Has anyone read Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker?

[Red-Headed]

Has anyone read any of Olaf Stapledon's novels, particularly 'Last & First Men' or especially 'Star Maker' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Maker)?

[Dinkleberry2010]

I've read Star Maker, and I have to say that it is one of the great sci fi novels; it is up there with Stranger In A Strange Land, Childhood's End, and 2001. When you think that Star Maker was written in the 1920s, it makes you realize what a great writer Stapledon was. Star Maker was the first philosophical and epical sci fi novel.

[Red-Headed]

Yes, I agree it is up there with the greats. I read 'Stranger in a Strange Land' many years ago & that is also a classic. Stapledon was also a philosopher & utilised what he called 'speculative fiction' to illustrate some of his concepts.

These include:

1/ Moral obligation as a teleological requirement.

2/ Ecstasy as a cognitive intuition of cosmic excellence.

3/ Personal fulfilment of individual capacities as an intrinsic good.