Destination Universe
by A. E. van Vogt
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by dukeallen
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No science fiction grandmaster divides critics more than A. E. van Vogt. There seem to be two distinct schools. In a 1945 essay, βCosmic Jerrybuilder: A.E. van Vogt,β Damon Knight took van Vogt to task with an acerbity that reminds me of Mark Twainβs essay on James Fennimore Cooperβs βliterary offenses.β Knight was especially critical of The World of Null-A, claiming that the novel suffers from lapses in logic that make it incoherent. Philip K. Dick offers a more positive view in a 1974 Vertex interview with Arthur Byron Cover. Dick agrees with Knight that The World of Null-A is incoherent, but he argues that the incoherency is a feature rather than a bug. He says its fuzzy logic makes the novel's world realistically messy. show more
The ten stories in Destination: Universe! provide a good sample of van Vogtβs magazine writing in the 1940s, which could be used to support both sides of the debate. Knight cites βA Can of Paintβ for its ignorance of orbital mechanics. But in βA Pen Pal,β in which an alien with plans to conquer Earth transfers his consciousness into someone who will not live long enough for it to succeed, the coincidences in the plot might support PKDβs view.
βFar Centaurus,β the first story in Destination, has more drama than its plot plausibly can hold. A slower-than-light spacecraft with its crew in cryogenic stasis suffers a mechanical failure that kills one of the crew. Another may have gone homicidally insane. When they get to Centaurus, they find it already inhabited by people who arrived via FTL, which was invented while they were underway. They are told they wonβt be happy colonists because nobody on Centaurus will be able to stand their old-school body odor. Sadly, van Vogt does not treat this event for humor. Then, by a lucky piece of timing, a wormhole opens that will take them back to Earth before they left. Whew. All problems solved. Bad writing or the weirdness of reality? You decide, but I am with Damon on this one. show less
The ten stories in Destination: Universe! provide a good sample of van Vogtβs magazine writing in the 1940s, which could be used to support both sides of the debate. Knight cites βA Can of Paintβ for its ignorance of orbital mechanics. But in βA Pen Pal,β in which an alien with plans to conquer Earth transfers his consciousness into someone who will not live long enough for it to succeed, the coincidences in the plot might support PKDβs view.
βFar Centaurus,β the first story in Destination, has more drama than its plot plausibly can hold. A slower-than-light spacecraft with its crew in cryogenic stasis suffers a mechanical failure that kills one of the crew. Another may have gone homicidally insane. When they get to Centaurus, they find it already inhabited by people who arrived via FTL, which was invented while they were underway. They are told they wonβt be happy colonists because nobody on Centaurus will be able to stand their old-school body odor. Sadly, van Vogt does not treat this event for humor. Then, by a lucky piece of timing, a wormhole opens that will take them back to Earth before they left. Whew. All problems solved. Bad writing or the weirdness of reality? You decide, but I am with Damon on this one. show less
Destination: Universe! is a surprisingly good collection of stories by A. E. van Vogt. I first read it in my mid-teens, and it made a big impression on me; when I rediscovered it forty years later, it was with real delight. His stories bridge the Gernsback era of science fiction to the Campbell era; they could be utterly memorable, and in Destination: Universe they were. They express feelings and moments that stayed with me for decades. His later bad habit of cannibalizing his own earlier work shadowed his overall reputation in my eyes, but the fact remains that when he was good, he was very good indeed. Although all of the stories are excellent, "The Monster" and "A Can of Paint" are particularly memorable.
This book is a collection of ten short science fiction stories by A.E. van Volt. Each story is a stand-alone story and can be read in any order. I was not very familiar with van Voltβs writing and did not know any of these stories but I enjoyed them very much. Each story was very different from each other and very creative. I found it to be a great introduction to van Voltβs fiction.
Far Centaurus - 5/5
The Monster - 3/5
Dormant - 2/5
The Enchanted Village - 3/5
A Can of Paint - 4/5
Defence - 2/5
The Rulers - 4/5
Dear Pen Pal - 3/5
The Sound - 3/5
The Search - 3/5
The Monster - 3/5
Dormant - 2/5
The Enchanted Village - 3/5
A Can of Paint - 4/5
Defence - 2/5
The Rulers - 4/5
Dear Pen Pal - 3/5
The Sound - 3/5
The Search - 3/5
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A. E. Van Vogt was born on April 26, 1912 in Manitoba, Canada. He graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1928. His first story sales were to true story confession magazines in the early 1930s while he was working as a census clerk and representative of Maclean Trade Papers. He wrote plays for Canadian radio and in 1939, he began submitting show more stories and serials to Astounding Science Fiction. He wrote more than 35 novels during his lifetime including Slan, The Weapon Shops of Isher, The World of Null-A, The Pawns of Null-A, The Weapons Makers, The Violent Man, The Silkie, The Battle of Forever, and The House That Stood Still. He died on January 26, 2000 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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AtombΓΆckerna (1954)
Panther Books (1063)
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- Original title
- Destination: Universe!
- Original publication date
- 1952 (collection) (collection)
- First words
- I wakened with a Start, and thought: How was Renfrew taking it? βFar Centaurus
- The great ship poised a quarter of a mile above one of the cities. βThe Monster
- Old ... (show all)was the island. βDormant
- "Explorers of a new frontier" they had been called before they left for Mars. βThe Enchanted Village
- The landing jets worked like a dream. βA Can of Paint
- In the bowels of the planet, tired old machinery stirred. βDefense
- It was a typical Washington dinner party. βThe Rulers
- \. βDear Pen Pal - When I first received your letter from the interstellar correspondence club, my impulse was to ignore it. βDear Pen Pal
- "You're wanted on the video," said Exchange. βThe Sound
- The hospital bed was hard under his body. βThe Search
- I wakened with a Start, and thought: How was Renfrew taking it? βFar Centaurus
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)That's exactly what happened. βFar Centaurus
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)He was still whimpering into it a few minutes later when the mighty ship plunged into the heart of a blue-white sun. βThe Monster
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Robot atom bombs do not make up their own minds. βDormant
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then he waddled out to bask in the sun and listen to the timeless music. βThe Enchanted Village
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The two ships passed in the night of space, on to their separate destinations. βA Can of Paint
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Instantly, the mist spread throughout the stratosphere, blotting out the details of catastrophe from watching the stars. βDefense
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The plump man responded with finality: "I accept defeat." βThe Rulers
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)βWith best wishes, Skander. βDear Pen Pal
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Completing him. βThe Sound
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)He was about to live the events he thought he had forgotten. βThe Search - Blurbers
- Derleth, August; Pratt, Fletcher
- Original language
- English
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- ASINs
- 33
