Star Maker

By: Olaf Stapledon

Narrated by: Andrew Wincott

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

One moment a man sits on a suburban hill, gazing curiously at the stars. The next, he is whirling through the firmament, and perhaps the most remarkable of all science fiction journeys has begun. Even Stapledon's other great work, Last and First Men pales in ambition next to Star Maker which presents nothing less than an entire imagined history of life in the universe, encompassing billions of years.

©2012 Olaf Stapledon (P)2012 Audible Ltd

meditative classic

this is not a slam bam scifi, but rather a more meditative, philosophical piece. the opening is poetic in style and description. then there is the visits to other worlds and peoples section which I enjoyed more when it dealt with differing types of potential creatures and would have liked to see more of this, like Sagan's Cosmos, but this is a very early work and so kudos to Stapledon for stretching ideas beyond bug eyed monsters. this middle gets too political though, showing how these cultures seem to follow similar histories and it may be that he was satirizing human politics. the end is excellent with the meeting with the star maker, though again, not a shoot em up type of finish. overall i thought there was much to ponder and you can see the influence on Clarke's Childhood's End and 2001 and much more beyond. I will keep going with the Stapledon's available.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Literally (literally) awesome

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Blew my mind like few books I've ever read.
Speculative scifi novel? Metaphysical philosophy? Surreal dream-journey? Epic prose-poem?
yes, yes, yes, yes.

And it was published in 1937! Seriously amazing. Stapledon is an under-appreciated genius.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

The greatest book I've ever read...

...and this performance does it justice. This book is truly the vision of a genius.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Difficult to multi task with this story

Some moments were thought provoking, others dragged on, but I'm satisfied to have completed it

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Ideas Abound.

Throughout this wonderful book "Star Maker", I recognised many tropes which today seem commonplace among SciFi literature.

What the Star Maker actually is, and the pure prevalence of life in the books' Universe, have been common among similar books which I have read in the past, but not done in this highly entertaining format of writing.

I expect that quite a few of the common Science Fiction tropes originated with this book, and the author.

Or, if they did not originate with this and him, then he is the most influencial SciFi writer to put these tropes onto paper.

There is a LOT of dated science here, but all concepts were up to date with mid 1930's astronomy and physics.

I cannot say that the heavy "Spiritual" ideas in this book were of much interest to me for a good portion of the book, being an Atheist; But the theme was used very well in the context of the books' universe.

Tropes that I was actually expecting to see along the line sidn't show up; surprising me silly. Such as, halfway through the book it seemed lime it was going for the "Universe Egg" trope.

All in all, dated scientifically, like most old SciFi, and a wonderful read, or rather listen.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Couldn't Get Into This One

The sad truth is that I ended up using this audiobook to fill the silence while I worked on other things. It couldn't keep my attention and I do not remember what it was about.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

A true cosmic perspective

I loved this book, it explores some of the biggest and most fringe possibilities of existence within a logic frame. A masterpiece

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A Timeless Story

If you could sum up Star Maker in three words, what would they be?

Awesome, Expanding and Remarkable

What was one of the most memorable moments of Star Maker?

At the conclusion of the book the author wrote one of the best explanations of mankind's consciousness in relationship to all other potential forms of Being.

What about Andrew Wincott’s performance did you like?

I believe that he made the story come alive and I found that his voice never bothered me.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No single moment stood out however, the expanded state that was created within me grew steadily as I absorbed the story. I was constantly being challenged to reset and potentially accept the ideas that the author presents in the book. I loved this experience and recommend it to all.

Any additional comments?

Just because the book was written over 70 years ago don't think that it is dated. I would suggest that everyone allow themselves the experience of looking into the immense possibilities that exist and enjoy removing the self limiting thoughts and beliefs.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Dull with no plot

This book is like The Silmarillion, except for alien/religious sci-fi. There is no plot, only history and more existential angst than Nirvana could have ever hoped to imagine. The author would wiggle out of explain in the details of cool alien technology by saying he didn't have time or could not understand it. While a few novel concepts were introduced, it was mostly hackneyed and frustrating in my opinion. I don't recommend it.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Most thoughtful SF

This is more a philosophy book than a science fiction book. The power of the ideas here is striking, and it has been influential not only to other writers, but to science as well. The writing is at a literary level, so this should be appealing to the steady diet of classics crowd as well.

This is in fact a classic, and bears rereading. It deserves more attention as a part of our literary heritage. This is worth the time. It may become a big part of your life.

