Las Estrellas son la Estigia

by Theodore Sturgeon

Autor ganador del International Fantasy Award, del Premio Hugo y del Gran Master Nebula.
Presentados por el propio autor, se reúnen en este volumen diez grandes relatos de uno de los escritores más brillantes que ha dado la ciencia ficción. Cuando la obra de la mayor parte de sus contemporáneos de la Edad de Oro de la ciencia ficción se encuentra notablemente envejecida, la
profunda humanidad que caracteriza a la prosa de Sturgeon, incisiva y precisa como un bisturí, le hace alcanzar la intensidad que caracteriza a los clásicos. Este libro es un rescate, un homenaje y con un reecuentro con una de las figuras más injustamente olvidadas de la ciencia ficción.
"La magia de la prosa de Theodore Sturgeon yace en su comprensión de las muchas formas que hay de ser humano." -- Larry Niven
"Un maestro en el arte de contar historias, capaz de fascinar a toda clase de lectores..., y no sólo a los amantes de la ciencia ficción." -- Kurt Vonnegut

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy, Collections

330 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Theodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. The author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa, Sturgeon also wrote for television and holds among his credits two episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, for which he created the Vulcan mating ritual and the expression "Live long and prosper." He is also credited as the inspiration for Kurt Vonnegut's recurring fictional character Kilgore Trout.

Sturgeon is the recipient of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the International Fantasy Award. In 2000, he was posthumously honored with a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stars Are the Styx is a collection of nine novelettes and one novella from various issues of Galaxy magazine (and one from If, which, as Sturgeon notes in his introduction, was really the same thing) that appeared from 1950 - 1971. I always thought of Sturgeon as more of an Astounding/Campbell or F&SF writer, and it's kind of odd/interesting that he did a whole Galaxy volume. There are some very good science fiction and/or fantasy stories, though he was really writing literature about people trying to deal with other people. Sturgeon almost always put character ahead of any other concern. Sturgeon added a nice introduction, and each story has some interesting contextual prefatory observations. The cover of the Dell paperback is worth noting, too: it's a panting by the fabulous Rowena Morrill that features the author as Charon piloting lost souls across the Styx with Cerebrus looking on from the shore. You can't go wrong with Sturgeon at the helm. My favorites are the title story, Rule of Three, and Occam's Scalpel.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admire the heck out of Sturgeon, but I gotta say, I don't always love his stories. However, I do appreciate that his women are competent and interesting.

In this collection, I appreciate the notes prefacing each story. My favorite story is probably the title one, which reminded me of nothing so much as sort of rom-com with a certain kinship to A Midsummer's Night Dream.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10. Media de los 6 libros leídos del autor : 6/10.
Me quedo con “Venus mas X”...

[Temucano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es especial Sturgeon. No escribe con la razón, ni con argumentos enrevesados, ni la lógica impera en sus relatos, sino que es pura emoción, intenso reflejo de las sensaciones experimentadas por los protagonistas, incluyendo sus dobles personalidades.

En esta antología abundan aquellos seres con poderes "anormales" tratando de adaptarse a nuestra sociedad o viceversa. Mis relatos favoritos fueron "El escalpelo de Occam", "La educación de Drusilla Strange" y "Cuando sonríes", todos ellos fiel reflejo del genio del autor.

[Franco Santos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Relatos muy aburridos. Sólo algunos valen la pena de leer por el final. El último es uno de los que más me gustaron; te da muchas preguntas en las que pensar y tiene una conclusión magnífica. Hay otros tres cuentos que también tienen una buena terminación, pero únicamente eso; todo lo demás es muy tedioso. Creo que hubo cinco relatos que me "agradaron": el primero, La Historia de Tandy; el segundo, Regla de Tres; el quinto, Cuando sonríes; el séptimo, El Otro Hombre y el último, Deslumbrados. Pero esas cinco historias distan mucho de ser muy buenas.

[Jorge Villarruel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toda una revelación encontrarme con Theodore Sturgeon, casi por casualidad. Aunque conocía al autor de nombre, no había leído nada suyo hasta ahora, ¡y qué bueno que lo hice! Las estrellas son la Estigia es un libro extraordinario, una colección de diez relatos que tocan lo fantástico y la ciencia ficción, se meten en ambos géneros y les dan la vuelta desde adentro, mostrando por una parte el funcionamiento del cuento y, por otra, de la mente humana.

La sensibilidad poética y honestidad de la prosa de Sturgeon, dotan a la obra de una profundidad emocional que no son lo más común en obras de ciencia ficción. Más que un muestrario de maravillas, estos relatos son una exploración del pensamiento, del comportamiento y de las emociones que puede experimentar el ser humano ante las situaciones más comunes (el enamoramiento o los celos) o descabelladas (encontrarse con que uno ha viajado 50 años en el futuro sólo dando un paso), así como una crítica a la aparentemente infinita estupidez del ser humano que, aunque sepa que se está matando a sí mismo, no se le ocurre nada mejor que seguir haciéndolo.

