The Weapon Makers

A very old classic scifi novel. Like so many of these that were written in the 30's and 40's, the technology is very dated. No computers, no internet, but they have FTL, blasters and other techno gimmicks that we haven't invented yet.

This is primarily about the conflict between Robert Hedrock, Weapon Maker representative and Empress Innelda. 4700 or so years in the future, Earth has been ruled by a single family for all of that time. Balanced against that ultimate power is the ultimate expression of the 2nd Amendment - the Weapons Makers sell defensive only weapons that can be sold to anyone, that are better than what the government has. It makes for an interesting conflict. Fun, short speculative fiction with still a little bit of show more relevance today. show less

Two thousand years in the future, the solar system is united under the monarchy of the Isher family. To keep the government in check and ensure against tyranny, a guild known as the Weapon Shops has for generations provided technologically advanced arms to the citizens and maintained a close watch on imperial affairs. Naturally, this arrangement often sets guild and government at odds with one another.

The situation reaches a boiling point when Empress Innelda learns of a Weapon Shop spy among her court in the form of Captain Robert Hedrock. When the captain learns that Innelda plans to execute him, Hedrock mounts a bold and public defense, which results in his temporary expulsion from the palace. However, Hedrock learns that Innelda is show more concealing the existence of an interstellar drive from the Weapons Shops and the public in the hopes of bolstering Isher supremacy.

On this way out of the palace, Hedrock is arrested by officers of the Weapons Shops on the charge of subterfuge against the guild! He is brought before the council and interrogated about his mysterious background. When his answers fail to satisfy them, the councilmen order his execution. After mounting yet another daring escape, Hedrock sets out to reveal Innelda’s clandestine project to the world—an adventure which pits him against criminal elements on Earth and bizarre telepathic aliens in interstellar space…

A sequel to The Weapon Shops of Isher, The Weapon Makers begins as a fast-paced tale of intrigue that occasionally waxes melodramatic and, late in the plot, veers off course into ethereal concepts and bombastic language that feel contrived, especially during Hedrock’s encounters with the telepathic aliens. The story is a mélange of fantasy and science fiction that doesn’t always mesh well. Nevertheless, Van Vogt’s reputation as a master of imaginative fiction remains intact. show less

Not bad, very early SF and very much of its era. Ending is a little disjointed. I think I'll try more of his though.

Set six years after "The Weapon Shops of Isher", this is story of how the immortal man behind the weapon shops manipulates both the weapon shops council and the Empress, to ensure that Isher society remains stable in the face of the development of a star ship drive and a possible attack by alien invaders.

This is the book that probably started my fascination with van Vogt. It is NOT, as is sometimes mistakenly identified, a sequel to the novelized collection of stories, The Weapon Shops of Isher. It was originally published as the the first of three parts of a serial, in the immortal Astounding (in the days or John Campbell), in 1943. The book saw publication first in 1947.

I loved this book. I'm wise enough to not read it again, lacking the innocence of youth. Sometimes memories are best left undisturbed.

This is a pretty good book by Van Vogt. It is my third book by this author and I still have mixed emotions. I can't get enthused to read more of his works.

I much preferred his "The Weapon Shops of Isher". It was a better book.

It is an entertaining book. The plot is too contrieved, but it's good fun.