"5,271,009" is a science fiction/fantasy short story by American writer Alfred Bester. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, in 1954, it is also known as "The Starcomber".Author's Note, in Starcombing, by David Langford, originally published by Wildside Press, 2009
Plot summary
To repair the mind of insane artist Jeffrey Halsyon, supernatural being Solon Aquila causes Halsyon to live out various wish fulfillment scenarios –all of which are terribly flawed.
History The story was commissioned to fit a pre-existing piece of cover art, wherein a man in a prison uniform (with the serial number 5271009) is shackled to an asteroid.Age of Wonders: Exploring the World of Science Fiction, by David G. Hartwell; published January 24, 2017, by Macmillan Publishers
Bester subsequently explained "5,271,009" as being the number of decisions a man must make in his life;Alfred Bester (1913-87), by Sherryl Vint, in Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction (edited by Mark Bould, Andrew Butler, Adam Roberts, and Sherryl Vint; published September 10, 2009, by Routledge also, the number features in each scenario in some manner.
Reception David Langford has described it as "one of [his] favourite shorts (by Bester)", and Tim Sullivan called it "an extraordinary exploration of solipsism." SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY, by Tim Sullivan, in the Washington Post; published November 30, 1997; retrieved October 18, 2018
Critic and editor Sherryl Vint has posited that the story might be read as "an analogy for [Bester's] relationship to sf", while Fiona Kelleghan has described Aquila as "a sort of fallen angel".Hell's My Destination: Imprisonment in the Works of Alfred Bester, by Fiona Kelleghan, in Science Fiction Studies, #64 = Volume 21, Part 3 = November 1994; archived at DePauw University
References
External links 5,271,009 at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database