Review

“Star Maker” by Olaf Stapledon is is by far one of the most immense works of fictions I have ever come across, not in terms of length, but in terms of ambition - Especially given that it was written in 1937. The pure scale of what he sets out to do with Star Maker is beyond the scope of what one thinks is possible. The book is best described as a ladder, where each step of the ladder is a step towards cosmical understanding and every time the reader feels that surely we have reached the final step, the author manages to take it yet another step further. If the famous answer of “42” from Douglas Adams were to be elaborated, this would be it.

It is clear that the author given great conscious thought to purpose and has done an amount of soul searching in terms of purpose of the universe and the answer that he comes up with is clearly written here. It is both a reflection of the time that he is in, but also a reflection on the future that he expects and humanity’s place therein. Having read the book it at times feels that he is putting other science fiction authors to shame as he manages to lay out the underpinnings for so many of the ideas that form the foundation for a number of books to later be published by other authors. So far, this would in my view by considered the bible of the ideas of science fiction.

Other similar works are difficult to find as many spring to mind, yet none of them are fully comparable because most books pale in terms of scale. The best bets would in my mind be “The Silmarillion” by J. R. R. Tolkien, yet also the books in The Hainish Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin spring to mind, but also “Anthem” by Ayn Rand and even “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx serves as great comparisons.

Score: 9/10

I am in awe of the imagination of Olaf Stapledon and his ability to make something that can be best described as “The Fictional Bible for the Scientific Mind” is simply mind-blowing. If one were to do drugs to expand ones mind, it wouldn’t be necessary, because Olaf Stapledon already did it for you and wrote it all down. Though the book can feel a bit dry and heavy to get through, I sincerely hope that the entirety of the human civilisation reads this book with an open mind and hopefully listens. Not only does he point out fundamental issues in our society, but he also proposes ideas, which could be considered for potential solutions.

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