Simply Divine

This is the greatest book I have ever read. Sure, its not an easy read - even in audiobook format - but the immense size of the undertaking is incredible. It's like one of those images that zooms out from a grain of sand, up and up, until it is all the way to the end of spacetime and beyond. The philosophy in this book is simply outstanding, deep, thoughtful and insightful. The last few chapters... well, they are worth the price of entry alone.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Gave up at 50%

Imagine you went on a cruise and then listed all the places you had been, summarising the cultures and conditions experienced at each location. Being a bit of a wordsmith, you want to embellish the detail of each location, which you do you ad nauseam. You now take your creation and read it out using dreamy tones.
The above describes this book to a tee! No clot and no protagonists to love or hate. I stuck with it for as long as I could, but gave up halfway through. I can honestly say this was one of the worst books I have listened to in a long time.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Interesting but...

Long winded and dense. The book did not hold my attention and the message seemed overly moral. Probably ground breaking in its time but now somewhat dated.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Science Fiction Must Read

Where does Star Maker rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best , and helps you understand the history of Science Fiction and this must be one of the great books.

Who was your favorite character and why?

While there is a main character, it more about how this was written that's amazing. More than that i wouldn't want to give away.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to this book over three days, would of been shorter if it wasn't for previous commitments. It was so captivating

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Tour de force NOT

Endless musings. No really endless. And only musings.
Some interesting musings that give one thought and others that would be nice to be true. The whole book is based on one precept expanded and expanded to the entire universe but without adding depth or building with new ideas.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Not what I'd expected.

If this isn't science fiction, I don't know what I'd call it. However it's not like any other sci-if that I've read/listened to. Speculative fiction may be better, as it truly is. It has an element of spirituality to it as well. It's my first Olaf Stapledon, so I don't know if it's typical of his writing. It didn't always hold my attention, but my concentration is not the best.
Andrew Wincott may have some responsibility for my feelings about attention, or it could be that he did his best with what he had. I shall spend more time researching Stapledon's novels before risking another one. As such, there is nothing wrong with Star Maker, it just wasn't what I'd expected, even from its' descriptions. I couldn't really begin to relate this novel in a cover blurb. I got it because I'd come across a recommendation elsewhere as it being an early example of the genre. It has little in the way of what I think of as plot development, but that may suit other people. If you fancy this, I hope it suits you; it wasn't really my cup of sci-fi coffee.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Breathtaking

A powerful cosmic vision of a multitude of living forms and minds in an ever expanding multidimensional universe. That this could have been conceived in the 1930's is mind boggling. it is infused with the author's humanity and literary flair although the style won't suit everyone - it is an exhaustive decription of an endlessly unfolding dream/trip/experience that has you wondering - could this be real?

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Excellent narration

Where does Star Maker rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was my first audiobook.

What other book might you compare Star Maker to, and why?

All books are unique, but this book is more unique than all.

What about Andrew Wincott’s performance did you like?

Excellent clarity, expression completely in sync with the content of the narrative.
I'm starting to see now why quality of narration is so important. Although this is my first, I would imagine that it doesn't get much better than this guy.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Don't watch it, listen to the audiobook. The quality of the book is the imagination it compels.

Any additional comments?

Don't read it either, listen to the audiobook. It's an excellent book, but I bailed less than half way through. Listening to the audiobook is way more enjoyable.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

interesting theory and superbly thought out

I found the language a bit dry but it's a fascinating idea,
by the end I was struggling though: it comes over as a little pretentious in places.

simply because of the style, I found that I had to listen to this one over a long period of time: weeks rather than days. It's such heavy going and contains such formal and dry language that I found my attention drifting during some of the more in depth passages, some of which come across more like lectures than passages from fiction.

Even with the long reading / listening time, it's worth the effort ultimately, if you're a science fiction fan that is. I discovered the embryo of many other stories hidden within this epic. If you've read a lot of sci fi, I suspect you'll identify at least a dozen concepts here that form the basis of some very famous books.

As a catalyst for contemplation of existence it's masterful, and while certain scientific aspects have since been disproved, when you consider the year it was written, I think the science has stood up well. The majority of the ideas discussed are still valid, which makes one wonder how much of the 'fiction' could be accurate too... just imagining the scales of space and time involved makes my stomach lurch; I can't help wondering what the minds of its readers were thinking back when it was released, when science wasn't as prevalent or accessible as it is now. It must have been frightening!

If you prefer Lovecraft or Poe's writing style to Steven King, Neil Gaiman's, you'll love this. Even if you don't like the overly formal and unnecessarily complicated language, the ideas this story contains are well worth the effort.