OPUS#214 Star of Life, The

by

OPUS: #214
Title: The Star of Life (Excerpt)
Author: Edmond Hamilton
Year: 1947
Type: novella
Synopsis: Kirk Hammond is frozen in space and then enters the Earth 10,000 years in the future. He encounters three species of man kind: humankind who make up most of the galaxy, the Vramen who never die because they live on the restricted planet whose sun is the Star of Life. Mankind wants desperately to enjoy eternal life too, but the Vramen will not allow it.
“Kirk Hammond leads a future civilization in a desperate struggle against rule by a minority which derives its power through knowledge of the secret of immortality!”
Publications:

  • Startling Stories, Vol. 14, no. 3, January 1947, (Jan 1947, ed. Sam Merwin, Jr., publ. Better Publications, Inc.; Chicago, $0.15, 116pp, Pulp, magazine), pp. 13-71. Cover: Earle Bergey; Illust: Marchioni
  • The Star of Life, (Feb 1959, Edmond Hamilton, publ. Dodd, Mead/Torquil, $2.95, 192pp, hc)
  • The Star of Life, (Feb 1959, Edmond Hamilton, publ. Dodd, C$3.50, 192pp, hc)
  • The Star of Life, (Apr 1959, Edmond Hamilton, publ. Dodd, Mead/Torquil / SFBC, $1.20, 192pp, hc)
  • The Star of Life, (Oct 1959, Edmond Hamilton, publ. Crest, #s329, $0.35, 187pp, pb) Cover: Richard Powers
  • as Man Who Missed the Moon, Star Weekly (Toronto, Canada). (8/15-1959)
  • as Man Who Missed the Moon, in: Corsicana Daily Sun, []-[], 1959.
  • as Man Who Missed the Moon, in: The Times Recorder, []-[], 1959.
  • as Man Who Missed the Moon, in: The Decatur Daily, []-[], 1959.
  • as Man Who Missed the Moon, in: The Titusville Herald, []-[], 1959.
  • as Man Who Missed the Moon, in: Republican and Herald, []-[], 1960.
  • as Man Who Missed the Moon, in: Simpson’s Leader-Times, []-[], 1960.
  • as Man Who Missed the Moon, in: Tyrone Daily Herald, 1959-1961 [info]
  • as Man Who Missed the Moon, in: Reading Eagle (Sunday Eagle : Book of the Week), Jan. 24, 1960-April 10, 1960. [ebook]
  • Space Opera, (Aug 1974, ed. Brian W. Aldiss, publ. Futura, 0-86007-058-1, £0.50, 324pp, pb, anth) Cover: Eddie Jones
  • Space Opera, (Nov 1974, ed. Brian W. Aldiss, publ. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 0-297-76811-5, £, 324pp, hc, anth)
  • THE EIGHTY-MINUTE HOUR, Aldiss, Doubleday, 1974
  • THE EIGHTY-MINUTE HOUR, Aldiss,Cape (UK), 1974
  • Space Opera, (1975, ed. Brian W. Aldiss, publ. BCA by arrangement with Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 324pp, hc, anth) Cover: Brian Aldiss
  • Space Opera, (1975, ed. Brian W. Aldiss, publ. Futura, 0-86007-847-7, £0.60, 324pp, pb, anth)
  • Space Opera, (Mar 1975, ed. Brian W. Aldiss, publ. Doubleday, 0-385-07873-0, $7.95, 322pp, hc, anth) Cover: Lawrence Ratzkin
  • Space Opera, (May 1975, ed. Brian W. Aldiss, publ. Doubleday / SFBC, #1064, $1.98, 304pp, hc, anth) Cover: Lawrence Ratzkin
  • THE EIGHTY-MINUTE HOUR, Aldiss,Pan Books(UK), 1975
  • Space Opera, (Mar 1977, ed. Brian Aldiss, publ. Berkley Medallion, 0-425-03344-9, $1.50, xii+243pp, pb, anth) Cover: Vincent Di Fate
  • THE EIGHTY-MINUTE HOUR, Aldiss, Triad/Panther(UK), 1985
  •  The Star of Life, (Sep 2008, Edmond Hamilton, publ. Baen, 978-0-245-23226-8, $4.00, ebook)
  • King of Stars, (Sep 2008, Edmond Hamilton, publ. Baen, $20.00, ebook, omni) Cover: Doug Chaffee

Contents
Chapter 1 Space Doom 13
Chapter 2 Return to Life 16
Chapter 3 New Earth 18
Chapter 4 After Ten Thousand Years 21
Chapter 5 Peril from the Sky 25
Chapter 6 Vraman Girl 27
Chapter 7 Weird Attack 30
Chapter 8 In Rurooma 32
Chapter 9 Prison Planet 36
Chapter 10 Star-Men’s Hatred 40
Chapter 11 Inside the Force-Wall 44
Chapter 12 Into the Sun-Swarm 47
Chapter 13 On Mysterious Althar 51
Chapter 14 Alien City 54
Chapter 15 The Fight with the Machine 58
Chapter 16 Dread Revelation 61
Chapter 17 In the Sky City 64
Chapter 18 Battle and Death 68

Reviews:

  • Gardner, Thomas S., “From Fan-tods : It’s Fiction, but is it science?,” in: Fantasy Aspects, issue 2 (Nov. 1947), p. 9.
  • Gammell, Leon L., The Annotated Guide to Startling Stories, Starmont House, 1986, p. 21. “Pretty fair interplanetary novel of the far future, somewhat more philosophical in tone than most of the works of this admittedly somewhat repetitive but still remarkably imaginative and entertaining author. This is the story of the Star of Life, a unique luminary whose rays endow humans with immortality and create profound mutations in their germ plasm, engendering entirely new species of humanity in their offspring — the Second Men, immortal and brilliant, who control interstellar civilization of the future, the Third Men, colossal intellects interested solely in scientific and philosophical experimentation and research. Full of cliches and overly convenient coincidences, but still a damned good read even today. Reprinted in hardcover in 1959 by Torquil, NY, and by Crest in paperback the same year.”

ebook: http://www.unz.org/Pub/StartlingStories-1947jan-00013