A. E. van Vogt
Personal Information
Description
Alfred Elton van Vogt was born on a farm in Edenburg, a Russian Mennonite community east of Gretna, Manitoba. Early in his career he wrote for true confession pulp magazines like True Story, but in the late 1930s he began writing science fiction, which he was more interested in. His first published SF story, "Black Destroyer" was published in 1939, and is considered to be one of the first works of the Golden Age of science fiction. In 1941 he left his job at the Department of National Defence to become a full-time writer, and he went on to write a large number of short stories. In 1944 he moved to Hollywood, California. In the 1950s he briefly became involved in L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics projects. Although he left Dianetics, he claimed that Hubbard's followers continued to harass him, and he stopped writing for a few years. In the 1960s Frederik Pohl convinced him to start writing again, and he wrote novels (as opposed to short stories that were later developed into novels) until his death in 2000.
Books
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
One of the great original classics of modern SF returns! An all-time classic space saga, The Voyage of the Space Beagle is one of the pinnacles of Golden Age SF, an influence on generations of stories. An episodic novel filled with surprises and provocative ideas, this is the story of a great exploration ship sent out into the unknown reaches of space on a long mission of discovery. They encounter several terrifying alien species, including the Ix, who lay their eggs in human bodies, which then devour the humans from within when they hatch. This is one of the most entertaining and gripping stories in all of classic SF.
Witches
The storm
Sixth book in the must-read series from a national bestselling "fresh new voice in fantasy romance."( Robin D. Owens)Eight brothers, born in four sets of twins, two years apart to the day—they fulfill the Curse of Eight Prophecy. Though no longer trapped in exile, their growing family faces new problems. Now Rydan, the tormented sixth-born son, must find a way to trust his Destined bride, Rora, a woman who possesses her own secret power—one that could bring them together or annihilate their world forever.
The changeling
Late in his life, writer Kogito Choko reconnects with his estranged friend, the filmmaker Goro Hanawa. Goro's subsequent suicide causes Kogito to examine and reexamine Goro's life for clues that will lead him to understand his friend's path.
The witchcraft reader
Futures to Infinity
More than Superhuman
A lone scientist working on man's one deperate chance against conquerors from space. A man and a woman in a world where the battle of the sexes has become a death struggle. A future world where citizens are commanded to be happy or to suffer destruction. A last stand of rebellion against the all-powerful dictatorship that has taken over the Earth...Six stories of unsurpassed originality and invention from the grand master of imaginative fiction...
Rogue Ship
Centaurus was the destination of the space ship The Hope of Man. It had been traveling through space for almost twenty years, and still nine years of flight remained before Centaurus would be reached. For many on board the craft earth had become a vague memory, while for others it was a mere dot in the vast starry reaches of space. Restlessness was evident everywhere; the people wanted to return to a place they knew was inhabited -- not continue to an unknown where life was questionable. Mutiny seemed inevitable. Captain Lesbee knew that mutiny bred mutiny, but what was more vital was his knowledge of earth's possible obliteration. The one hope was Centaurus. Now more than ever, there could be no turning back. Order had to be maintained even at the price of human life. This is only the beginning of a dramatic and fascinating interspace voyage, where the greatest hazards are not the forces of an unknown scientific world, but man himself.
Isaac Asimov presents the great science fiction stories -- volume 5, 1943
"The Cave" by P. Schuyler Miller "The Halfling" by Leigh Brackett "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett (pseudonym of Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore) "Q.U.R." by Anthony Boucher "Clash by Night" by Lawrence O'Donnell "Exile" by Edmond Hamilton "Daymare" by Fredric Brown "Doorway into Time" by C. L. Moore "The Storm" by A. E. van Vogt "The Proud Robot" by Lewis Padgett (pseudonym of Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore) "Symbiotica" by Eric Frank Russell "The Iron Standard" by Lewis Padgett (pseudonym of Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore)
Renaissance
Tyranopolis
Dictator Lilgin held the entire Earth firmly under his thumb. Government-controlled science ruled: a superb communications network constantly monitored the population, and anyone who dared to question the regime or Lilgin's supremacy was instantly and tidily eradicated. But the regime had reckoned without Professor Dun Higenroth. Higenroth had developed a radically new communications system that took no account of distance, that operated in the mind of its creator, without the need for equipment of any kind-and he intended to use it to expose Lilgin's every move to the entire world. Lilgin had to learn the secret of that system if he was to remain in power. And so the subtle and deadly process of extracting the information from Higenroth's mind began. But the full resources of the world government were to prove useless -- for Higenroth had hidden the secret in the genes of a child not yet born!
