Customer Reviews (1)

Really the Best!
This collection of Science Fiction Short stories is phenomenal. Each story prods our thinking and is easy to relate with. One ends up appricating this great authors imagination as I felt as if I was living through the wholething. Old But Gold. ... Read more

Product Description
A thrilling tale of a struggle to save Earth from Armageddon, written by one of the crucial authors of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Disaster is quickly approaching and the only ones who know of it are Allison Stephens and a group of ancient sinister aliens. Now the aliens plan to abandon Earth and seek a new home. "Packed with unexpected surprises."--SF Booklist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Everything Moves but the House
Van Vogt was known as the master of the "re-complicated" story, often winding twenty or more different plot threads together in an intricate weave, and often writing each segment of plot in about 1000 word increments. This trait is quite obvious within this rather short work, which today would normally be classed as a novella, not a full-fledged novel.

And that may the major problem with this work - it's just too short, and things that could use a lot more description and build-up just don't get it. The work's basic concept is of an extremely old house in southern California that confers on its resident's immortality. Structured somewhat like many mystery/crime thrillers, the plot follows Allison Stephens, a lawyer who has as one of his accounts the responsibility for the estate attached to this old house, as he works his way through murders, cults, mask-wearing people, and love affairs till he finally comes to the realization of just what is really going on with this house and its owners/inhabitants. All the incidents happen pell-mell as is typical for van Vogt, and this does make for quick reading, but it also leaves out the atmosphere, the other-worldliness, of the situation. Given the age and long history of this house, a much more detailed exposition of its past and its inhabitants would have helped greatly in this regard. As it is, there just aren't enough emotional gripping points to make the reader really care either about Stephens or the house.

Another mild annoyance was that Stephens is described as a lawyer, but the actions he takes don't fit a person of that profession, but rather that of a detective, in the mold of Mike Hammer or some of the other hard-boiled types that spotted the literary landscape during the fifties, a character type that van Vogt was clearly trying to emulate, though he is only mildly successful at it.

There is some dating to this book, written in 1950, just at the start of the 'atomic age', and there is some speculation about transuranic elements and how atomic wars might be waged that reads very quaintly today, which does form a fairly significant sub-plot to this work, but the book is not greatly marred by this. The prose is definitely of fifties pulp magazine flavor, though he does avoid the worst excesses of that 'style'.

Far from van Vogt's best, but it still makes for a quick beach read.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

The House That Stood Still
This is an early Science Fiction book written by one of the fathers of the genre, A E van Vogt who died in 2000.I read it when I was a school boy in the 1950s and had always sought to read it again but could not locate a copy.Amazon located a hardcover in pristine condition for a very modest price.This was a good story.By modern standards we would consider it little more than a novella but in view of how van Vogt is regarded today it would have to be considered a classic.Thank you Amazon for locating this book for me.

The Unwinding Mystery
A medium sized group of immortal people live on the planet Earth.Only a few people outside the group know of it due to some of the members of the group who brought it out into the open.The group is unaware of the plans of the members who exposed the group.These plans were to take over The House and lead the group.The House has been around since the group was first created.The house keeps the people immortal.

Allison Stephens, a lawyer and agent of the Tannahill estate, is one of the people who found out about the group.He is a mortal.He investigates the group and starts to learn more and more about the history of the group and who they really are.Many of the members in the group become irritated with Stephens learning more about them and so they paid him a few very unfriendly visits.Mistra Lanett, an immortal and sexual partner of Stephens, is very important to the story. She meets up with Stephens many times in the story and gives him a lot of information on the group.

I would recommend this book to science fiction lovers only!The book is a classic science fiction book.The neat thing about this book is that it was written in 1950 and you can get a feel of what people back then thought the future would be like.The book does have its slow parts, and even sometimes makes no sense, but with a killer surprise ending, this book is a must read for science fiction lovers.

Solid story
A house ,built in the unknown past ,is making people immortal. That is the idea ,but as always with Van Vogt ,the idea is merely an excuse to throw at the reader his captivating charecters and plot.

This book is built much like regular detective-like ,mystery books ,and delivers a satisfyings read. Not one of the masterpieces ,but a fine one ,with the known plot-twists a little turned down ,yet somehow he keeps surprising you.

One of A. E. Van Vogt best!
I should state from the begining I am a Van Vogt fan. In saying this I also acknowledge that some of his works are complete trash, but when he's good he's hot! As far as his later works go if you liked Tyranopolis,Cosmic Encounter and Quest for the Future then you will like this. Thisnovel combines an excellent mixture of SF, detective, mystery andwhodunnit. You follow Alison Stephens as he deals with cults, murders,people from the past and one strange would-be-girl friend, (he hopes). Asis usual in most Van Vogt novels there are numerous twists and turnsthroughout the plot to keep you interested and on your toes. Do yourself afavour - Get it! ... Read more

Product Description
From the mind of Science Fiction Grand Master, A. E. van Vogt, comes five imaginative bizarre tales of the future.

The Earth Killers—What if you were blamed for the destruction of the Earth? And what if you were the only one who had the key to what really happened? The Star-Saint—A superman of space is willing to save your colony, but at what cost? The Enchanted Village—As the only survivor of a doomed expedition to Mars, your only chance of survival is to live in a deserted Martian village that is designed for a life that is totally alien to man. Itself!¬—Something is lurking beneath the sea. It is enormous, lethal and very angry! The Expendables—A multi-generational spaceship is about to make landfall. But how is it going to deal with aliens when dealing with the dysfunctional relationships onboard for multi-generations?

“Van Vogt influenced me so much because he made me appreciate a mysterious chaotic quality in the universe which is not to be feared.”—Philip K. Dick
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (14)

A Worthy Sequel To The Original Slan!
While I would rate it a fraction below five stars, since Kevin Anderson couldn't replicate van Vogt's economy of language and marvelous "turn-of phrase", I found this sequel to be as fast-paced and compelling -- with many twists and surprises -- as the original. I reread "Slan" first (after 41 years), and I was pleased that this book picked up right after that and the roller-coaster-ride resumed almost immediately.

I didn't realize when I discovered science fiction in 1954 that I was tapping into what is known as the "Golden Age of Science Fiction", which is considered to have started around the time when van Vogt's "Black Destroyer" was published in "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine in 1939. "Slan" followed in 1940, and through to the end of the 1950's many great authors (including my other favorites, Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov) created wondrous stories. (While those and some others continued the tradition for several decades, more recent SF authors have gone different directions, and the genre is not quite the same.) "Slan Hunter" has really helped to recapture the feel of that "Golden Age". I was riveted throughout.

My recommendation to potential readers is to first read "Slan" and follow it with this sequel. And you should take it for what it is -- a marvelous extension of the story. (Then if you have been captured by A. E. van Vogt's unique style, consider reading some of his other classics. I strongly recommend "The Voyage of the Space Beagle" -- the first van Vogt book that I read -- which starts out with his "Black Destroyer" story as a basis. That has always been one of my favorites, and I plan on rereading it soon.)

Trite sequel
This sequel was an attempt to write in the 1940's style and science environment. It ends up being worse than the original book ("Slan"), which was very dated, and the plot is lame.

Kevin Anderson should have updated the science and complicated, rather than simplified, the plot. The object should have been to capture Van Vogt's intricacies, not the outdated science of the period.

Van Vogt has always been one of my favorite SF authors (Weapon Shops, Null-A, etc.), but this book and even its original predecessor (Slan) are not worth the read.

As if Van Vogt came back and wrote this himself
I think the negative reviews come from people who are expecting 2008 level sci-fi from this book.IT IS NOT.

What it is, is a continuation of the Slan story, almost from the instant of the ending of Slan, in EXACTLY the same style.

Van Vogt has always been noted for leaving holes and gaps, this book maintains this.

I was suprised at some differences from the original canon, but reading this book brought me back to the world of Slan I have missed dearly since childhood, when I first read it.

The Human Reaction
Slan Hunter (2007) is the sequel to Slan.In the previous volume, Jommy Cross learned that the tendrilless slans were preparing to invade the Earth.Returning from Mars, he attempted to warn the human government.He entered the palace by a hidden way and was met by Kier Gray, the President of Earth.

Gray released him from the trap -- which Jommy had already neutralized -- and received the news of the invasion.Then Jommy learned that Kathleen -- whom he had thought dead -- was alive and cured of the terrible wound inflicted by John Petty.

In this novel, Davis Stewart is driving his very pregnant wife to the hospital.Anthea is in labor and Davis is in a hurry.When he reaches the emergency room, he runs into the hospital to get help and comes out pushing a wheelchair and leading an orderly.

The orderly wheels Anthea toward the delivery room while calling out to the nurses.A nurse stops Davis at the door, but Anthea is quickly moved into position.The doctor speaks calmly to Anthea and tells her to push.

The baby comes quickly and the doctor holds him up for his mother to see.A nurse cries out and the doctor shows a horrified expression.The baby has golden tendrils growing out of the back of his head.He is a slan.

Neither Anthea nor Davis show any sign of being slans.They certainly are not aware of any such possibility.However, the doctor fills a hypodermic syringe with a poisonous substance and reaches for the baby.

Davis comes into the delivery room, responding to a feeling of danger.Nurses and orderlies try to block his passage, but he fights his way through.Anthea tells him of the doctor's intention and Davis throws aside everyone between him and the doctor.

After removing Anthea and their baby from the room, Davis immediately recognized the danger of three security men and a secret policeman coming toward them.He tells Anthea to take the baby and run, then he runs toward the security men.As Anthea goes the other way, she hears the shots that signal the death of her husband.

In this story, Petty had the president's quarters bugged by his secret police and learns that Gray is really a tendrilless slan.He has the president arrested and then captures Jommy and Kathleen.They are all secured in cells under the palace.Jommy and Kathleen are detained in adjacent cells and soon free themselves from their captors.

Gray was imprisoned elsewhere in the underground facility.Jommy and Kathleen soon learn the location of his cell and manage to break him free.But Petty has set up an ambush nearby and recaptures all three.

Meanwhile, the tendrilless slans attack the planet, including Centropolis, the capital.They are bombing the palace while Petty is securing his captives.Petty quickly agrees to join forces against the tendrilless slans.

This story concludes the storyline established in Slan.Very little is new other than the plot.Most of the characters, the locales and the technology are taken from the earlier story.This trend is unlike Van Vogt, who usually tried to introduce new ideas into each sequel within a series.Across series, however, he often reused older ideas.The best innovation in this tale is indicated by the concluding paragraph.

The Foreword describes how this book came to be published.This provides a fascinating -- and dismaying -- glimpse into the Van Vogt life story.The senior author tried to produce this book, but was overcome by Alzheimer's.Eventually, the novel was put into the hands of the junior author.

Recommended for Van Vogt & Anderson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of viable mutations, reactionary social elements, and human relationships.

-Arthur W. Jordin

As good as the original. No more.
Read through both novels in one stride and, like others reported, Anderson's sequel is a cleaner and clearer read.

The themes explored, the plot, the motivations, the repsect of the overhaul way the characters were acting in Slan and now act in Slan Hunter, are all there and intact.
I did not find the harsh discrepancies other reviewers have remarked upon. Thus, in my opinion, such remarks must stem from something else...perhaps in a sacred cow feeling on the reviewer's part.

