Storyline: 2/5 
 Characters: 2/5 
 Writing Style: 3/5 
 World: 5/5 
 This was a mess. If I gave As for effort, Bester would be sure to make the honor roll. As it is, one has to make a lot of allowances for the time and the context of the writing and fall back on the "well, it's only science fiction after all," excuse for why so much was so poorly written. This was undoubtedly a striking and award-deserving book in 1953. In so many ways, as well, it survives the tests of time. Bester's future world, though antiquated with predictions of a pneumatic future, was fun and interesting. There were intriguing allusions to history that were smartly left unexplained, making the world feel much richer and full than the mere 243 pages would suggest possible. The paranormal portion of the tale was flush with detail, and Bester developed that world gently by having experts patiently explain it to laymen. The middle third of the book, too, had a great crime storyline that I enjoyed far more than I do typical murder mysteries. 
 With so much in its favor, what went wrong? Well, I'm always abashed when I come across science fiction that relied upon early-20th century, then-new psychology. Had Bester only dabbled or sampled from Freud, he could have built up his paranormal world without too frail of a base. From page one to the very end, however, the book was suffused with embarrassing and discredited ideas. Because the storyline itself was so dependent on the psychology, Bester lost perspective with the murder mystery/action adventure(view spoiler)[: this is the first murder in over 70 years and Bester helps us to feel the significance of Reich's initial decision. Then, though, we have two more murders and a couple of attempted murders and they're hardly worth investigating. This is a riveting crime story because murder isn't possible with the existence of espers. The entire crime plot is built on the investigative powers of the paranormal yet they wave away the subsequent murders (hide spoiler)]. This was pure sloppiness on Bester's part, and it took away from the gravity that was supposed to be center-story. Finally, the telling was loaded with promising ideas(view spoiler)[: Dishonest Abe, the killer instinct, the moral completeness of espers, demolition and redemption (hide spoiler)]. These are the areas in which the book could have said something meaningful or have created truly deep characters and motivations. In fact, Bester seems to suggest, at times, that they were big parts of the story, yet it didn't come through with the writing, pacing, and development. 
 This was undoubtedly an amazing book when it was written. Unlike most sci fi books that do not stand the test of time, it is not the technology that trips Bester but the social science. If the standard of evaluation is whether or not it was a fun murder mystery - then it is a success. If the standard is higher, if we want innovative ideas, timeless lessons, intriguing questions and answers, and careful development, this simply doesn't make it on the list of great books any longer.