The Stars My Destination: Difference between revisions

{{quote| ''Gully Foyle is my name<br />

''And Terra is my nation<br />

''Deep space is my dwelling place<br />

It is the twenty fifth century. An age when humanity can [[Teleporters and Transporters|jaunte]] across the world, where telepaths are, if not common, then not unheard of. An age where humanity has spread across the solar system -- asystem—a golden age that no one knows they are living in. An age when conflict between the Inner Planets and the Outer Satellites is about to end the age of the Global Wars by means of the outbreak of the first Solar War.

None of this matters to Gully Foyle -- theFoyle—the quintessential everyman, if you are convinced [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters]]. No education, no skills, no ambition, just a Mechanic's Mate Third Class on the freighter ''Nomad'', which lies crippled in the void between the planets. And he does want to survive, and he has for six months when the spaceship ''Vorga'' sees the wreck of the ''Nomad'', sees the distress signals -- andsignals—and passes by, leaving him to rot.

----

* [[Cargo Cult]]: The Scientific People, who are a [[Cargo Cult]] {{smallcapssmall-caps|[[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]] }}

* [[Cyberpunk]]: Although published in 1956, some three decades before Cyberpunk emerged, the book has many examples of the tropes common in cyberpunk -- thecyberpunk—the antihero, the mysterious female thief, the intrigue of the [[Mega Corp|multinational companies]], the scientific [[McGuffin]] and cybernetically boosted reflexes most obvious amongst them. This is not entirely a coincidence: cyberpunk pioneer [[William Gibson]] has called ''The Stars My Destination'' his favourite novel.

* [[Dark Messiah]]: Foyle is one of these at the end {{spoiler|he spreads all over the world the [[MacGuffin]], which is [[Made of Explodium]] and can be really easily set off. He gives people the chance not to mess up, but if [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters]], the world will go kaboom}}

* [[Determinator]]: Nothing will stop Gully Foyle from having his revenge. Nothing.

* [[No Transhumanism Allowed]]: Averted -- OnceAverted—Once he's rich, Foyle uses his money to have implants and circuitry put into his body that give him super-strength and amazing reflexes.

{{quote| ''"Filthy pictures, signore? Cellar Christians, kneeling, praying, singing psalms, kissing cross? Very naughty. Very smutty, signore. Entertain your friends ... Excite the ladies."''}}

* [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]]: Foyle pretends to be an [[UpperclassUpper Class Twit]] in his Fourmyle identity

* [[Sense Freak]]: Inverted -- andInverted—and ''how!'' -- with—with the Skoptsy.

* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: Goes from a living object to relentless killing machine to {{spoiler|effectively transcendent}} through the course of the novel, [[Berserk Button|all because some passersby decided not to give him a life-saving lift.]]

{{quote| ''"You got the most in you, and you use the least. You hear me, you? Got a million in you and spend pennies. Got a genius in you and think crazies. Got a heart in you and feel empties. All a you. Every you... Take a war to make you spend. Take a jam to make you think. Take a challenge to make you great. Rest of the time you sit around lazy, you."''}}

** Note that it's a ''inversion'' of this trope: while in its classical form a [[Whoopi Epiphany Speech]] is delivered by a poor uneducated character to his or her social betters, neither Gully, nor his auditory is either. Gully ''was'' a mindless drone barely eligible to be called a sapient, but has since jerked himself out of this stupor, and he tells the very people he was some time ago that ''they'' [[Took a Level Inin Badass|could do the same]] -- a—a sort of inspirational [[World of Cardboard Speech]].