The book of Ptath (1943)

Beiwldering and turgid - I couldn't finish it. ( )

Like many of Van Vogt's novels this first appeared in shorter form in the early forties. Set some two hundred million years in the future, it is a variation on the superhuman hero theme that Van Vogt employed in many of his novels (see Gilbert Gosseyn in The World of Null-A for one of the best examples). Here we have man reincarnated by a god and sent to the future. With multiple personalities, super-human strength and a faulty memory. This is a sort of truly fantastic science fiction that Van Vogt exemplified and I enjoyed during my college reading escapes in my Van Vogt period. ( )

aka The Book of Ptath

Interesting story about Ptath, a god-man who was lost among the billions of people on earth, forced into the body of another by his rival the goddess Inezia, who hopes to destroy him and his wife, the goddess L'onee, so that she may rule exclusively forever. The powers of these gods enable them to possess the bodies of humans at will, though Ptath's powers are weakened. He must outrun and outwit Inezia to regain his powers and his rightful place. Set in Two Hundred Million A.D. (give or take a year), Earth has undergone significant changes, and the continents have rejoined into one vast land mass. However, the societies of Earth have regressed to a somewhat pre-industrial state, where transport is primarily via various large animals. Clearly, it's tough to describe... The book is well-written fantasy. ( )

Kind of dreamlike. Should be illustrated by Steve Ditko. ( )