AE van Vogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

[GOLLUM]

Anynoe read Voyage Of Null-A I have it but I haven't read it yet and was wondering how it stacked up against Voyage of the Space Beagle?

 

[J-Sun]

I've read The World of Null-A and The Players of Null-A. I haven't read the much later Null-A Three. Not sure which one you mean. I would say that van Vogt has his idiosyncrasies and Space Beagle also has them but is more generally accessible while the Nulls are more van Vogtian. Not saying this makes either better or worse but just that someone who didn't generally like van Vogt could like Beagle and that wouldn't usually be the case with Null. But I think they fall in the top group of van Vogt classics along with Beagle, the Weapon Shops, and Rull and so on.

 

[Ian Whates]

I'll agree with J-Sun. I think the Null-A books (particularly the original two) and the Weapon Shop books represent van Vogt at his very best. Space Beagle is a great read in its own right, but somehow isn't as quintessentially van Vogt.

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks.

I meant World Of Null-A, so sounds like I'm in for an enjoyable read.

 

[gully_foyle]

Van Vogt at his best? Slan.

This book shows his writing technique in full flight. It is a roller coaster ride the way the plot twists and turns. I also love Voyage of the Space Beagle, and my first post here was to aid my search for Rogue Ship. I think he deserves a spot up there with the legends. Heck, he reads better than Heinlein these days.

 

[BAYLOR]

Classic stuff. The section Black Destroyer is one the literary inspirations for the 1979 film Alien The other is Clark Ashton Smith Vaults of Yoh Vombus.

 

[BAYLOR]

The first time I read anything by him was an Anthology of his stories Destination Universe. Excellent stuff.

 

[tylenol4000]

From what I remember of Voyage, seems like Alien borrowed from two sections of the novel.

 

[tylenol4000]

And Van Vogt in my mind is closer to a Philip K Dick type as opposed to a Heinlein or Asimov. I swear sometimes I think I'm reading a PKD novel.

I've always thought Slan should be a movie.

 

[BAYLOR]

And Van Vogt in my mind is closer to a Philip K Dick type as opposed to a Heinlein or Asimov. I swear sometimes I think I'm reading a PKD novel.

I've always thought Slan should be a movie.

In some ways , yes.

 

[AE35Unit]

Van Vogt at his best? Slan.
.

I was looking forward to reading Slan. But when I did I found it mediocre!

 

[dask]

Great avatar, AE.

 

[AE35Unit]

Great avatar, AE.

Thanks

 

[Tom Hering]

Have you seen this movie? A ship with a human crew picks up a mysterious signal from an unexplored planet. The crew lands to investigate and they discover a crashed alien ship. Inside the ship, they find a giant, mummified alien at the controls. The humans are then attacked by an alien life form that gets on board their own ship. Sound familiar? It's Mario Bava's 1965 film Terrore nello spazio or "Terror In Space" (released in the U.S. as Planet of the Vampires).

 

[BAYLOR]

Have you seen this movie? A ship with a human crew picks up a mysterious signal from an unexplored planet. The crew lands to investigate and they discover a crashed alien ship. Inside the ship, they find a giant, mummified alien at the controls. The humans are then attacked by an alien life form that gets on board their own ship. Sound familiar? It's Mario Bava's 1965 film Terrore nello spazio or "Terror In Space" (aka Planet of the Vampires).

You might also find short story The Vaults of Yoh Vombus by Clark Ashton Smith to be of interest , Also the The 1958 film It The Terror From Beyond Space.

 

[Tom Hering]

You might also find short story The Vaults of Yoh Vombus by Clark Ashton Smith to be of interest , Also the The 1958 film It The Terror From Beyond Space.

Yes, I've seen It! The Terror From Beyond Space and I agree that it, too, must have been an influence on Alien screenwriter Dan O'Bannon. He seems to have borrowed rather freely from several sources.

 

[BAYLOR]

Yes, I've seen It! The Terror From Beyond Space and I agree that it, too, must have been an influence on Alien screenwriter Dan O'Bannon. He seems to have borrowed rather freely from several sources.

It was written by Science fiction writer Jerome Bixby. The creature was played by Stuntman/actor Ray Crash Corrigan , this was his last appearance on screen. The Monster suit didn't Corrigan properly . He was famous for doing westerns and playing the tough guy hero. He's also known for the 1936 science fiction serial Undersea Kingdom in which he play a dashing heroic naval officer named Corrigan. He was great at action but was not a great actor.

 

[BAYLOR]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

My understanding is that this was never proven -- although it was certainly claimed at the time of the movie's release and the makers of the film settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Certainly there are major similarities between one section of the book and the idea of Alien, no question.

There are those, including a few highly regarded SF figures such as Damon Knight, who have always insisted that van Vogt can't write. Personally, I'm a big fan: fabulous ideas and hectic pacing. Always fun to read and Space Beagle is a good one.

Incidentally, as well as the connection to Alien, this is also strongly rumoured to have been a major inspiration for the original Star Trek.




Not bad for one book!

A terrirfc read.

 

[Sinful Cyndi]

I read Voyage of the Space Beagle when I was about 12 years old, it was an inspiration effect on my young mind. I'm going to dig it out and read it again. Glad to be reminded of this.

 

[Peter V]

The Voyage of the Space Beagle got me into science fiction back when I was about 12 too (in 75!). I stumbled across a discarded copy in the stairwell of the block of flats where I lived.

The rest as they say is history...