AE van Vogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

[Connavar]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

Yes, he is.

I somehow always confuse him with Vonnegut. Who has alot of books in the library.

While recently i had to order Slan from another library.

 

[Omphalos]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

I just mooched a copy of this book,hope to receive it soon,but the interesting thing I just found is according to Fantastic Fiction the first third of this novel formed the basis of the original movie Alien! Anyone confirm this?

Van Vogt sued the film makers and its rumored that there was a $50K settlement. Not a whole lot for a major motion picture that is the subject of a suit, and a settlement is not a vindication of property rights, but still, van Vogt collected.

 

[clovis-man]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

I somehow always confuse him with Vonnegut. Who has alot of books in the library.

I can see why. Try this: Van Vogt rhymes with "choked".

 

[iansales]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

Thats interesting because M33 in Andromeda is noted as a novel in itself. Looks like he expanded various stories into their own novels!

See this bibliography here for a full explanation of van Vogt's stories and which he expanded into novels. Some stories he expanded on more than one occasion.

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

See this bibliography here for a full explanation of van Vogt's stories and which he expanded into novels. Some stories he expanded on more than one occasion.

Thanks ian. Oh what a tangled web he weaved (wove?)

 

[Ghost Of Gernsback]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

Alien movie inspiration or not. Van Vogt monster sf peaked my interest.

Isnt he the writer of Slan ?

He piqued a lot of peoples interest. "Black Destroyer" was part of the issue of Astounding, widely regarded to have marked the begining of the Golden Age of science fiction.

Personally I dont see the connection to Alien, in my mind it was a recombination of "Dark Star" and a little known sci-fi film "It - The Terror From Space" Which when I re-watched it a few years ago I was impressed with how well it worked.

It has been a while since I read Vogt. So I am not sure how his work will hold against modern more sophisticated techniques. However at the very least he was capable of some rip snorting entertaining work

I for one would be very interested in feedback on "Voyage Of The Space Beagle" It will be good to see how it looks through new eyes

 

[J-Sun]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

You're obviously a big Van Vogt fan J-Sun. Where does he rank for you in the pantheon of SF stars like Heinlein, Asimov etc....??

It's really hard to say but, actually, that's about it. Asimov is my all-time favorite but Heinlein would probably also be in my first tier. I'd say that van Vogt was either near the top of the second tier or near the end of the first tier. Along the lines of Sturgeon and Kuttner/Moore, as different as they all are.

How's your pantheon?

 

[GOLLUM]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

It's really hard to say but, actually, that's about it. Asimov is my all-time favorite but Heinlein would probably also be in my first tier. I'd say that van Vogt was either near the top of the second tier or near the end of the first tier. Along the lines of Sturgeon and Kuttner/Moore, as different as they all are.

How's your pantheon?

Umm....that would take a day to fill out/tell you about but I may generate a list in the future. If I do i'll post it or PM you.

Cheers.....

 

[Fried Egg]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

I've just finished "Voyage of the Space Beagle" and I must say that I absolutely loved it. A real SF masterpiece in my opinion. In terms of ideas and writing style I see some simularities with Asimov and Sturgeon which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

I loved his depictions of the various alien beings the Beagle encounters on it's journey and also enjoyed the struggle for Grosvenor's to gain acceptance for himself, and his field of science; Nexialism (which itself is an interesting concept) despite the resistance of to new ideas of many of his collegues and politically motivated opposition among others.

It certainly makes me want to track down more of his work. I recall reading "Moonbeast" several years ago but not being as impressed as I was after reading this. I have "World of a Null-a" lined up next.

 

[blacknorth]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

Van Vogt was famous for doing 'fix-ups', for taking several of his own short stories, usually thematically linked or featuring common characters, and combining them with a little rewriting here and there, to create a novel.

I think this is probably why I find Van Vogt's novels incomprehensible - they just don't make any sense to me, possibly because I can't follow or understand his thematic links.

His short stories, on the other hand, are superb and I can read them time and again without tiring of his fevered imagination.

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

I've just finished "Voyage of the Space Beagle" and I must say that I absolutely loved it. A real SF masterpiece in my opinion. In terms of ideas and writing style I see some simularities with Asimov and Sturgeon which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

.

Having re read these posts,and then yours,I'm really looking forward to this book now!

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

Well I'll make a start on this book later once the kids are in bed. Now i've been reading up on this book and I get that its a fix up and yet there's no distinct chapter headings just Chapter One,Chapter Two etc. I was expecting the book to be divided into parts like Black Destroyer,Discord in Scarlet etc

 

[Fried Egg]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

Well I'll make a start on this book later once the kids are in bed. Now i've been reading up on this book and I get that its a fix up and yet there's no distinct chapter headings just Chapter One,Chapter Two etc. I was expecting the book to be divided into parts like Black Destroyer,Discord in Scarlet etc

It is quite obvious when reading where the different stories begin and end but they do fit together well and the meta story pervades and ties them altogether.

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

I love the fact that they refer to the beast as pussy! I'm finding it hard to see where its supposed to be going tho. A mission to discover new aliens or a story about this beast? Just have to keep reading!

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

Well i just finished it, very good! Some of the passages seemed a bit wooden and rambling-lots of big words used when a few would have done (I didn't understand all that was going on in the last episode about the M33 Galaxy) but well this does come from the late 1940s!
On the whole tho its definitely a keeper and i'd recommend it to anyone!
I used the word episode above and someone mentione Star Trek and yes,it does seem as if you're reading a series of Star Trek episodes! There,that's my equivalent of a review!

 

[Fried Egg]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

Well i just finished it, very good! Some of the passages seemed a bit wooden and rambling-lots of big words used when a few would have done (I didn't understand all that was going on in the last episode about the M33 Galaxy) but well this does come from the late 1940s!
On the whole tho its definitely a keeper and i'd recommend it to anyone!
I used the word episode above and someone mentione Star Trek and yes,it does seem as if you're reading a series of Star Trek episodes! There,that's my equivalent of a review!

It was hard to grasp at times. I think the depth of his imagination rivals that of Sturgeon in places.

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: AEvonVogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle

It was hard to grasp at times. I think the depth of his imagination rivals that of Sturgeon in places.

It wasn't the depth of imagination that stopped me but rather the often over elaborate descriptions of events or Grosvenor's plans. You get the impression that he's not the clearest of writers but my god the story,and the science, is good!

 

[blacknorth]

My Van Vogt's are boxed away in the attic room of my father's house. I was up there today searching for a copy of Space Beagle but it wasn't there - I've no memory of it so it must be one of those I haven't read. But I was delighted to find VV books I'd forgotten all about, including the wonderful Weapons Shop novels, and Rogue Ship.

I pulled those out for re-reading.

 

[jowolf359]

Well, now I am going to have to hunt them up and reread them.

 

[Jojo999]

I love Van Vogt's story telling and have 15 or so of his books in my collection. Among his many books, I'd suggest "The Weapon Shops of Isher" and the sequel "The Weapon Makers". I like the radical idea of everyone being able to own a gun BUT the gun can only be used in self-defense.

I enjoyed the Space Beagle book, finding myself particularly fascinated by the alien they picked up (if I remember correctly) in inter-galactic space.

Wikipedia entry has much info:
A. E. van Vogt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I disagree with the big name SF critics that completely pan Van Vogt's writings. While not in the top echelon's of writers (such as Le Guin, Asimov, Heinlein, etc.), his books are more than enjoyable to read with many unique and creative ideas (for his time).