Transfinite: The Essential A. E. Van Vogt
by A. E. Van Vogt
List Price:
Our Price: $17.40
You Save: $11.60 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $15.42 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: A. E. Van VogtEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-02
ISBN: 1886778345
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Nesfa Pr
Book Reviews of Transfinite: The Essential A. E. Van Vogt
Book Review: Retrospective on an Early SF Giant
Summary: 4 Stars
This collection of Van Vogt's short fiction (sometimes stitched together into longer works) reveals both the good and bad in his writing. The great John W. Campbell said of him, "The son-of-a-gun gets hold of you in the first paragraph, ties a knot around you, and keeps it tied in every paragraph thereafter -- including the ultimate last one." And that's mostly true. On the other hand, Damon Knight, as early as 1945 wrote, "Van Vogt is not a giant as often maintained. He's only a pygmy using a giant typewriter."
Van Vogt wasn't as flamboyant as, say, E. E. Smith, in his use of over the top adjectives. But he was pretty careless with his facts. The opening story in this collection, "Black Destroyer," is the memorable tale of the alien Coeurl, who has a Chlorine-based metabolism. He breathes the oxygen atmosphere of the human starship just fine. The invading Yevd in "The Sound" are fluorine-based, but they, too, do just fine breathing our air.
Still, the stories are generally well-plotted, if you can suspend your disbelief. They are, in Le Guin's phrase, "careless of science," but great fun. Van Vogt's human characters tend to be very nearly perfect, if slow learners - they repeatedly bring the evil alien into the ship for example - and there is an annoying sexism that I suppose traces to the time the stories were written.
But these are unmistakably science fiction's roots. You can see "Alien" here, and bit of "Star Wars," and even the Starship Enterprise in its voyages of exploration. The roots may be a little worn and gnarly, but clearly the antecedent for the more modern stuff. The collection is worth a read and place on a collector's bookshelf; kudos to NESFA for getting them back in print. But the later, long novels like "World of Null-A" and "The Silkie" are better written and more fun.
Four stars for the great ideas nicely presented. But only four stars. Recommended.
Summary of Transfinite: The Essential A. E. Van Vogt
Contains the most popular and important stories from van Vogt's wide and varied career.Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.64
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
Transgalacticby A.E. Van Vogt
Baen; Published: 2006-09-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops:
Entities: The Selected Novels of Eric Frank Russellby Eric Frank Russell
Nesfa Pr; Published: 2001-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.00
Price in other shops:
The Crystal Worldby J. G. Ballard
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 1988-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops:
Major Ingredientsby Eric Frank Russell
Nesfa Pr; Published: 2001-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $27.46
Price in other shops:
First Contacts: The Essential Murray Leinsterby Murray Leinster
Nesfa Pr; Published: 1998-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.84
Price in other shops:
His Share of Glory: The Complete Short Science Fiction of C.M. Kornbluthby C. M. Kornbluth
Nesfa Pr; Published: 1997-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.23
Price in other shops:
The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smithby Cordwainer Smith
NESFA Press; Published: 1993-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.00
Price in other shops:
Slan: A Novelby A. E. Van Vogt
Orb Books; Published: 1998-02-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
The Voyage of the Space Beagleby A. E. van Vogt
Orb Books; Published: 2008-07-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.42
Price in other shops:
The World of Null-Aby A. E. van Vogt
Orb Books; Published: 2002-10-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.71
Price in other shops: