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The Mutant Mage #1-2
Transgalactic
Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn: Global war smashed civilization—or so the legends told—but not all of its machines. A caste of “scientists” arose who knew how to repair and operate the ancient machines, but not how they worked, and worshipped at the altars of the atomic gods who were said to make the machines run. Society was a strange mix of the modern and the medieval, with armies riding on horseback into huge spaceships, then flying to human colonies on other planets to wage war with swords and arrows.
Then came the mutant Clane, who would have been put to death for his deformities had he not been born into the ruling family. Though his body was twisted, his mind was brilliant, and he not only recovered the lost science behind the ancient machines, but found the truth behind the legends of civilization’s downfall. Alien invaders, not human war, had reduced humanity to barbarism as a prelude for a later return in force to colonize the Solar System. And that return would happen soon, unless Clane could find a way to stop it. . . . For the first time, the entire Clane saga, told in the two novels Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn, is complete in one volume.
Mission to the Stars, Van Vogt’s sweeping novel of interstellar adventure, is also included, along with the two short novels in the “Ezwal” series, chronicling the struggle of one man to convince a feral but intelligent species to join with humanity in the battle against a mutual enemy—but first he must convince the lone Ezwal who is trapped with him in a deadly jungle to co-operate, or neither will survive.
About A.E. Van Vogt:
"A. E. Van Vogt's early stories broke like claps of thunder through the science fiction field.”—Jack Williamson
"I can still recall the impact of his early stories.”—Arthur C. Clarke
"Nobody . . . came close to matching van Vogt for headlong, breakneck pacing.”—Gardner Dozois
Then came the mutant Clane, who would have been put to death for his deformities had he not been born into the ruling family. Though his body was twisted, his mind was brilliant, and he not only recovered the lost science behind the ancient machines, but found the truth behind the legends of civilization’s downfall. Alien invaders, not human war, had reduced humanity to barbarism as a prelude for a later return in force to colonize the Solar System. And that return would happen soon, unless Clane could find a way to stop it. . . . For the first time, the entire Clane saga, told in the two novels Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn, is complete in one volume.
Mission to the Stars, Van Vogt’s sweeping novel of interstellar adventure, is also included, along with the two short novels in the “Ezwal” series, chronicling the struggle of one man to convince a feral but intelligent species to join with humanity in the battle against a mutual enemy—but first he must convince the lone Ezwal who is trapped with him in a deadly jungle to co-operate, or neither will survive.
About A.E. Van Vogt:
"A. E. Van Vogt's early stories broke like claps of thunder through the science fiction field.”—Jack Williamson
"I can still recall the impact of his early stories.”—Arthur C. Clarke
"Nobody . . . came close to matching van Vogt for headlong, breakneck pacing.”—Gardner Dozois
607 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 26, 2006
20 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
A.E. van Vogt
638 books438 followersAlfred Elton van Vogt was a Canadian-born science fiction author regarded by some as one of the most popular and complex science fiction writers of the mid-twentieth century—the "Golden Age" of the genre.
van Vogt was born to Russian Mennonite family. Until he was four years old, van Vogt and his family spoke only a dialect of Low German in the home.
He began his writing career with 'true story' romances, but then moved to writing science fiction, a field he identified with. His first story was Black Destroyer, that appeared as the front cover story for the July 1939 edtion of the popular "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine.
van Vogt was born to Russian Mennonite family. Until he was four years old, van Vogt and his family spoke only a dialect of Low German in the home.
He began his writing career with 'true story' romances, but then moved to writing science fiction, a field he identified with. His first story was Black Destroyer, that appeared as the front cover story for the July 1939 edtion of the popular "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 3, 2019
3.5 stars. Wonderful collection of four van Vogt fix-up novels from sci-fi grandmaster A.E. van Vogt. Highly recommend for Golden Age sci-fi fans!
