Empire Star

This multiplex, mind-scrambling narrative is (along with EINSTEIN INTERSECTION) Delany's best novel. Only about 100 pages, filled with dazzling, vivid images & fun characters -- it's fresh, funny, complicated & FAST -- a "space opera" of epic proportions ... in a tight space. U'll have a great time. Some of Delany's philosophical Deep Thots come across 2, but U won't mind. U'll B 2 busy having a great time. 2 bad this guy went on 2 write DAHLGREN, TRITON, etc....

A friend recommended this book to me saying, "As soon as you finish it, you'll want to read it again immediately." He wasn't kidding.Samuel Delany's book "Empire Star" is basically a novella (about 100 pages). It recounts the life of a young man who is born and raised on a backward planet where thought rarely rises beyond the immediate "now". Nicknamed "Comet Jo" for his curious need to look up at the stars, the young man is given an important message to deliver to the Empire Star... unfortunately, he doesn't know what the message is. Neither does his eight-legged cat. Their adventure, and the reader's, is to unravel the mystery.The novella is quite straightforward at first, but the reader will discover that everything that has occurred takes on additional meaning by the end of the book. The best way to describe the book is to say that it is the literary equivalent of an M.C. Escher print.As one friend to another I, too, must recommend that you set aside some time to read the book and then immediately re-read it.

This is one of my all-time favorite science fiction novels. It contains the great concept listed in the title of this review (read the book to understand more!), and demonstrates multiplexity in the way it wraps around and around itself. A wonderful book, and a shame it's not still widely available. Whenever I find a used copy, I buy it, so I can give it away.

This is a delightful book, easy reading but full of content for all level readers. The characters are likable and there are several interesting concepts that are woven into the story line. The reader needs to keep his thinking cap on to catch the intricities of the storyline. I have reread this book several times and it continues to be a favorite. I will not discuss the storyline in this review as I do not want to pre-color the first time readers perception of the book. I prefer to let the author present his own story. I will tell the reader that this is the story of an unsophisticated young man who in the process of growing up leaves the safe enviroment of his backwater planet and is flung into the hustle and bustle of a vast galactic empire where the meaning of the term key players takes on a whole different meaning.