Aaron's Book of the Week :: Jumper by Steven Gould

The Book of the Week is Jumper by Steven Gould, in honor of the film version opening this weekend. Jumper is the story of Davy, a young man who discovers he has the innate gift of teleportation (or "jaunting" as Alfred Bester called it in his 1957 classic The Stars My Destination), an ability that complicates his life more than one might expect. Teleportation is a favorite theme of Steven Gould, figuring in three of his seven novels. His other favorite topic is environmental concerns, central to three of his novels, including one in collaboration with his wife, also a successful SF writer who we will see in next week's BOTW.

This is the first paperback printing of Jumper, published in 1993. It is not especially valuable, but perhaps will become so if the movie is any good. One never can be confident of how Hollywood will adapt a science fiction novel, which is why Steven Gould has recently been spotted wearing a t-shirt that says, "Never judge a book by its movie." The preview looks good, but initial reviews are not promising. (A rather common pattern -- what a happy tradeoff it would be if Hollywood were not so good at making trailers and a little better at making movies.) After introducing Steven Gould's wife next week, the following week's BOTW will be another novel that was adapted by Hollywood recently, one that definitely is a collector's item.