1) Empire of the Atom - 3 stars - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2903727027
2) The Wizard of Linn - 3.5 stars - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2905159143
3) The Ezwal - 3 stars - This consists of two loosely connected stories (Co-Operate - Or Else! and The Second Solution), which I'm not sure actually comprise a true fix-up novel or not. Anyway, these involve an enigmatic species of highly secretive aliens know as the Ezwal. They are highly intelligent, telepathic and yet are ferocious beasts, weighing several thousand pounds, with deadly fangs and claws. Oh, and blue in color. They are desperate to keep knowledge of their intelligence hidden from humans, convinced that if humans knew they would be wiped out, but would otherwise be left alone if considered dumb beasts. There's something to that.
4) Mission To The Stars (AKA The Mixed Men) -3.5 stars - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2921794936
1) Empire of the Atom - 3 stars - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2903727027
2) The Wizard of Linn - 3.5 stars - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2905159143
3) The Ezwal - 3 stars - This consists of two loosely connected stories (Co-Operate - Or Else! and The Second Solution), which I'm not sure actually comprise a true fix-up novel or not. Anyway, these involve an enigmatic species of highly secretive aliens know as the Ezwal. They are highly intelligent, telepathic and yet are ferocious beasts, weighing several thousand pounds, with deadly fangs and claws. Oh, and blue in color. They are desperate to keep knowledge of their intelligence hidden from humans, convinced that if humans knew they would be wiped out, but would otherwise be left alone if considered dumb beasts. There's something to that.
4) Mission To The Stars (AKA The Mixed Men) -3.5 stars - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2921794936
October 9, 2013
Over all I "Liked" this book, though in patches it was between 2 and 4 stars.
It has to be reviewed in 4 parts as it represents 4 quite different stages of Van Vogt's pulp writing career; not surprisingly the more recent material was the best.
"Empire of the Atom" - Derivative / retelling of the decline of the Roman empire. To be honest it is a bit stupid (space ships and bows and arrows????) and only starts to come the goods in the final story when Czinczar the barbarian and the external threat of the Riss comes into play. This was the least enjoyable of the books in this volume - even though the writing technically and structurally better than the earlier stories in this volume, it lacks their verve and excitement.
"The Wizard of Linn" - The best written book in this volume. Though in the same setting as "Empire of the Atom", and still with a little bit of the last days of the mad Roman emperors as background, it is really about the smartest man in the universe capturing power alien relics, then going on an interstellar adventure and putting the Stalinists into their place with superior technological skills and free thinking! Woo Hoo this is how you win a cold war! But seriously, I enjoyed it and I reckon the writers of "Super Dimensional Fortress - Macross" / "Robotech"* and "Battle Ship Yamoto" / "Star Blazers"* owe a lot to this book.
"The Ezwal" - These two side stories from the "War with the Rull" universe are the earliest in this volume - I enjoyed them the most. The story rockets along, there are twists and withheld information, but not to the extent of the "Mission to the Stars" and over all it is quite coherent.
"Mission to the Stars" - This is just pure, non-sequential, nonsensical exuberance. You buy the ticket, you take the ride. This is Van Vogt at his best / worst of exciting writing by introducing plots twists, new devices, new back story every 2-3 pages. Park your brain as Lady Gloria conquers a star system with one super battleship, the help of an organic "robot" with 2 brains and an IQ of 900+ (and the ability of "3 dimension mesmerism") and bucket full of plot holes and inconsistencies!
I am going to make an overall comment here - Van Vogt is not a good writer, and therefore he can't be a good SF writer (I am strongly in the Damon Knight camp when it comes to literary criticism). He is exuberant and imaginative, but he is also formulaic and lacked the critical thinking ability to spot what was really working in his writing. He mistook his 2-3 page plot twists as being "positives" of his writing rather than is ideas. Unfortunately it took him years to develop the ability (or will) to build up tension and get more mileage out of his inventive plot twists. As much as I enjoy "The Wizard of Linn" and acknowledge it could not have been done without "The Empire of the Atom", I think the earlier stories were lucky to have come out while the market was booming and the readership was fairly uncritical.
That said, he sold magazines so editors kept buy him. A few years later on (after the short story pulp magazine market declined) he probably would have gotten a good editor to help him shape better novels earlier in his career.