The only problem I could find were the last two paragraphs, about 6 lines of text, in which a character physically does some ridiculous thing (and here I use the term apporpriately) instead of thinking it. Anderson prefers to _show_ us, through that phsycial act, what happens in that scene instead of having another slan read it off the character's mind and say it outloud for us the readers.
Still, those last few lines don't mare the story, albeit they're definitely clumsy. The idea they convey is sound and matches well with the story, but is badly delivered to the reader. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

7 short stories
The Book of Van Vogt consists of 7 short stories:
1.The Timed Clock
2.The Confession
3.The Rat and The Snake
4.The Barbarian
5.Ersatz Eternal
6.The Sound of Wild Laughter
7.Lost:Fifty Suns.
From my notes I made when I read these years ago I find. . .Lost: Fifty Suns is the only good story. in fact the only one worth reading.It could be the first chapter of a great novel. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the finest writers in the golden age of science fiction--and inventor of the intricatley plotted form of SF known as the "space opera"--offers the story of a flawed hero possessing almost superhuman strength. When his wife is kidnapped, war veteran Jim Pendrake embarks upon a search that takes him to a lost colony on the moon--and a secret, sinister society. Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Super Reader
Probably needs to be longer, something A.E. was obviously pretty allergic to. A super powered individual, via your classic technology accident, becomes involved in a conspiracy, and time travel. Somewhat of a pulp feel, here. How is his wife involved, how is the corporate world involved?

Can he defeat the beastly overlord in the world he is sent to, and protect others?

Definitely a superman theme, here.

Not Like Indiana Jones
An A.E. van Vogt novel is part modern fairy tale, part dream sequence, part mad invention, and part pseudoscientific doubletalk. When van Vogt is at his best-- as in _The World of Null-A_ and _The Weapon Shops of Isher_-- he takes you on a roller coaster ride, throwing events at you so fast that you don't have time to think about them until the end of the novel. When you look back, you can't see how it all makes sense; and yet, you can't help but feel that it _might_ make sense-- that there is a meaning that is just barely eluding you. You reread the novel because you think that you might find that meaning. You never do, but it doesn't matter. You are hooked on the roller coaster ride once more. It's like experiencing an Indiana Jones movie.

But when van Vogt is at his worst, there is no spark or dazzle to his writing. The episodes that he throws at you are simply silly and trite. There is no illusion of reality. The experience is like watching a cheap serial such as _Radar Men From the Moon_. _The Beast_ is not like an Indiana Jones movie.

There really two monsters in _The Beast_. The first is Big Oaf, a million year old Neanderthal leader of a wild west town in a cavern on the moon. The second is a saber toothed tiger in a lunar pit to whom Big Oaf feeds his enemies. There are a lot of other denizens on the moon as well. There are disembodied blue moon people and a super secret group of East German Communist Nazis. The Nazis kidnap the hero and fly him to the moon by airplane.

Back on Earth, there is a president who plans to become a dictator. There is his band of Amazon bodyguards. There are hordes of feminists who want to have deserting husbands whipped back to their homes. There is an Institute with secret agents that sponsers an agricultural labor camp on Venus.

_The Beast_ is a novel that is as silly as it sounds, written in prose without a trace of poetry or grace. It is one of van Vogt's worst novels-- and, as you may have gathered, that is very bad indeed.

Conspiracies, Regeneration and one Big Oaf make for a winner
A.E. van Vogt covers a lot of ground in this novel, set in the not-too-distant future, and even though it was first published in 1963, most of the questions it raises are still relevant today.The story opens prosaicly enough when Jim Pendrake, formerly of the US Air Force (and minus his right arm), discovers the wreck of an unusual vehicle with a totally unrecognizable engine.The book seems to take its time progressing as this reclusive man takes possession of the engine, conducts some simple tests, and eventually has it taken away from him by unknown assailants.The story shifts gears quickly though, once Pendrake notices that his missing arm has begun to grow back.The pace accelerates after his investigations lead him into the hands of a sinister, secret organization and even bring him to the attention of President Jefferson Dayles, who has his own less-than-savory agenda.Things really get confusing when he loses his memory, develops a new life, escapes his captors, and loses his arm (again), only to wind up being abducted (again), and this time left to die on the moon, where he discovers a society ruled by a million-year-old super-intelligent Neanderthal man.There are a substantial number of further twists and turns in this story, but hopefully one gets the idea.This is a book filled with action, suspense, and particularly surprises, but perhaps its most noteworthy feature is the questions it poses about the cultural revolution that took place in the U.S. around the time the book was written.Van Vogt challenges us to question the place of women in society by postulating a treatment that would allow women to become the "equal of men" in aggressiveness and ruthlessness.He wonders exactly what men expect from women by placing a stalwart monogamist into a society of bigamists.He suggests that Pendrake's regenerative power only makes him more prone to engage in violent and dangerous behavior, putting an unusual slant on the relationship between violence and medicine.But most of all, this book is about power, and how the lust for power drives so many to behave like the beast in his title.Virtually every character is both victim and victimizer at various points in the story, but van Vogt takes pains to point out that only by rising above this primal urge to dominate others can humanity ever hope to become more than a vicious animal.Despite the wild plot and somewhat disjointed structure, this book is both an entertaining and thought-provoking piece of speculative fiction, definitely worth a read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Read this along with 'bang BANG'
There is a clever, multi-layered idea behind this book. Both the Empire that rules the galaxy and the Weapon Shops that oppose it are the creations of a single immortal being. This is not a page-one sort of statement, you have to read your way through the marvels of the weapon shops, the glitterbling of the casino, the allure of the brothels and the omniscient computers that run the show.
At the time of the narration, the Empire is 4700 years old: there's a lot of stability in this revolutionary battle. What happens to the reader is that as the political tension fades, the story of the young, supernaturally lucky young man who leaves the boonies to seek his fortune in the capital comes to the fore.
So this is only partly a story about weapons and freedom. To hear that tale completed, you should readbang BANG: A Novel, another novel that's a little bit about guns and freedom and a lot about a young person finding her way in the world.

