Jaunting!

Space Opera, aside from in films (with the exception of Dune, too cheesy for me) is not a very appealing subject to me, and I can't figure out why. I like all the subject matter contained within such as space, and war, and women and spaceships and action. But something about it all just doesn't sit well with me.
The Stars My Destination was a bit surprising though, especially for being made in the 50's. Something made in the 50's automatically makes me think of films like Forbidden Planet, which was shown in class.

Stuff like this is too bad for me to get into. Even in a "so bad its funny" kind of way. Its just tasteless. But this book surprised me, the whole tattoo's that glow idea is something that obviously influenced some modern day sci-fi action stories and even video games. Even at first the story was reminding me of the Count of Montecristo minus the lover part. Then it seemed to take a turn in the direction of the Matrix where this one guy is the savior only he doesn't really know it yet. Its only when he unlocks his true powers and manages to teleport from planet to planet (or jaunt as they call it) that he realizes he's "the one" and has to lead the people to freedom. Even the back tracking to his birth is kind of like 2001: A Space Odyssey where in the end we see what could be perceived as either God or Dave as a newborn baby floating above the earth.