And lastly, hats off! Everything starts somewhere and those places often are not great, but they are fun and full of potential. I look forward to reading more of his earlier works - Space Beagle / Black Destroyer, more of the Rull stories.
* Before anyone gets too picky - I realise that the "japanimation" versions of 1970s and 1980s anime serials are very different to Japanese story lines due sensibilities, censorship and 85-Episode syndication rights - it makes sense that American script writers would raid the Golden Age of SF when repackaging the images.
It has to be reviewed in 4 parts as it represents 4 quite different stages of Van Vogt's pulp writing career; not surprisingly the more recent material was the best.
"Empire of the Atom" - Derivative / retelling of the decline of the Roman empire. To be honest it is a bit stupid (space ships and bows and arrows????) and only starts to come the goods in the final story when Czinczar the barbarian and the external threat of the Riss comes into play. This was the least enjoyable of the books in this volume - even though the writing technically and structurally better than the earlier stories in this volume, it lacks their verve and excitement.
"The Wizard of Linn" - The best written book in this volume. Though in the same setting as "Empire of the Atom", and still with a little bit of the last days of the mad Roman emperors as background, it is really about the smartest man in the universe capturing power alien relics, then going on an interstellar adventure and putting the Stalinists into their place with superior technological skills and free thinking! Woo Hoo this is how you win a cold war! But seriously, I enjoyed it and I reckon the writers of "Super Dimensional Fortress - Macross" / "Robotech"* and "Battle Ship Yamoto" / "Star Blazers"* owe a lot to this book.
"The Ezwal" - These two side stories from the "War with the Rull" universe are the earliest in this volume - I enjoyed them the most. The story rockets along, there are twists and withheld information, but not to the extent of the "Mission to the Stars" and over all it is quite coherent.
"Mission to the Stars" - This is just pure, non-sequential, nonsensical exuberance. You buy the ticket, you take the ride. This is Van Vogt at his best / worst of exciting writing by introducing plots twists, new devices, new back story every 2-3 pages. Park your brain as Lady Gloria conquers a star system with one super battleship, the help of an organic "robot" with 2 brains and an IQ of 900+ (and the ability of "3 dimension mesmerism") and bucket full of plot holes and inconsistencies!
I am going to make an overall comment here - Van Vogt is not a good writer, and therefore he can't be a good SF writer (I am strongly in the Damon Knight camp when it comes to literary criticism). He is exuberant and imaginative, but he is also formulaic and lacked the critical thinking ability to spot what was really working in his writing. He mistook his 2-3 page plot twists as being "positives" of his writing rather than is ideas. Unfortunately it took him years to develop the ability (or will) to build up tension and get more mileage out of his inventive plot twists. As much as I enjoy "The Wizard of Linn" and acknowledge it could not have been done without "The Empire of the Atom", I think the earlier stories were lucky to have come out while the market was booming and the readership was fairly uncritical.
That said, he sold magazines so editors kept buy him. A few years later on (after the short story pulp magazine market declined) he probably would have gotten a good editor to help him shape better novels earlier in his career.
And lastly, hats off! Everything starts somewhere and those places often are not great, but they are fun and full of potential. I look forward to reading more of his earlier works - Space Beagle / Black Destroyer, more of the Rull stories.
* Before anyone gets too picky - I realise that the "japanimation" versions of 1970s and 1980s anime serials are very different to Japanese story lines due sensibilities, censorship and 85-Episode syndication rights - it makes sense that American script writers would raid the Golden Age of SF when repackaging the images.
March 2, 2014
Three complete novels from a Golden Age master of science fiction in one volume: Empire of the Atom, The Wizard of Linn, and Mission to the Stars.
Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn: Global war smashed civilization—or so the legends told—but not all of its machines. A caste of “scientists” arose who knew how to repair and operate the ancient machines, but not how they worked, and worshipped at the altars of the atomic gods who were said to make the machines run. Society was a strange mix of the modern and the medieval, with armies riding on horseback into huge spaceships, then flying to human colonies on other planets to wage war with swords and arrows.
