First volume of the To The Stars trilogy. In this story of
post-Twentieth Century Earth, Man has recovered from the disaster wrought by
the Wasters who used up the planet's reserves of fossil fuels and
overpopulated the planet. The all-powerful oligarchical governments which
guided the people through the bad times have retained their powerful
positions. The population of Britain is divided into two classes, the
executive class and the proles. Unemployment runs at 90% among the proles,
while the upper-class lives comfortably.
Jan Kulozik is an engineer from the upper class. Rescued from a boating
accident by an Israeli spy-sub, he learns of Israel, the only remaining
democratic state, where all men are equal. He begins to question his own role
as a 'slave master', and becomes involved with the Israeli underground back in
England.
Homeworld is a bleak future vision, a post-microchip version of
Orwell's 1984, where the all powerful security forces watch every move
and plot lives as though they are pawns in a chess game.
'To The Stars' comes from a line in the final, optimistic, speech at the end
of the H.G. Wells film The Shape of Things To Come.
London: Granada, August 1980, 192pp., ISBN: 0-586- 05052-3, pbk. Cover: Peter Gudynas. Reprinted June 1982; July 1983; 1984, 1987; 1988, - all with Gudynas cover.
New York: Bantam, November 1980, 199pp., ISBN: 0-553-1391-7, pbk. Cover: Larkin. Reprinted October 1980; Jun 1981 (ISBN: 0-553-2024-7, Cover: Larkin); August 1984 (ISBN: 0-553-22644-9, Cover: Frank Morris).
in: To The Stars, p.1-153, New York: Doubleday (Book Club), 1981, hbk.
as: Heimwelt. Munich: Heyne, 1982, 204pp., ISBN: 3-453-30836-0, pbk. Cover: Eddie Jones. Translated by Thomas Schlück. [German]
as: Thuiswereld. Amsterdam: Rostrum, 1982, ISBN: 90-328-0211-9, pbk. Cover: Tony Roberts. Translated by Kees Van Toorn. [Dutch]
Tokyo: Sogen SF Bunko, 28th October 1983, 268pp. ISBN: 4-488-61705-0. Translated by Akinobu Sakai. [Japanese]
To the Stars Trilogy