Confusing and disjointed!
In "The Weapon Shops of Isher", AE van Vogt deals with libertarian philosophy that is best summarized by the slogan he attributes to the weapon shops, "The right to buy weapons is the right to be free". Unlike what many potential readers might imagine, this is not a manifesto for the National Rifle Association. It's a much more soft pedalled carefully considered cautionary tale that is a warning to citizens to be sure they retain the ability to limit the potential power of any government regardless of the form it might take.

Time travel, immortality, the limitation of government power, corruption, invisibility, loyalty, naivete, love, courage, freedom, rebellion, powerful weaponry - all these themes and more are touched on in what many people call a fine example of the golden age of science fiction. But - and I'm willing to admit that perhaps the shortcoming is my own - I frankly failed to understand the charm and I didn't really catch the message. It bothers me to no end when I get to the end of a story and my sole reaction is "Huh ... what just happened?"

Certainly I understood the basic themes but I felt that van Vogt missed the mark. The story line was difficult to follow and consisted of a hodge-podge of disconnected outrageous scientific conjectures, stilted dialogue far worse than sub-title translations of Japanese B-movies, blinding plot jumps and the use of plot devices that seemed arbitrary and pointless (Hedrock's immortality and a gambler with luck that defies all imagination, for example).

In "Voyage of the Space Beagle", van Vogt wrote a series of stories that were clearly the predecessors of today's much loved Star Trek series. As a fan of classic science fiction, a lover of Star Trek in all its incarnations and a reader who has enjoyed van Vogt's other works, I wanted very much to like "The Weapon Shops of Isher". A cynical world-weary friend of mine put it well, "Vast ideas, but only half-vast execution!" Four stars for the ideas, two stars for the writing and the story to support it - call it three stars and suggest that this is a book which would be enjoyed only by hard core classic sci-fi lovers.

Paul Weiss

Super Reader
A short book in three parts. A mysterious weapon shop appears in the present, and only lets certain people in. One man finds himself in the future. A young man there finds out he has superhuman luck altering powers.

The third section involves a man who has made himself immortal, and is out to save society via his weapon shops and other schemes.

Weapon Shops of Isher : 1 The Seesaw - A. E. van Vogt
Weapon Shops of Isher : 2 The Weapon Shop - A. E. van Vogt
Weapon Shops of Isher : 3 The Weapon Shops of Isher - A. E. van Vogt


Cosmic balance sucks if it is you.

3.5 out of 5


An incontrovertible supply of bang and zap is important.

4 out of 5


Put me in charge, I do old really well.

3.5 out of 5

A great sentiment unfulfilled
This starts out promisingly as a story about a shadow government in a totalitarian state. The rebels are fronted by weapon shops because they, like many libertarians today, believe that personal liberty is expressed by by the right to bear arms (ie, the right to defend yourself from criminals, even if they are governments). By the end, however, we have almost no glimpse of the illicit society. A modest look at the totalitarian one. And almost none of the philosophical underpinnings. But that's typical Alfred Elton van Vogt. His works are often vague and mystifying.

Reportedly, van Vogt exploited his dreams for some of his plotting which may explain why this one unfolds in a dreamlike way, morphing from one setting into another, often winding up in fantastical environs. Unfortunately, in this case, the story meanders around the periphery of the conflict between the monarchy and the weapons shops.

Here, like in too many of his stories, van Vogt's characters are blanks without depth or personality. All they do is justify the quotation marks. (The exceptions are van Vogt's supermen, who exude confidence, and his alien creatures, who are generally primitive and animal whatever their technological level.)

Probably because van Vogt wasn't a trained scientist, he blithely took science to the n-th degree -- a million million years into the past, a gigantic floating store, immortals, etc. Such concepts were new and daring when van Vogt began writing.

In the end, like many of his other stories, this one moves quickly. Probably due to his system of stringing together 800-word mini-dramas to form the whole.

I almost never remember a van Vogt plot. But I do remember that is was a good ride. And I'm surprised and delighted that for the fraction of his writing life devoted to the weapon shops, van Vogt spoke libertarian.

"The Right to Buy Weapons is the Right to be Free"
Sounds like a blurb from the NRA, but in fact this slogan is one of the lynch-pins of one of the most complicated and headlong adventures that van Vogt (often called the master of the re-complicated story) ever wrote.

The Weapon Shops, like many of his stories, was actually written and published as several stories before being collected and somewhat edited into book form. In this case, the major portions were published as "The Seesaw" (Astounding, July 1941), "The Weapon Shop" (Astounding, Dec 1942), and "The Weapon Shops of Isher (Thrilling Wonder Stories, Feb. 1949). It is important to note the age of these stories, written as they were during the so-called `Golden Age' of science fiction, when ideas were far more important than character or great prose style. This book is absolutely replete with ideas, but the prose, dialogue, and character development certainly leave something to be desired when compared to modern novels.While reading this book you need to let the story line and ideas overwhelm you, and ignore some of the more blatant excesses in writing style.

It starts with a Weapon Shop magically appearing in a 1950 neighborhood. When a policeman attempts to open its door, he finds it locked - but when a newspaperman tries it just a minute later, it opens - and the newspaperman finds himself in the Isher Empire, which has been around for 4700 years, and where the Weapon Shops effectively form the `opposition' to this government. This is plot thread number one. The second thread is that of a young man wishing to leave his provincial village and make his fortune in the big city - where he finds that he is a `callidetic giant', able to beat any game of chance, and ends up amassing a fortune so large that he can upset the economic stability of the Empire. Thread three involves the world's only immortal, Robert Hedrock, who was instrumental in establishing both the Empire and the Weapon Shops, the first to provide a stable form of government, the second to ensure that the Empire can neither stagnate nor become an unopposed dictatorship. Stir in invisibility, time travel, and the secret of faster-than-light propulsion and you have an explosive mix that will keep you turning pages as fast as you can (and don't you dare think about the plausibility of any of this!).

I think I first read this book around 1960, when I was about twelve, and many of the images of this book made a large impression on me: the casinos and their very futuristic gambling machines, the giant computer that kept track of all the vital statistics of every person in the solar system, the idea of waging war by shifting in time, the `brothels' of the day, even the `energy weapons' that the Weapon Shops sold. Reading it today, these same items still fascinate - and the ending is still an explosive bang.

The thematic point of the right to have weapons strong enough to protect the individual from any government excesses is a major one, and certainly was very topical when it was written at the height of WWII. However, this point is not examined very closely for its downside, because in the story such weapons could `sense' whether or not the person purchasing it had the appropriate mental outlook - an easy way out of the problems seen by today's society with too many weapons freely available to almost anyone.

This is possibly his strongest novel, certainly at least as good as his Slan and The World of Null-A, as here all the various ideas and plot threads do seem to come together in a cohesive whole, something that could not be said about a lot of his works. And it is a pell-mell, head-over-heels, fun and fascinating read.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not The Book I Remember
In a post apocalyptic Earth a mutant is born within the ruling family of Earth. Mutant children are normally disposed of. However, in this case, the grandfather and ruler of Earth, intervenes on the child's behalf but not until he executes all the priests in the adjacent Temple of the Atom, toward which the blame for the mutant child was directed. The Mutant child is named Clane and though he is not mistreated, he grows up in virtual isolation.

Clane survives a Machiavellian court of intrigue and assassination, which eventually takes his grandfather and father. Using a combination of cunning and bravado, Clane manages to survive long enough to save Earth from a vicious attack of barbarians from the former outposts of space colonization on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

This invasion is led by the charismatic leader of the barbarians Czinczar who is captured by the ever-resourceful Clane. This sets the stage for the sequel - The Wizard of Linn.

This novel, published in 1957 was written by science fiction pioneer A.E. Van Vogt. Like many of the writers of the time, he writes of a society of low-tech weapons (swords and Bows and arrows) and high tech travel. (Space travel). The rational for this, in this case, is apparently the downgrading and elimination of high tech weaponry after an unremembered nuclear holocaust had sundered earth.

As with many books of the times, which were shorter than todays mega books, character development was a little weak. You never seemed to get a feel for Clane and he was the lead character. Except for Czinczar, forget the others.

Like many of his contemporaries, Van Vogt tends to write in a cynical style where the protagonists constantly have to be on guard for duplicity and deceit. I'm wondering if this is a product of the big scare of the time, Communism. The McCarthy hearings were going on around then and there were allegedly Communists under every rock.

Over the years, Van Vogt has written many science fiction novels including one called `The Voyage of the Space Beagle' which some credit as the inspiration for the sci-fi horror film `Alien.' His books, in comparison to the computer-aided books of today, usually were short - under two hundred pages. However, his stories are likely to be well written and very imaginative. The few readers that still read him, seem to be drawn to his work and sing his praises which is evident in the effusive reviews his readers give his books.

I read this book when I was a teen and thought is was a fantastic read. On this go around, I must admit that it is not as good as I remember. It is still good but I no longer consider it great. The duplicity is so overt, as to be absurd and the fact that it is known and not dealt with seems incongruous to me.

What is the sequel
For thirty years I have remembered this as the best book I ever read, but now I have reread it and realize that my favorite was the sequel to this, where Lord Clane fights the aliens, but I can't remember the name of the sequel.They are both great books.

As always, Van-Vogt shows he's a genius-madman.
I won't write you about the plot or anything likeit. I'm 20 years old and i've been reading sci-fi for 12 years. From Orson scot card to Phillip hoze farmer, From ROGER ZEALAZNEY to LARRY NIVEN, From Frank herbert toRobert heinlein etc,Iv'e realy read alot. In the last year i've beenexploring the early sci-fi, the writers thet wrote in astyle thet can bedescribed as pre-Campbellian. Allthough I admire the minds of contemporerygiants such as CHARLES SHEFFILD for exemple, There's magic in the writingsof Van-Vogt. Pre-Campbellian, free from constricting patterns of sci-fi asopposed to Fantasy, and derived from Super-science, almost all the books ofA.E.VAN-VOGT are pure pleasure and delight to seriusscience fictionreader.

Typical Van Vogt: fascinating ideas bordering on fantasy
This novel concerns a far-future Earth, thousands of years aftercivilization has been destroyed in a catastrophe of unknown origin. Aspects of advanced science remain (spaceships) simultaneously withprimitive features (bows and arrows), and Earth is carrying on longstandingwars of subjugation with human cultures on Mars and Venus.This is thestory of a mutant, Lord Clane, of noble birth, but with a body warped byradiation, and his efforts to raise society to a higher plane.Thecharacters are mostly flat, but Van Vogt ladles out the imaginativeconcepts as skilfully as ever, and never fails to hold the reader.

van Vogts greatest?
A. E. van Vogt used to be up there with Heinlein and Asimov during the 1940s and early 50s - and now he's not in print. In my wiew, he was a better and much more ORIGINAL scifi-storyteller than all of them - and Clarke too. But, on the other hand: Without a doubt, he was much more crazy....Ok, this is maybe his best novel, from a purely litterary wievpoint, with a great central personality, a (relatively) logical story-line, but incorporating the same great van Vogtian sense of wonder that shines in his more crazy novels (like the Null-A and the Wheapon Shops series. Sad that it is not available!. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

No room to grow with the plot and characters
While I really enjoyed his written novels House That Stood Still, Man of a Thousand Names and especially Voyage of the Space Beagle, I found these short stories to be bare-boned. Yes, short stories are supposed to be short and to the point but the stories here lack a seed for the imagination to grow then to appreciate the focus of the characters and to swim in the completion of a warm story. Only one or two of these stories (Film Library and Great Engine) gave me that seed to grow with the story.

Amazing Stories!
Again, as I wrote in my review for Destination: Universe, I would not pass over these short stories too lightly.Some fans consider his short pieces to be his BEST work.They are certainly powerful and do not get bogged down the way some of his novels do.This is well worth checking out.
Away and Beyond (1952)is vintage van Vogt, with 7 good stories:
"The Vault of the Beast" (1940) An implacable shape changing alien
monster from Mars is defeated by a flight of van Vogtian super mathematics.
The Great Engine(1943) is interesting, but not one of the great tales. **
The Great Judge (1948) is abrief P.K. Dickian tale ***
Secret Unattainable(1942) includes Hitler's secret weapon, a good story. ***
"The Harmonizer" (1944) A Stapledonian vignette whichcompresses eighty million years in a few pages.
The Second Solution (1942)-is a good beast tale. ***
"Film Library" (1946) A particularly vivid "hard SF" dream which is not about anything but itself. *
Asylum (1942) -not just a vampire tale, but a PK Dickian story! ****

Another set of short stories
I like the Master's novels much better than his short stories, I mean, He sometimes cut's a novel short - so just imagine his short stuff!
Still, pouring pure imagination and genius from every pore, this anthology get's only 4 stars compared to other works of Van Vogt, not the general sci-fi library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best Sci-Fi story of all time sandwiched between 2 good tales
Slan is a stand alone story and required reading for all sentient beings.

The other two tales make good reading, but pale in comparison to Slan.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

"I Am a Silkie in the Sea"
In 1963, A.E. van Vogt returned to the science fiction field after a long absence (he had been working as a Dianetics counselor).His output was prolific during this late period, but it is fair to say that he produced no new classics and a great many novels that were absolutely dreadful. Nevertheless, he wrote a few novels that were good. _The Silkie_ is one of the good pieces.


There are some flaws. The novel is afixup comprised of three novellas originally published in _If_ between 1964 and 1967, along with a bit of added material. It is sometimes structurally a little on the rough side, with gaps between scenes.And the style is sometimes a bit pulpish. But on the balance, the flaws are minor.


In folklore, a silkie is a changeling-- a person who is a man upon the land and who is a seal in the ocean. Van Vogt's silkie, Nat Cemp, is a changeling who has three forms: human, fish and silkie. The silkie form is not that of a seal; rather, it is a kind of armored space creature. There is one scene in which Cemp re-enters the Earth's atmosphere to land off the coast of Florida and another in which he chases a renegade silkie up into space, losing him in the Van Allen radiation belts.


There are a number of settings which show a return to the van Vogt imagination. There is a giant water filled spaceship with shark caves and underwater cities. There is a planetoid silkie colony with art and gem rooms and miles and miles of twisting corridors. There is planet Minus 1109-93, with its city of "slender buildings that reared like stretched lacework toward the sky"(104).


The action in the story is effective as well. There is a chase scene from a sewer to an underwater canyon. There is an encounter with an ancient alien who collects planets for their esthetic qualities. And there is a battle with pyramidal alien killers who can create or destroy galaxies.


If _The Silkie_ does not quite have the _panache_ of some of his earlier classics like _Slan_ or _The World of Null A_, it comes close to them. Unlike a lot of modern space operas which are presented in a tongue-in-cheek manner, _The Silkie_ plays it straight-- and succeeds remarkably well.

The Silkie, another Van Vogt mind blower!
Only my second Van Vogt book, but now I'm hooked.I can't even say I enjoyed the book itself.I certainly enjoy the fact that it left me with such a strong impression of Sci-Fi/Fantasy goodness.Van Vogt is a mind blower, and I regret I did not discover his works earlier in my life.This one is out there in terms of "hard sci-fi" and certainly seemed to tread a more fantasy thread.That's ok though.Van Vogt makes you think.Love his stuff!

Involving, but ultimately disappointing
After having gotten several recommendations on Usenet and reading the reviews here, I decided to read _The Silkie_ and see what it was all about. The book is certainly involing, but has some problems that soured theenjoyment of it.

One of these problems, for example, is that Van Vogtfeels that it's unnecessary to have any sort of continuity. I can't counthow many times I would be reading a chapter only to go to the nextparagraph and be completely lost because some leap in logic occured in thespace of few sentences. It's similar to what you experience when you'revery sleepy and you're trying to stay awake, but occasionally you findyourself snapping back to reality and realize that you dozed off for a bit.That's how I felt when reading this book. Like I'm running at full speedand someone pushes me in the back.

Another problem (and this may bepersonal preference) is that there is very little dialog - most of it takesplace in Cemp's mind and the action sequences. I bet it would make for agreat screenplay, but it certainly did nothing to clarify theconfusion.

And I had to cringe during a couple of passages that startedwith "And what happened what this:..." long after some apparentlyamazing event takes place. The whole book had a feel of several stories puttogether under one cover.

Having said that, I did enjoy the book'sdescription of Silkies and their physical and mental abilities. That wouldbe the ultimate manifestation of man's dream to live among the stars.

One of van-vogt's big-time mind blowers.
THE SILKIE is a clasic in the caliber of SLAN, WORLD OF NULL-A, or EMPIRE OF THE ATOM. Or maybe its even better. I cant really explain how good van vogt can be sometimes, if you dont know his works. Indeed, not all of hisbooks are on the same level, but know this, you who did not read van vogtthus far:He is a mental giant that surpasses asimov and his likes, though iadmit that their styles are tottaly different. This book is one of hisbest. Get it.