Then came the mutant Clane, who would have been put to death for his deformities had he not been born into the ruling family. Though his body was twisted, his mind was brilliant, and he not only recovered the lost science behind the ancient machines, but found the truth behind the legends of civilization’s downfall. Alien invaders, not human war, had reduced humanity to barbarism as a prelude for a later return in force to colonize the Solar System. And that return would happen soon, unless Clane could find a way to stop it. . . . For the first time, the entire Clane saga, told in the two novels Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn, is complete in one volume.
Mission to the Stars, Van Vogt’s sweeping novel of interstellar adventure, is also included, along with the two short novels in the “Ezwal” series, chronicling the struggle of one man to convince a feral but intelligent species to join with humanity in the battle against a mutual enemy—but first he must convince the lone Ezwal who is trapped with him in a deadly jungle to co-operate, or neither will survive.
About A.E. Van Vogt:
"A. E. Van Vogt's early stories broke like claps of thunder through the science fiction field.”—Jack Williamson
"I can still recall the impact of his early stories.”—Arthur C. Clarke
"Nobody . . . came close to matching van Vogt for headlong, breakneck pacing.”—Gardner Dozois
About the AuthorA. E. Van Vogt was one of the giants of the Golden Age of science fiction, when he, with his contemporaries Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, completely transformed the genre, leading it to a new level of maturity. His landmark novels Slan and The World of Null-A were two of the most influential SF novels of the 20th century, and were also two of the first SF novels to appear in hardcover from a major publisher. His ability to write complex wheels-within-wheels plots was often imitated, by writers as different as Philip K. Dick and Keith Laumer, but has never been equaled.
In 1996 Van Vogt received the Grand Master Nebula Award for a lifetime body of work from the Science Fiction Writers of America. He also was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame and received a special award from the World Science Fiction Convention. Booklist has noted that “Van Vogt created genuinely different aliens, endowed with extraordinary physical and mental powers as well as appetites, and the genre . . . has thrived on them since.”
March 16, 2013
Flunked the hundred page test. Generally, I enjoy the older SF stories better than the newer. Not in this case. Reads like a cheap knock off of the McMaster's Miles Vorkosigan stories, except it was written several decades earlier.
Too easy, too obvious, too simple-minded.
Don't waste your time.
February 12, 2017
Good old fashion scifi from the 30's
April 4, 2020
Dit is het eerste SF boek dat ik ooit kocht. Op een camping in Luxemburg las ik het in een zomervakantie uit. Als 12 jarige werd ik overspoeld door Sense of Wonder en een SF fan voor het leven. Met dank aan Van Vogt, van wie ik in de maanden daarna elk boek las waar ik mijn handen op kon leggen. Gelukkig waren ze in die dagen ook nog in de bibliotheek te vinden want veel geld had ik niet, en wat ik in de bibliotheek niet vond schuimde ik bij elkaar in antiquariaten en vlooienmarkten. Zo was deze roman het startpunt van mijn SF collectie.
Nu 44 jaar later heb ik het eindelijk aangedurft om het te herlezen met het perspectief van een compleet leven en talloze boeken gecondenseerd in mijn wereldwijze bijna wit van grijze hoofd.
Mijn god! wat een rommeltje is dit boek. Slecht geschreven en slecht vertaald. De plot wordt voortgestuwd door een trein aan uitwisselbare karakters en deux ex machina's die tevoorschijn getrokken worden als witte konijnen uit een hoge hoed. Vrouwen verschijnen en verdwijnen in sneltreinvaart van het toneel zonder een moment geloofwaardig te worden, de mannen zijn allen impulsief en leiden aan een haperend korte termijn geheugen. Emoties en woedeaanvallen domineren de pagina's zonder aanwijsbare redenen. Het lijkt wel of van Vogt zichzelf bij het schrijven op de automatische piloot heeft gezet en gewoon door is blijven schrijven zonder een keer te checken of er nog enige logische draad in zijn verhaal zat.
Dit zijn twee romans in een boek en helaas is de trend die in de eerste roman gezet wordt, niet gekeerd als je in het vervolg aankomt. Wat is het gevolg? Ik kan mij met niemand in de roman identificeren. Karakters worden decorstukken waar je geen zier om geeft en het maakt mij ook geen zier uit of de aardse beschaving ten onder gaat, kortom je leeft niet mee waardoor het lezen voor mij een soort huiswerk werd dat ik mijzelf had opgelegd. Waarom dan John?? Waarom lezen wat je niet leuk vind? Omdat dit de hoeksteen van mijn verzameling is, de allereerste roman en ik er nu eindelijk eens een vinkje achter wil zetten. Normaal zou ik een boek van dit niveau na lezing naar de minibieb brengen, maar dat doe ik niet vanwege sentimentele redenen.
Ik heb hem ooit zelf gekaft om goed te houden en het is een prachtige cover-art die de kaft siert. Waarom toch twee sterren? Sense.of.wonder! Ik ben het nog niet echt kwijt. En ook nu weer voelde ik het opkomen in de beschrijvingen van de beschaving die aan het rijk van Linn vooraf ging. Daarom blijft dit werkje bij mij tot ik de geest geef, als eerbetoon aan de oude meester die een twaalf jarige op het spoor van een levenlang plezier in lezen gezet heeft. Dankjewel A.E. van Vogt en dankjewel Clane Linn....
Nu 44 jaar later heb ik het eindelijk aangedurft om het te herlezen met het perspectief van een compleet leven en talloze boeken gecondenseerd in mijn wereldwijze bijna wit van grijze hoofd.
Mijn god! wat een rommeltje is dit boek. Slecht geschreven en slecht vertaald. De plot wordt voortgestuwd door een trein aan uitwisselbare karakters en deux ex machina's die tevoorschijn getrokken worden als witte konijnen uit een hoge hoed. Vrouwen verschijnen en verdwijnen in sneltreinvaart van het toneel zonder een moment geloofwaardig te worden, de mannen zijn allen impulsief en leiden aan een haperend korte termijn geheugen. Emoties en woedeaanvallen domineren de pagina's zonder aanwijsbare redenen. Het lijkt wel of van Vogt zichzelf bij het schrijven op de automatische piloot heeft gezet en gewoon door is blijven schrijven zonder een keer te checken of er nog enige logische draad in zijn verhaal zat.
Dit zijn twee romans in een boek en helaas is de trend die in de eerste roman gezet wordt, niet gekeerd als je in het vervolg aankomt. Wat is het gevolg? Ik kan mij met niemand in de roman identificeren. Karakters worden decorstukken waar je geen zier om geeft en het maakt mij ook geen zier uit of de aardse beschaving ten onder gaat, kortom je leeft niet mee waardoor het lezen voor mij een soort huiswerk werd dat ik mijzelf had opgelegd. Waarom dan John?? Waarom lezen wat je niet leuk vind? Omdat dit de hoeksteen van mijn verzameling is, de allereerste roman en ik er nu eindelijk eens een vinkje achter wil zetten. Normaal zou ik een boek van dit niveau na lezing naar de minibieb brengen, maar dat doe ik niet vanwege sentimentele redenen.
Ik heb hem ooit zelf gekaft om goed te houden en het is een prachtige cover-art die de kaft siert. Waarom toch twee sterren? Sense.of.wonder! Ik ben het nog niet echt kwijt. En ook nu weer voelde ik het opkomen in de beschrijvingen van de beschaving die aan het rijk van Linn vooraf ging. Daarom blijft dit werkje bij mij tot ik de geest geef, als eerbetoon aan de oude meester die een twaalf jarige op het spoor van een levenlang plezier in lezen gezet heeft. Dankjewel A.E. van Vogt en dankjewel Clane Linn....
December 6, 2020
I picked this up to read some Van Vogt as I've been mixing in some golden age sci fi into my reading list. I thought this was a collection of short stories, but the first 70% is a complete novel. I had to really force myself to finish this, as it just wasn't clicking with me. The second story is the best, probably a 3-star short story. I was hoping the best was saved for last, but I barely made it through the last story (1-star). From this, I really don't want to read anymore Van Vogt. I really don't like his style and this whole book was just a chore to read.
