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The Far-Out Worlds of A. E. Van Vogt by A.…
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The Far-Out Worlds of A. E. Van Vogt (edition 1968)

by A. E. van Vogt

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2311115,547 (3.38)2
Member:alejandg
Title:The Far-Out Worlds of A. E. Van Vogt
Authors:A. E. van Vogt
Info:Ace (1968), Mass Market Paperback
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The Far-Out Worlds of A. E. Van Vogt by A. E. van Vogt

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» See also 2 mentions

12 short stories from the master of modern Sci-Fi

I have to say that it's a bit of a mixed bag; though mostly I enjoyed what I read.

The marks I have given only reflect how I enjoyed each story and are not intended as a criticism of the writer's work.

THE REPLICATORS - A retired marine who feels that the world has turned it's back on him has to face up to the fact that he is now responsible for he fate of the entire Earth when he attacks a visitor from another world who during the process inadvertently takes on his own bitter resentful feelings for the human race! [6/10]

THE FIRST MARTIAN - One man must choose sides between a race of Andean settlers and his best friend during the early days of Mars' colonisation; resulting in him being caught up in a terrorist plot to discredit the immigrant workers by killing a bunch of high state officials on a speeding land train. [8/10]

THE PURPOSE - Local reporter for the Herald 'Virginia Mention' begins investigating the 'Futurian Scientific Laboratories' following a minor fire at the premises; after noticing that the curious receptionist 'Edgar Gray' appears to be keeping inhumanly long hours behind his desk! For her troubles she is murdered by one of the Futurians in her own bedroom, after her assailant literally appears in her bedroom! Her husband 'Professor Norman Mention' follows up the case but is soon warned off by a Dr Thomas Torrance, who appears to be now running the organization - which makes it's profits from trading in human organs! When Virginia returns from the dead with a story that the founder of the organization Dr. Dorial Cranston is keeping peoples organs alive in glass containers (including her own!), Professor Mention hatches a plan to free them from the evil Futurians once and for all. [9/10]

THE EARTH KILLERS - Rocket pilot Robert Morlake has a close encounter with a falling atomic bomb during a test flight of the new hybrid jet/rocket S29A. On landing he discovers that every major city in America has been obliterated! In the chaos and suspicion that follows a state of marshal law is imposed on the surviving U.S. citizens, and Morlake is made a scapegoat for refusing to refute his statement that the bomb he saw was falling vertically - indicating that it could not have been launched from any country on Earth - but extraterrestrialy! After escaping from prison and going on the run in the stolen S29A Morlake joins forces with the wife of a Senator and infiltrates a military camp where Generals and the Senator are meeting. In a final bloody confrontation Morlake unmasks the mastermind behind the lunar assault which has annihilated the United States as the man who's embittered rage at having been turned down in two presidential campaigns has driven him to committing mass genocide on his own people. [10/10]

THE CATAAAAA - A mysterious invitation to a travelling freak show leads one man to discover that one of the exhibits is in fact an alien with it's own secret agenda. [10/10]

AUTOMATION - A race of sexless clones rage war over their former human masters for supremacy. Now thanks to one chemist who has developed a hormone gas to counteract the drones brainwashing experiments on humans through the reawakening of the most basic primal urges victory can finally be assured! The only problem is the chemist is himself currently one of the drones! [1.5/10]

ITSELF! - A geriatric defence droid patrolling the oceans of Earth happens across an alien set to destroy the planet and does what it was programmed to do. [3.5/10]

PROCESS - On an alien world a gentle forest life form defends itself against attack from humanoid invaders by releasing radioactive minerals from deep beneath the surface of the planet; whilst inadvertently mixing a cocktail that results in an atomic explosion. Unfortunately, the results of this new knowledge have dire consequences for the indigenous life forms on the planet. [8/10]

NOT THE FIRST - As the crew of the first Atomic powered spacecraft battle to prevent their ship from careering out of control and plunging at terminal velocity into a sun; even the most qualified science officers and physicists are at odds to explain why all the laws of physics seem to be being broken around them. With minutes to spare the captain realises too late what is happening and orders an almost total engine stop! but, as the sudden strain bounces the ship backwards through time and space the crew are helpless but to re-enact the same disaster over and over again trapped in a temporal loop which probably started countless years ago, and will continue to be played out again and again for the rest of all eternity. [2/10]

FULFILMENT - Ten thousand years in the future where the face of the Earth has been laid to waste, the only remaining sentient life form sits upon a desolate hillside with nothing to do but compute mathematical equations for all eternity. Then one day, across the other side of the valley, another being similar to itself appears out of a rift in time; not missing the opportunity to find out about his past the last lonely life form transfers his conciseness through the travellers time vortex and together they travel back in time. Now begins a psychological struggle between the two super brains for dominance over each other, in which mankind become their instruments of infiltration; but in the end they have to conclude that they must be one of the same split in two by time and space. Finally reunited they agree to enhance the human race by sharing their vast knowledge with man. [10/10]

SHIP OF DARKNESS - When a spaceboat's time machine is ripped away from the control panel during a flight 300,000,000 years into the future it's lone pilot is left stranded on the surface of a gigantic space platform populated by a race of naked humans called the Iir. During this time he becomes involved in a space battle with another platform, but makes it back to his boat with one of the female Iir. After plotting a course back to Earth he discovers that he is not in the future, as he first thought, but around 37,00 B.C. On arrival at the unpopulated planet he names his companion Eve. [10/10]

THE ULTRA MAN - Ever since it's opening, the authorities have covered-up the truth: that a proportion of visitors to the Moon Base have been developing a temporary build-up of ESP and PSI ability during their stay. When one such person: Dr. Richard Carr is able to read (through facial expressions alone) what a person is thinking, he unwittingly uncovers an extraterrestrial infiltrator on the base! What proceeds is a game of cat and mouse, with the American and Russians, to eliminate the threat in the form of an alien named Xilmer of the gyin - who is under orders to evaluate what resistance Earth has against a hostile alien assault which is only hours away! [6/10]

I hope you have enjoyed reading my review of this book, and decide to add it to your collection. ( )
  Sylak | Jan 11, 2010 |
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Standing there, after killing the monster, Matlin began to get mad. [THE REPLICATORS]
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Short science fiction stories by A. E. Van Vogt, originally published from 1937 to 1966.
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