May 2009: "The Stars, My Desination" by Alfred Bester

May's selection is the Alfred Bester classic, "The Stars, My Destination."

When it comes to pop culture, Alfred Bester (1913-1987) is something of an unsung hero. He wrote radio scripts, screenplays, and comic books (in which capacity he created the original Green Lantern Oath). But Bester is best known for his science-fiction novels, and The Stars My Destination may be his finest creation. First published in 1956 (as Tiger! Tiger!), the novel revolves around a hero named Gulliver Foyle, who teleports himself out of a tight spot and creates a great deal of consternation in the process. With its sly potshotting at corporate skullduggery, The Stars My Destination seems utterly contemporary, and has maintained its status as an underground classic for forty years. (Bester fans should also note that Vintage has reprinted The Demolished Man, which won the very first Hugo Award in 1953.)

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, May 27 at 6:30 p.m.

April 2009: "Altered Carbon" by Richard K. Morgan

April's selection is Richard K. Morgan's debut novel, "Altered Carbon." The novel won the Philip K. Dick award in 2003 and is the first of the Takeshi Kovacs trilogy.


In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning. . . .

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, April 22 at 6:30 p.m.

March: "Seventh Son" by Orson Scott Card

March's selection is the first in Orson Scott Card's "Seventh Son." It's the first installment in Card's Alvin Maker series, which currently stands at six books. (Card has hinted more may be on the way....)

From the author of Ender's Game, an unforgettable story about young Alvin Maker: the seventh son of a seventh son. Born into an alternative frontier America where life is hard and folk magic is real, Alvin is gifted with the power. He must learn to use his gift wisely. But dark forces are arrayed against Alvin, and only a young girl with second sight can protect him.

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m.

2009 Selections

January: Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein
February: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
March: Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card
April: Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
May: The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
June: Santiago by Mike Resnick
July: The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet / Perelandra / That Hideous Strength) by C. S. Lewis
August: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
September: Someplace To Be Flying by Charles DeLint
October: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
November: Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber