5,271,009

"5,271,009" is a science fiction/fantasy short story by American writer Alfred Bester. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, in 1954, it is also known as "The Starcomber".[1]

"5,271,009" was inspired by this Fred Kirberger painting of a prisoner on an asteroid. Note the serial number "5271009" on the prisoner's chest.

Plot summary

To repair the mind of insane artist Jeffrey Halsyon, supernatural being Solon Aquila causes Halsyon to live out various wish fulfillment scenarios — all of which are terribly flawed.

History

The story was commissioned to fit a pre-existing piece of cover art, wherein a man in a prison uniform (with the serial number 5271009) is shackled to an asteroid.[2]

Bester subsequently explained "5,271,009" as being the number of decisions a man must make in his life;[3] as well, the number features in each scenario in some way.

Reception

David Langford has described it as "one of [his] favourite shorts (by Bester)",[1] and Tim Sullivan called it "an extraordinary exploration of solipsism."[4]

Critic and editor Sherryl Vint has posited that the story might be read as "an analogy for [Bester's] relationship to sf",[3] while Fiona Kelleghan has described Aquila as "a sort of fallen angel".[5]

References
  1. Author's Note, in Starcombing, by David Langford, originally published by Wildside Press, 2009
  2. Age of Wonders: Exploring the World of Science Fiction, by David G. Hartwell; published January 24, 2017, by Macmillan Publishers
  3. Alfred Bester (1913-87), by Sherryl Vint, in Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction (edited by Mark Bould, Andrew Butler, Adam Roberts, and Sherryl Vint; published September 10, 2009, by Routledge
  4. SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY, by Tim Sullivan, in the Washington Post; published November 30, 1997; retrieved October 18, 2018
  5. Hell's My Destination: Imprisonment in the Works of Alfred Bester, by Fiona Kelleghan, in Science Fiction Studies, #64 = Volume 21, Part 3 = November 1994; archived at DePauw University
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