Machines That Think
Moxon's Master - short story by Ambrose Bierce The Lost Machine - novelette by John Wyndham Rex - short story by Harl Vincent Robbie - short story by Isaac Asimov (variant of Strange Playfellow 1940) Farewell to the Master - novelette by Harry Bates Robot's Return - short story by Robert Moore Williams (variant of Robots Return) Though Dreamers Die - novelette by Lester del Rey Fulfillment - novelette by A. E. van Vogt Runaround - novelette by Isaac Asimov I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream - short story by Harlan Ellison (some editions) The Evitable Conflict - novelette by Isaac Asimov A Logic Named Joe - short story by Murray Leinster Sam Hall - novelette by Poul Anderson I Made You - short story by Walter M. Miller, Jr. [as by Walter M. Miller] Triggerman - short story by J. F. Bone War with the Robots - short story by Harry Harrison Evidence - novelette by Isaac Asimov 2066: Election Day - short story by Michael Shaara If There Were No Benny Cemoli - novelette by Philip K. Dick The Monkey Wrench - short story by Gordon R. Dickson Dial F for Frankenstein - short story by Arthur C. Clarke (variant of Dial "F" for Frankenstein 1965) The Macauley Circuit - short story by Robert Silverberg Judas - short story by John Brunner Answer - short story by Fredric Brown The Electric Ant - short story by Philip K. Dick The Bicentennial Man - novelette by Isaac Asimov Long Shot - short story by Vernor Vinge Alien Stones - novelette by Gene Wolfe Starcrossed - short story by George Zebrowski
Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 10 (1948)
Introduction - essay by Martin H. Greenberg Don't Look Now - short story by Henry Kuttner He Walked Around the Horses - novelette by H. Beam Piper The Strange Case of John Kingman - short story by Murray Leinster That Only a Mother - short story by Judith Merril The Monster - short story by A. E. van Vogt Dreams Are Sacred - novelette by Peter Phillips Mars Is Heaven! - short story by Ray Bradbury Thang - short story by Martin Gardner Brooklyn Project - short story by William Tenn Ring Around the Redhead - short story by John D. MacDonald Period Piece - short story by John R. Pierce [as by J. J. Coupling] Dormant - short story by A. E. van Vogt In Hiding - novelette by Wilmar H. Shiras Knock - short story by Fredric Brown A Child Is Crying - short story by John D. MacDonald Late Night Final - novelette by Eric Frank Russell
Null-A Three
Meet again Gilbert Gosseyn, the man with the extra brain who staved off disaster for the Solar System, as he finds himself launched on his greatest challenge -- a showdown with the originators of cosmic civilization. Null-A 3 is destined to become an instant classic -- a mind boggling galaxy-spanning adventure!
The Golden Years of Science Fiction
I, Robot - short story by Otto Binder (variant of "I, Robot" 1939) [as by Eando Binder] The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton - short story by Robert Bloch Trouble with Water - short story by H. L. Gold Cloak of Aesir - novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. [as by Don A. Stuart] The Day Is Done - short story by Lester del Rey The Ultimate Catalyst - novelette by John Taine The Gnarly Man - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp Black Destroyer - novelette by A. E. van Vogt Greater Than Gods - novelette by C. L. Moore Trends - short story by Isaac Asimov The Blue Giraffe - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp The Misguided Halo - short story by Henry Kuttner Heavy Planet - short story by Milton A. Rothman Life-Line - short story by Robert A. Heinlein Ether Breather - short story by Theodore Sturgeon Pilgrimage - novelette by Nelson S. Bond Rust - short story by Joseph E. Kelleam The Four-Sided Triangle - novelette by William F. Temple (variant of The 4-Sided Triangle) Star Bright - novelette by Jack Williamson Misfit - novelette by Robert A. Heinlein The Dwindling Sphere - short story by Willard Hawkins [as by Willard E. Hawkins] The Automatic Pistol - short story by Fritz Leiber Hindsight - short story by Jack Williamson Postpaid to Paradise - short story by Robert Arthur Into the Darkness - novelette by Ross Rocklynne Dark Mission - short story by Lester del Rey It - novelette by Theodore Sturgeon Vault of the Beast - novelette by A. E. van Vogt The Impossible Highway - short story by Oscar J. Friend Quietus - short story by Ross Rocklynne Strange Playfellow - short story by Isaac Asimov The Warrior Race - short story by L. Sprague de Camp Farewell to the Master - novelette by Harry Bates Butyl and the Breather - short story by Theodore Sturgeon The Exalted - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp Old Man Mulligan - novelette by P. Schuyler Miller
Vault of the Beast
It came to Earth to find a genius mathematician . . . the one human in the solar system capable of understanding the ultimate prime number. Time is running out. The time-lock on the Beast's millennia-old Martian cage is about to open, and mankind will never be able to deal with the threat!A classic from the Golden Age of science fiction, originally published in the August, 1940 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.
Quest for the Future
Regarding film technology, one thing cannot happen. The image cannot change. Once exposed, it's burned into the celluloid or similar material for the life of the changed material until it decomposes. Reversal or alteration of any kind is not possible. An image changed. The discoverer of the film can searches for the distributor from which the film was rented. That discovery leads him into the future. Expanded from an earlier story, this novel-length version appeared first in 1970.