Last and First Men vs Star Maker: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: English Science fiction, Long Now Manual for Civilization, English literature, Science Fiction, Fiction
Last and First Men
“... For love of France was the undoing of the French. They prized the truly admirable spirit of France so extravagantly, that they regarded all other nations as barbarians.”
One of the most succinct and accurate renderings of mankind's present state of mind and future progression. It documents the future of man from the start of WW2 and continues until the Sun engulfs the earth, and beyond.…
1 film adaptation
vs
Star Maker
“One night when I had tasted bitterness I went out on to the hill.”
After reading "Last and First Men", I approached Olaf's next masterpiece, "Star Maker" ( first published in 1937), with some disbelief as to how on earth he could possibly better the span, pathos and magnanimity he had…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Star Maker has the widest readership — 9798 ratings behind its score.
- Last and First Men runs the darker storyline; Star Maker stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Last and First Men | Star Maker | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (7206) | 3.9 (9798) |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (39) | 3.6 (62) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (11) | 4.5 (15) |
Reception
| Last and First Men | Star Maker | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 7206 | 9798 |
| Editions | 72 | 77 |
| Citations | 45 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 16739 | 26596 |
| Reading it now | 789 | 1575 |
| Written reviews | 681 | 1041 |
| Wikipedia attention | 5402 | 3886 |