To the Stars

In this high-end space opera, L. Ron Hubbard reveals himself to have been far more than the reclusive creator of Scientology--he was a skilled sci-fi scribe and futurist. A tough, edgy tale explores the emotional and cultural fallout of near-light-speed travel: Your fresh-faced sweetheart may be senile by the time you return to Earth, and you may not speak the native tongue so well anymore. As TO THE STARS tackles the existential problems of relativity and coming-of-age, a cast of talented pros, strong character development, and sterling production values make this a rich listen. Special kudos to Jim Meskimen as the terse, enigmatic Captain Jocelyn and to the sound effects team for a smashing, lush job. Alluring packaging plus a bonus CD of tone poems by jazz favorite Chick Corea makes this a standout audio offering. D.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

Starred review from August 30, 2004
Hubbard (1911–1986) was one of the great pulp writers, and this brief SF novel, initially published in two parts in 1950 by John W. Campbell in Astounding Science Fiction
, is one of his finest works. In it, Hubbard embraces one of SF's deepest goals, to explore the emotional consequences of technological advance, by imagining the effect upon star-faring humans of the "basic equation of mass and time.... AS MASS APPROACHES INFINITY, TIME APPROACHES ZERO." That is, as those who travel to distant stars at near light speed experience, say, the passing of a year, those left behind will experience the passing of decades, centuries. And so young nobleman Alan Corday responds in horror when, on Earth, he's kidnapped to the interstellar trader Hound of Heaven
by order of its notorious Captain Jocelyn, who needs a new officer. Alan resists joining starship society, but when he returns home from several adventures in hopes of rejoining his fiancée, he finds her an ancient amnesiac and himself a man out of time, with no real home but that of the cursed starship. In heated prose ("The quivering Hound of Heaven
hurled herself on course, blazing bow to bridge with particle flame..."), Hubbard brilliantly evokes the vastness of space and the tragedy of those who would conquer it. The novel's turning point—Alan's reckoning with time's implacability—is narrated suspensefully, but comes as no surprise; what does impress immensely is Hubbard's handling of the bitter consequences of Alan's realization, as well as his believable detailing of starship society. Readers used to today's bloated SF tomes will appreciate Hubbard's ability to pack an epic into relatively few pages—this is indeed golden SF from the Golden Age. (Sept.)

Forecast:
In an unusual move, legendary jazz master Chick Corea has created an identically titled soundtrack to the novel, also issued by Galaxy. With its enormous marketing muscle ready to tap into the vast Hubbard fan base and beyond, Galaxy should see both the
book and the CD flirting with national lists.