When 'The Star King' waltzed away with the Hugo Award in 1963, John Holbrook Vance (aka Ellery Queen) was already a noted science fiction author. However, this first in the Demon Prince series was his first award. And for me and many others, their first exposure great science fiction. Vance has always been a world creator, and in this series he let his imagination run uncheck, creating world's, galactic topologies, entire cultures and countless creatures to go with them. This was a whole order more amazing than Flash Gordon and Superman, and in short order, I was a sci-fi junkie of the first order.

Forty years later, this first tale of Kirth Gerson and his quest for revenge on the five slavers that destroyed his people is still just as readable. Gerson's quest has led him to Smade's Tavern out in The Beyond. Gerson witnesses a killing that leaves him with the coordinates of an unclaimed world that is so beautiful that Attel Malagate (The Woe) is determined to have it. In a series of adventures and accidents, Gerson manages to engineer a confrontation with Malagate's henchmen and finally the Star King himself. I don't want to give away much of the plot because it's charm is in the reading, but expect many twists and turns as threads unexpectedly come together.

Gerson is a complex character. Formed by his grandfather's compulsive need for revenge, the hunter/killer has never questioned his reason for being. Now as the possibility for attaining one of his goals draws near, Gerson begins to realize that there may be life after vengeance. He is not completely comfortable with his own humanity, and this will increase in importance as the series develops. In any case, Gerson is not a pure hero. In some ways, he is as evil as those he hunts. Yet his strong, no nonsense approach to the hunt and a self-consistent set of ethics makes him an extremely attractive main character

Vance isn't happy to provide the reader with just a compelling plot and set of good characters. He likes to fill in all the details of the universe in which his story unfolds. Each chapter has its set of quotes, short essays, planetology reports and other tidbits that gradually build up the context of the books until it has a life of its own. In these jaded times we would no doubt find some of his ideas a bit naïve, but most are still every bit as good a literary device as they were forty years ago.

Vance is one of the few writers who does not bring out a sequel because it is a year later. Instead he waits until the story is ready, making a series that is consistently delightful. This is a piece of science fiction history as well as a pure pleasure to ingest. If you like hard science fiction so finely grained that it reads like fantasy 'The Star King' is something you will come to relish and reread.

Kirth Gersen (sometimes called Keith Gersen) is a formidable bounty hunter and occasional secret agent/enforcer for an interstellar law agency. Gersen, however, has his own personal agenda: to seek out and kill the 5 super-criminals (known as the 5 Demon Princes) responsible for the raid on his home planet that left everyone but him and his grandfather dead or enslaved.

To that end, Gersen has been transformed by his grandfather into the ultimate instrument of vengeance. As his grandfather told him following the raid:

"Many fine things your father had planned for you: learning and useful work; a life of satisfaction and peace. All this is gone now, do you understand? But the learning you shall have - the use of your hands and mind. And useful work: the elimination of evil men. What work is more useful than this? Finally, I cannot give you peace, but I promise you ample satisfaction, for I shall teach you to crave the blood of these men more than the flesh of a woman."

True to his word, the old man forges his grandson into an unstoppable instrument of vengeance. In fact, Gersen often seems more a force a nature than a human being, more machine than man in his single-minded quest for revenge. His fighting prowess and physical abilities are without peer; likewise, his mind is sharp and focused.

In Gersen, Vance has created a hero in the classic mold: strong, skilled, intrepid and resourceful. Yet, he must be all of this and more as he hunts down the first Demon Prince, a member of an alien race known as "the Star Kings". The setting for all of this is the "Gaean Reach", which encompasses those areas of interstellar space to which man has gone. Gersen's agenda, however, takes him far beyond this realm into an area where man has seldom, if ever set foot.

If, as was all too possible during the years when this series was mostly out of print, you happened to have started at the wrong end of Kirth Gersen's quest for vengeance on the Demon Princes, the 5 crime lords responsible for the raid on Mount Pleasant that left all but Kirth and his grandfather dead or enslaved, you might have wondered how his quest could have taken him so long, since in the later stages he had amassed impressive resources and connections in gathering information.

Well, he didn't start out that way. (Obviously not, since he and his grandfather lost everything and everyone they loved in the raid.)

This book doesn't begin with the raid itself, or even with Gersen's grandfather shaping him as a tool for revenge (although Gersen's brooding on his memories serves to provide us with both). This phase of his lifelong hunt begins at Smade's Planet, owned and operated as the private preserve of Smade himself. (Practically speaking, it's a worthless hunk of uninhabited real estate, except for the area around Smade's Tavern itself, that legendary neutral ground where troublemakers are thrown into the sea - an advantage to running one's own personal planet, in this universe where interstellar law is nonexistent, certainly as far as the Beyond is concerned.) Gersen, making a precarious living as a bounty hunter while pursuing his private quest, meets Teehalt, a professional explorer who talks too much when he gets drunk. Teehalt has just found a world so beautiful that he can't bear to turn it over to his employer - Attel Malagate. Since Gersen has only just peeled back the layers insulating the Demon Princes from the Mount Pleasant raid, destiny seems to have presented him with his first target...

Malagate is unlike the other Demon Princes in several ways. The Woe is the only nonhuman among them, being a Star King - that ultra-competitive species who only leave their planet if they can pass for human, and have a chance to beat humans at their own game. He alone is neither flamboyant nor given to flights of ego - which, coupled with his alien mindset, don't ease Gersen's task of hunting him down. We see little of the terrible crimes Malagate has perpetrated, apart those affecting individuals such as Gersen himself.

Gersen's quest takes place in a universe wherein humans have had starflight for centuries - how many isn't at first apparent, but the reader learns from a passing weights-and-measures quotation that the calendar referenced throughout the book treats 2000 AD as its zero-point. Most chapters begin with a quote from some work within this universe - a Cosmopolis interview with Smade about his planet, for example. We learn that there is no interstellar government - and in the Beyond, the only large organization is the Deweaseling Corps, who exist to lynch all 'weasels' - agents of the Interworld Police Coordination Company (IPCC). All in all, Vance does an excellent job of creating a densely textured civilization - so much so that if the reader encounters an unfamiliar term, the best policy is to keep reading until Vance makes its meaning clear shortly thereafter (either from context or another helpful chapter heading).

The stories here address Jewish themes, but they also address more universally human themes. The best science fiction is as much about the characters and their motives as about technology. The truly sublime stuff gives us an insight into how technology affects the character's motives.

The stories in this book range from the merely great to the truly sublime. Most are humorous and these tend to be the most memorable. This book has quickly become an old friend I pick up when I don't have the energy to read a new book.

I read this book in its first release over twenty years ago. I lent my book out to many of my friends and eventually lost track of it. I just had to have another copy so I bought it once again. "Unto the Fourth Generation" was my introduction to Isaac Asimov and led to my love of his writing over the years. "Look, You Think You've Got Troubles" by Carol Carr is a humorous look at futuristic bigotry ... I think of it as a jewish Archie Bunker in space. All of these short stories are excellent and I look forward to re-reading each and every one of them..

Have you ever found a book that you simply fall in love with for no reason at all? I will confess, WANDERING STARS has enchanted me.

STARS is a book that transcends its target market. It is more than science fiction, more than Jewish. Its themes are universal, its stories are written for those of us who are solidly human.

That such a diverse group of writers could contribute to such a well-rounded anthology is not this book's biggest surprise. The laughter you hear rippling over each page takes that honor.

This book was fabulous. The author certainly knows his subject matter. I am looking forward to a film version of this book.

Contessa is the most touching book I have ever read. I was unable to put it down until i had finished it. I had gotton so emersed in the story that after I had finished it, it took another week to get over it. It affected me more than anything I had ever read before. This book gave me hope for my life! Her story is one of such success, in career and mainly in friendships. This is a truly wonderful story of overcoming extreme hatred and surviving through anything. Read it. It may open or change your mind, or at least allow you to understand!

I found Contessa to be a most entertaining book. It was difficult to put down because I became truly interested in the lives of Contessa and her friends. The book also paints a vivid portrait of pre Castro and present day Cuba.I think the book provides the perfect vehicle for a screen play and should be seriously considered by some Hollywood producer.

Captivating, well written, and extremely well-researched, this biography of one of the formative preachers of this century brilliantly blends biography and social history. This is not a religious book, but a story of one man seizing every opportunity to make the most of his life, to have "an adventure a day", to 'Zelig-like' be at "the center of immensities" of the issues and personalities of his day. Parallel to the story of this powerful and influential preacher is the story of Stidger's relationships to his fellow man, particularly the rich relationship that he sustained with his only daughter. A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BOOK.

This book explores the place where religion and pop culture meet. It is an honest and revealing look at the search for the American Dream via the church. Bill Stidger was a man who truly put himself on the line for what he believed. But like anyone, he had his imperfections. Jack Hyland illuminates the humanity in all his subjects. His earnest and devoted writing exposes the complexities of religion, family, fame and success. A highly recommended book.

This is a marvelous volume. It is meticulously researched and lovingly written by Bill Stidger's grandson. The book tells the story of the evangelist who inspired Sinclair Lewis to write Elmer Gantry. It is fascinating to observe the birth of the relationship between the electronic media and religion that would give rise years later to people like Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. The book is also a study of innovation and marketing and publicity in the Church in the first half of the last century, a reality normally overshadowed by the work of people like Billy Sunday and Father Coughlin. It is also the story of a family and a nation and the impact of a national ministry upon them. All in all it is a great combination. I am always thrilled when I really enjoy a book and learn a lot from it.

yo quiero tener este libro en español. este libro se llama originalmente the jacket, en español la camisa de fuerza.

I want have this book in spanish , too can produce a good traduction.

I read this book many years ago and it has stuck in my mind as one of the greatest books I have ever read. It is very different from most of London's books, but I think one of his best. It is truly an original idea and its contents will stay with you for a long time. It is also a great adventure novel!

It makes me very sad that only a few people knows about this book. It tells the story of a man who finds himself in prison. He is trapped in a madman's shirt, in order to confess facts he knew nothing about. Obliged to pass days and nights without being able to move a single muscle, living in complete darkness inside special punishment cells, he manages to avoid getting nuts and yet bravely resists his tortures' will. Developing a way of traveling with his mind, he escapes from all human suffering and still has the chance to watch his actions of past lives, finally understanding how most of his present beliefs and flaws had been built.This is a tale about FREEDOM and REDEMPTION! It makes you firmly believe that free spirits are unbeatable and that we can dream no matter how life is. For anybody who is familiar with London's deep feelings about life and dreaming and freedom, I must say that this is his best book ever. A glimpse of the deepest beliefs of a great writer who left us so soon. A MUST!!!

I can't believe this book is out of print! It tell the story of an angel who sacrifices herself to be the Star of Bethlehem. The ending is so touching, so beautiful, that it makes me cry every time I read it. It is a book for children and grown-ups and should be on everyone's shelf to share during the holidays. Why oh why did it go out-of-print?! I hope the publishers reconsider and republish it next holiday season!

This is really a wonderful book not just for children but for adults also. It's the story of an angel named Grace who gives up her heavenly life to come to earth to help Jesus Christ from his birth to his mortal death. If you are really on the fence about organized religion this is the book you need to help you explain to young children about the Savior's mission. It will also help explain selfless love and caring.

The illustrations in the book were great, really help kids and adults stay interested. This book is a Christmas Tradition in our home!

Jack Prestor, National Parks Special Agent, is sent to Death Valley to investigate the murder of an accountant. The accountant had been investigating the disappearance of funds from the park. Ev Brant is sent in to help Jack by continuing the investigation of the funds where the accountant left off. Before they've even been there 24 hours, another body is found buried at the scene of the murder. With an attacker trying to stop them from leaving the valley alive, they continue investigating, hoping to find the killer before he or she gets them. To make matters worse, a group of aging Hell's Angles has taken over the park, and Jack is caught in the crossfire between the park rangers and the bikers. It seems that the park will erupt in violence before Jack can even solve his first mystery.

This is a good mystery that kept me guessing until the last minute. The clues and red herrings are everywhere. Not to give anything away, but I didn't even interpret all the clues correctly. Yet, everything fit together perfectly in the end. The characters were really intriguing, too. I loved some of the interaction between Jack and Ev. I highly recommend this excellent book.

This story has a great moral to it as well as being very entertaining and interesting to both children and adults. The plus side of the cassette is that Jack Nicholson tells it in such a way that everyone will enjoy listening to it over and over again. The illustrations are perfect to fit the story and are great at intriguing the children. We have had this story through both of our sons and they both STILL enjoy this book. Hopefully will pass it on to the grandchildren. Tell your friends and family about this one.

This is a great introductory book because it is so concise and well written. The basic concepts of Nine Star Ki are presented in a way that is easily understood. However, please don't assume that it is only for beginners. It is an excellent resource for all levels!

No one knows more than Jack Foley about California poetry. A literary host on KPFA radio, as well as a reviewer, critic, and poet, he can be counted on to tell us what the Language poets, New Formalists, neo-Beats, and myriad movement-of-one poets are up to. In O Powerful Western Star, he brings his critical insights, artistic vision, and prodigious knowledge of literary history to bear in essays, interviews, and a timeline that chronicles events of the ever-evolving Northern California literary scene from 1940 through 1999. In addition to discussing the work of individual poets--including Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Allen Ginsberg, Gerald Vizenor, and Larry Eigner--Foley explores issues such as the relationship between the spoken and written word in poetry and the simultaneous emergence of new forms of expression in visual art and poetry. The book has an introduction by Dana Gioia and a companion volume, Foley's Books, with essays, reviews, and interviews on the work of many more poets. O Powerful Western Star comes with a CD that proves literary criticism can be a performance art. But perhaps only Jack Foley can make it so.