A Van Vogt Classic
This book is a Van Vogt classic! It has all the action adventure, plot twists, and trippy stuff that one would expect from Van Vogt.The only point that keeps this from being 'five star' is that the plot sort of skipsa bit at the end.Overall though, this is classic Van Vogt, right up therewith Space Beagle and 'Null-A' ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Wrecklessly complex, hopelessly hokey
A `quest' which becomes more like a `stretch.' Immediately when I started to read the book, the first chapter seemed so familiar with the film projector playing futuristic clips- just like his silly short story `Film Library.' What did Vogt do to that little gem of a story? He torn away the foundations from it and it all fell into a rubble heap of complexity which had me shaking my head through most of the 188 pages. I'm a fan of Vogt's other novels like Space Beagle, Thousand Names and Rouge Ship, but Quest for the Future reads like a stream-of-thought anti-novel.

The book is all over space and time: 1653, 1977, 1981, 2038, 2476 and 9812 - on earth, in outer space around Centauri. It just gets corny when gadgets like the personal jetpack Fly-O are introduced and the sci-fi ubiquitous depilatory beard cream. THEN there comes the miles long shopping malls, the Indian invasion and the seemingly perfect English 500-years in the future. It's just one annoying thing on top of another annoying thing all the way to the end. Certainly other Vogt books top this.

Side note: the book was published in 1971. Towards the end of the book, main character Caxton fingers through a novel published in 2863, but sounds EXACTLY like a sci-fi/porn novel also published in 1971: The World Inside by Robert Silverberg. Anyway...

Time and Again
Quest for the Future (1970) is a standalone SF novel.A movie from 2026 AD about an automatic electric stove is shown to a hundred attendees at an electronics manufacturer's convention in 1979 AD.One man -- Walter Dorman -- is interested enough to question the operator about the origins of the film.

The film distributor -- Lester Arlay -- receives various annoyed comments about several films.He checks his records to find that each of the irritating films was previously rented to Peter Claxton at Tichenor Collegiate.He finds another film recently returned by Claxton and discovers that it is now about a giant Venusian squid.

In this novel, Claxton soon finds that his films are being changed within the movie projector.As he is investigating the previous owner of the projector, he unthinkingly makes an erroneous -- and hateful -- accusation against his current girlfriend and her unrequited lover.This leads to his resignation from the Tichenor faculty.

Later Claxton's wife divorces him, but he is only relieved at the loss of her distractions.He takes a job as a salesman with the firm that had sold him the projector and he is busily tracking down information on the previous owner.Later, he is found unconscious in a ditch in the small town of Piffer's Road.

After being discharged from the hospital, Claxton returns to his sales route and finds a young boy who had witnessed his activities prior to his loss of consciousness.Apparently Claxton had followed Selanie -- a purveyor of odd objects -- to her trailer and had hidden himself inside before it had disappeared.

In this story, Claxton becomes involved with a group of Possessors who seem to dwell within a time tunnel between 1977 AD and 9812 AD.All who stay within the tunnel for any length of time become younger and must spend time outside its influence to grow older again.Naturally, these Possessors reject Claxton as a potential recruit because of his extreme paranoia.Of course, he is angry at their casual rejection and determines that he will somehow become an immortal despite them.

Claxton travels back and forth in time by various processes.He even meets Selanie's father, the original founder of the time tunnel and the only man who can travel prior to 1977.Claxton gains two friends in his travels, although he thinks of them as acquaintances, who show up at key moments in his criss-crossing of time.

This story has all the advanced technology, peculiar talents and other weirdness found in most of the author's tales.However, this one seems to be less attractive than his other tales.Apparently the author has deliberately made Claxton less sane that his typical hero, but the paranoia and other personality quirks are too disagreeable.

This is obviously one of the author's minor works.The reader will have difficulties relating to this unsane protagonist.Maybe the author succeeded too well in portraying his oddities.

Suggested for van Vogt fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of people with personality disorders faced with frustrating puzzles.If this is your first van Vogt story, try reading Slan for a more typical tale.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Parallel worlds to love
If you are accustomed to the rapid story telling manner of Van Vogt and his sweeping plots you will not be disappointed by this book. Even the time line switches back and forth as the main character - drawn by his quest for eternal life - ends up striving for the love of a pretty woman.

And this is exactly what disappointed me in this story. What started as an interesting story slowly revealing the existence of parallel worlds, a castle that seems to connect them all with its strange inhabitants, a greater plan for the world etc. , at about 3/4 of the book it turns into a rather straight love story where all the mysteries are quickly solved and even some points are totally left untouched.

You will find a good read in this book which indeed has quite a few intriguing ideas, but don't expect to be drawn completely into all its fine implications. Before you know it, the story is finished.

Science fiction like they use to make it in the old days
How do you react when you find out there is a way to eternal life? You goafer it, especially when it comes with a beautiful women you fancy. Theonly problem is to find a parallel universe in which you have married here.And to find the fold in the time-line. But this is 1950 America, soanything goes! Plausable, enjoyable and a good read. Pick it up when youcome across it or order it. Not a "must have", but absolutelyworth your money. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Mutiny on _The Hope of Man_
Sometimes a novel with a trite plot and cardboard characters can be redeemed a little by the novelity or color of the setting. Alas, _Rogue Ship_ (1965) has no such background. Most of the action takes place on a generation starship, but it is never described in much detail. It has a bridge, a hydroponics section, a drive room, and living quarters. But once A.E. van Vogt has given the name to a section of the ship, he goes little further.

There is a partial exception, and that is the bridge. We are told that it is made of "plexiglass," has various control boards and a few viewing ports. But that is the extent of van Vogt's description. We are not shown what the controls do or how they work. Actually, the bridge is not so much a functioning part of the ship as it is a dais; upper class members of the ship alone are permitted there. It is the seat of power, and everybody wants to get on the bridge.