De eso debería tratarse la ciencia ficción, de la realidad. No sólo como podría llegar a ser si no tenemos cuidado o como quisiéramos que fuera, sino como en realidad es.

[Cat Noe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guy is impossible to not love, whether you think he's a great writer or not.
The writing is ok. Often, I have to read back to decipher him; he's not always quite clear in his prose. Some of the science is theoretical at best, dated if I'm being unkind, but as far as interpersonal psychology, I'd trust him with kids any day, and I can't say that about most people.
How do you really screw a growing person? Teach them to be afraid to have opinions, quick track, destroy what they love, then provoke them any time you want to pretend they've done something wrong- and blame them when you hurt them.
I loved Styx just for the justice of it. There's no such thing as MPD (though the polarizing experienced by many young victims of abuse, particularly sexual abuse, can mimic it when paired with natural disassociation) but he was thinking on the right subjects, and moving ever towards healing what goes wrong in society-

Are lightbringers always crucified?
Sometimes they're just- forgotten.
Ted's still worth reading
If there are still people worth reaching

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a lot of Heinlein in my youth and so often heard or read that he was friends with Ted Sturgeon. For whatever reason, however, I never followed up on this to read any actual Sturgeon. I've been trying to work in more scifi from that era and so this is a good fit. The collection includes 10 stories originally published from 1950 - 71.
The title story is a good microcosm of Sturgeon's work. He sets up a premise that is entirely science fiction: a space platform that is a launching point for the next generation of interstellar explorers. Half of those embarking from here will die instantly (at least from their point of view), and so explorers tend not to want to jump in a ship the first chance they get. They also tend to be unique personalities that no longer fit in on an increasingly homogenous earth. Furthermore, the ships are outfitted for two, so many people tend to take some time to try to find someone (usually of the opposite sex) to ship out with. Reigning over the station (in a classic scifi conceit) is just one man who judges when someone is ready to have access to a spacecraft. He is also narrator, so you can't really argue with what he says - the entire story is filtered through him. If you can suspend your disbelief that the most important enterprise in human history rests with one dude with nearly infallible judgement, then the rest should follow naturally. This is his story of how his judgement is almost perfect; the one mistake he made. Of course it involves a woman - a queerly mysogonistic vision of a completely self-centered woman who happens to ruin the life of the ultimate nice guy friend of the narrator. As the tale plays out, the reader gets to see Sturgeon's attitude toward civilization (confining), women (not all bad, but rather like Heinlein, very much of his age) and interpersonal politics (nice people vs the egoists.) And really, this is the fascinating aspect to this story and indeed the best of Sturgeon's work: the way he intersects plot with his personal view of the world. The world I was transported to was not the far future, but the world of Sturgeon's eye. That his world is also well written, makes it easy to recommend.

[Yve · Rating 1 out of 5]

After really enjoying E Pluribus Unicorn I was disappointed with how many of these novelettes dragged on. When You're Smiling and The Stars Are The Styx are the two that I liked and the reason this book gets a star. Also thought it was funny that Granny Won't Knit (one of my least favorites) was from the same idea as The Stars My Destination. But I wouldn't recommend this volume, I felt that the stories were all just long enough to be laborious yet not long enough to make further developments, and from what I read Sturgeon seems better adapted in short fantasy/horror rather than science fiction like the majority of this book.

[Mick · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some fine stories in this anthology, with interesting scenarios and concepts. But, to be honest, I did not really enjoy it that much.
Reading these stories felt like being preached at, and I hate being preached at. I get the same feeling when I read most of Heinlein. But unlike Heinlein, reading Sturgeon feels like being preached at by a kindergarten teacher, reminding you of the importance of being nice to one another. I'm OK with the nice person (which for Sturgeon is always also the open minded, tolerant person) winning, but Sturgeon pretty much hits you over the head with it.
That having been said, a few of the stories were still interesting enough to be enjoyable.

[Groucho42 · Rating 5 out of 5]

2020 reread for the first time in who knows how long. The above says hardcover, but mine's a 1979 paperback.

Wonderful collection from a great short story writer. The title story is, as isn't the case in many collections, one of the best. It's a mix of fantasy and SF and his mind wanders onto interesting ideas. While it is an artifact of its time. The concepts and much of the plotting hold up today. No surprise, it's the conversations other cultural elements that are dated. Fortunately, they are nowhere near as bad as in some older writer, so it's still a fun collection.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

His short stories are as good as his novels!

[Yuliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excepcional!!

[Erick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always a true pleasure to read Theodore Sturgeon and more people should!

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Stars are the Styx
Attempts at pairing for purpose of future colonisation. Jealousy and deceit. Reasonably good story. ***