all times, but it left a mark on my memory... and curious things…
on “Pyre: A performant type-checker for Python 3” ↗