Starmaker definitely one of Stapledon's best (Score 1)

Several people have mentioned Last and First Men and someone mentioned Sirius. I discovered Stapledon over 20 years ago and tried to read everything he wrote: I liked Starmaker and Last and First Men that much. Unfortunately, I can't say much for the likes of "A man divided" or "Darkness and Light." Each has its moments that approach the quality of his better novels, but the average quality is lower and sometimes simply cliche. About 10-15 years ago, I encountered a paperback reprint of a Stapledon novella called Nebulamaker, which represented a prequel to Starmaker and has much the same themes. Its use of sentient Nebula certainly predates Hoyle's Black Cloud by 20 years or more. I certainly wouldn't recommend Stapledon to everyone, but his best work certainly has earned a special place in my library and my philosophy. I'm glad to see that publishers besides Dover (meaning no slight to Dover) are continuing to reprint Stapledon. predates Hoyl'e