The plot of the novel is mostly a series of dreary episodes about how one faction after another murders, emprisons, and double-crosses others in order to keep control of the bridge or to wrest it from somebody else. When you start reading these episodes, you might assume that this is a bit of background before van Vogt starts into the "story proper". You would be wrong. Almost the entire novel is nothing more than one damned mutiny after another. There is no real structure to it.

The various members involved in the power struggle come from three families: The Brownes, the Lesbees, and the Gourdys. ( The Gourdys are from down in hydroponics and are therefore a bit "lower class".) The problem with the characters in this novel (aside from the fact that they are cardboard) is that most of them don't live long enough to be fleshed out or developed. One character after another is introduced, only to be killed a couple of chapters later. Sometimes this is done so casually that a character playing in active role in one chapter is mentioned in the next chapter as having been killed offstage.

But the few longer-lived characters-- John Lesbee V and Gourdy II-- tend to confirm the suspicion that even if more of the characters had been allowed to develop, it would not have made much difference. First, there is little difference between these characters and their ancestors... or between one another. They are all selfish, power-hungry, and ruthless. None of them can think of anything more profound than wresting power from somebody else.

Van Vogt obviously wants the reader to believe that his characters are intelligent (or, in the case of Gourdy, "cunning"). Much of the "logical" deductions that he has his characters make are not really logical at all. For example, on page 62, van Vogt says that Lesbee V deduces that a group of aliens in a lifeboat are actually robots. Why? Because a long-ago study showed that humans can only utilize telepathic powers with outside electric assistance.The aliens are utilizing "clear thoughts" without using such assistance. But why does this prove that they are _robots_? Why not some other type of alien with clarity of thought? And if the study was well known, why does no human but Lesbee guess the truth?

For characters with great intelligence, van Vogt's characters act like idiots. For example, Lesbee believes that Captain Browne will _really_ share the captain's chair with him. So he tells the captain of his earlier plot to assassinate him. Imagine his surprise when kindly Captain Browne orders the crew to execute him! Much later, after Lesbee has gained a number of superhuman powers, he allows himself to be killed by an assassin whom he knew to be present.

_Rogue Ship_ is a mess. It is a thoroughly bad science fiction novel. Readers should turn to novels like _Slan_, _The World of Null-A_, _The Weapon Shops of Isher_, or _The Voyage of the Space Beagle_ if they want to see van Vogt at the top of his game. Avoid this novel like the plague.

Mishmashing stories & squabbling mutiny
A ship sets off from earth on the search for habitable planets around the nearest stars. However, the engine doesn't perform as expected so the ship becomes a generation ship. While Voyage of the Space Beagle is my favorite SF novel (also by van Vogt) and that this has the aura like Space Beagle. However, it fails in ever way which Space Beagle made it famous. Rogue Ship is a disjointed mishmash of glued together short stories. The fist quarter was captivating as we witnessed generation by generation involve themselves in the captaincy. But the plot becomes tedious when internal squabbles dominate the scenes through the rest of the book. When the suspense unfolds it involves the struggle to secure more docile wives. The depiction of females in this novel is very negative (some may say it's part of the plot, but it's the general case when talking about Golden Age sci-fi). In the end, there are some novel ideas thrown out into the mixed bag of happenings, which also mucks up the readability of the book. Stick to Space Beagle, keep it real!

A forgotten masterpiece
This novel is a close scrutiny of the idea of a "Generation ship". To those who are not familiar with it, a generation ship is large spaceship containing a agricultural and animal farms, built to cross the huge distance between the stars at sub-light speed. As to be expected, the original crew will not live enough to complete the trip, so they must reproduce on board and their children and grandchildren will carry on the mission.
The author wisely foresees the problems inherent in the concept and describes how the generation gap, claustrophobia, leadership struggle, frustration at a situation the youngsters did not choose to be in and failure to find a suitable planet to colonize, turn the ship into a battle ground. It is actually a "thought experiment", and a very good one. It is a shame it didn't receive any award.

Another "Beagle"...only not as good.
The story of a space-ship, with her crew, who's stuck on it for five generations instead of a couple of years (due to a difference between the theory and practice of near light-speed flight science).

Many adventures happen to fall in the ship's way, but the book is more about the social structures in the ship.

Again we notice Van Vogt's degrading views on women.
Allthough in it's plot "Rogue ship" resembles "the Beagle", it does'nt reach the same level of writing.

I have read 17 titles of this scifi master, and this one is not one of the best 10. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
Once again Fredrick Pohl has produced an outstanding mix of well-known and obscure fiction by some of the premiere writers in the science fiction and fantasy field in The SFWA Grand Masters: Volume 3, this time featuring Lester Del Rey, Pohl himself, Damon Knight, A.E. Van Vogt, and Jack Vance.

The Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) Grand Master Award is a lifetime achievement award that is given to a living author for his or her contribution to the field of science fiction and/or fantasy. When Pohl was authorized to edit the three-volume set covering the then 15 Grand Masters, it probably seemed like the perfect number of books. Pohl states, "This is the third--and at least for the moment the last," but he undoubtedly recognizes that since more Grand Masters have been named since this series began, future editions seem likely.

The SFWA Grand Masters: Volume 3 features an introduction by Pohl that examines important early editors in the field. The introductions to each author's pieces are highlighted by Pohl's special insider's view and a look at why each author deserved the title of SFWA Grand Master. Pohl's Grand Master introduction was written by "independent critic" and spouse Elizabeth Anne Hull.

Pohl's remembrances offer a wonderful view of the history of how science fiction evolved, but the meat of the anthology lies in the stories by these superb authors. From the classic to the forgotten, this excellent selection of fiction helps remind us why these authors were named Grand Masters and why their stories should not be forgotten. --Kathie Huddleston ... Read more