The Star Rover

By: Jack London

Narrated by: Edgar Lloyd

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

The Star Rover is a 1914 collection of science fiction short stories with the theme of reincarnation. It tells the story of Darrell Standing, an inmate of San Quentin’s death row. The narrator escapes the horror of prison life by withdrawing into altered states and the memory of past lives. Forming the body of the work, the accounts of these past lives are vivid but disconnected; a series of vignettes set in different ages and cultures. They include a desert island survival story, one which involves a Roman perspective on Christ, a tale of medieval Korea, and one which takes place in a prehistoric era. The narratives are dream-like and steeped in mysticism.

Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks

Aptly Named Masterpiece

From The Call of the Wild at the age of twelve I was lured into another world by the intellectual force and ephemeral imagery of London’s stories and style. I followed a typical path by reading White Fang, The Sea Wolf and Martin Eden along with several short stories, and a biography of him, but this story, scant three years before his death, is truly a masterpiece.

Another forgotten classic from Jack London

Jack London always grabs your attention and keeps the action flowing. This novel was way ahead of its time and I can see influence on modern authors, notably Stephen King. Prison literature is always interesting because it takes people to a place they never want to go. This was a good transition from classics by Dumas, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, and Hugo with the more modern stories such as The Green Mile and Shawshank. The time traveling added a Sci-fi twist with plenty of social commentary.

Esoteric Classic

The least known and most interesting of London’s many works. I agree with him: matter is ephemeral and fleeting while only spirit is eternal.

Several stories in one

No matter what your opinion is on past lives I think you will find this book quite interesting. I was surprised by the many places and time frames it encompassed.

The Best Jack London Novel of All-Time

All i can say is that it's like reading the dream that you forgot you had. Fascinating book that gives you a glimpse into the idea of being evergreen.

The imaginativeness of the story

Narrator’s voice was too sing-song, and the narrator engaged frequent mispronunciations often to the point of distraction.

There is a reason why this book is little known

I wish it were still possible to return books bought using credits because "The star rover" would have been returned almost immediately.
The story of the prisoner in death row and the expedient he found to survive a particularly awful form of punishment are interesting, but are only a loose canvas from which the narration takes off in different and, in my opinion, rather boring and uninspired directions.
Since reading and listening to books are supposed to be a pleasure I gave up halfway through cutting my losses: I wasted a credit, let's not waste more time on a pretty bad work of a great writer.