The Stardroppers

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The Stardroppers
John Brunner
Cover artistJack Gaughan
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherDAW Books
Publication date
1972
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Paperback)

The Stardroppers is a

Ace Double in 1963; in 1972 the revised, novel-length form was published by DAW Books
.

Plot introduction

The Stardroppers is about an undercover United Nations agent investigating a new fad, "stardropping", whereby physics-violating equipment is used to listen to sounds believed to be alien or paranormal signals. Superficially a harmless but expensive hobby, stardropping reigns in a fanaticism resembling addiction, where some users assemble in semi-social communes and spend all of their money on increasingly improved equipment. The fad gains an additional aspect of risk when users begin disappearing into thin air, in cases of increasing profile and witnessing.

Reception

Lester del Rey characterized the novel as "a good adventure story [but] not of one Brunner's stronger literary efforts."[1]

References

  1. ^ "Reading Room", If, April 1973, p.167