October 7, 2022
Typisch van Vogt verhaal dat kleine actoren voorbereid op hun galactische rol. Interessante twist is de twist tussen de mensen... Zelfs als alles op het spel staat, blijft het gekonkel voortduren
April 6, 2016
Old sci-fi is always a bit tricky. Most of it is pretty dated, and many of the classic texts of the Golden Age science fiction are lacking in areas like style, character development and consistency, even the big names like Asimov, Heinlein or Sprague de Camp, just to name a few, have written passages or entire stories which today might earn them more than a few odd looks and feel a bit "icky" to our modern political and social sensibilities.
A.E. van Vogt's story cycle was first serialized in the late 1940s and early 1950s and it shows. However, if one is able to take all this in stride, it provides an entertaining reading experience and the story of the physically deformed protagonist overcoming all challenges and obstacles and conquering physically superior opponents with the power of his mind is still able to fascinate today considering the popularity of such characters as Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan or George R. R. Martin's Tyrion Lannister.
A.E. van Vogt's story cycle was first serialized in the late 1940s and early 1950s and it shows. However, if one is able to take all this in stride, it provides an entertaining reading experience and the story of the physically deformed protagonist overcoming all challenges and obstacles and conquering physically superior opponents with the power of his mind is still able to fascinate today considering the popularity of such characters as Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan or George R. R. Martin's Tyrion Lannister.
June 13, 2013
A.E. Van Vogt was a prolific mid-20th century sci-fi writer. Stylistically he leaves a lot to be desired, but the great thing about him is the way he manages to convey the utter vastness of the universe and the possible permutations. One story has a remote post waiting eons for contact with civilization; it is its job to wait that long. In another novella written in the late 40s, it's hilarious to read that a character who time-transports to sometime in the 2500-3000 range turns on the radio and hears some "jump" music; apparently Van Vogt did not have much of an appreciation for the possibilities of the evolution of music. But this stuff is fun to read, just to experience the creation of ornate alternative worlds sprawled across the universe.
March 2, 2014
Mission to the Stars and the Ezwal books are Van Vogt's best stuff. The Wizard of Linn books are his worst, making it hard to rate this collection fairly. The "wizard" is an annoying Van Vogt superman/Mary Sue with plans that have no reason to succeed but do anyway. But I really enjoyed the aristocratic lady commander and her gigantic intergalactic ship in Mission to the Stars, and the ezwals are a pretty good take on the Van Vogt superman.
April 16, 2013
becoming a bit old fashioned. Not talking about technology, because SF from the 50's is always fun (in my opinion), but talking about character and story development. All heroes in this book seem to be superheroes, which was OK in the 50's, but grows a bit old now.
But for old times sake, it's still a great read!
But for old times sake, it's still a great read!
December 1, 2015
Some of the four stars is nostalgia, I grew up reading this kind of Sci first. The kind more about the big idea than petty things like character development.
The book is more a collection of related short stories than a novel so you get to see a civilization grow in a kind of literary stop motion. That is the best part of the book, getting to see the what next
The book is more a collection of related short stories than a novel so you get to see a civilization grow in a kind of literary stop motion. That is the best part of the book, getting to see the what next
January 22, 2024
This brings together two of my favorites from the pen of A. E. Van Vogt. Added to those is an additional novel and two stories. The combination is a welcome addition to the oeuvre of the great Van Vogt.
April 23, 2013
heb er heel erg van genoten, gewoon een lekker tussendoortje
September 22, 2015
wonderful.
Must read. Masterclass work by Vogt . Amazing to see that after so many years the story is fresh and relevant.
Must read. Masterclass work by Vogt . Amazing to see that after so many years the story is fresh and relevant.
July 19, 2016
Standards for pulp SF in those days were pretty low, which is why not too much of it has been reprinted. This does not rise above those standards, except in a few spots here and there.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews