This dramatic tale of the harrowing results of the discovery of a huge and very strange alien object on a remote Pacific island in the immediate post-WW2 years, told in typical and most effective van-Vogt-style from the “other’s” point of view, was first published in the November 1948 issue of Startling Stories, whose snappy cover here has surely not escaped your attention.
There was the following interesting comment by the editors in that rather splendid issue (198 large-format pages!!) (…)
Home > A. E. van Vogt > THE 83 VAN VOGT STORIES ON THIS SITE
THE 83 VAN VOGT STORIES ON THIS SITE
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"Dormant" - a great golden-age sci-fi story by A. E. van Vogt (1948)
21 July 2015, by A. E. van Vogt -
"Vault of the Beast" – the first s-f story written by A. E. van Vogt (1940)
24 March 2015, by A. E. van VogtA. E. van Vogt’s first published story was the celebrated Black Destroyer, that appeared in the August 1939 edition of Astounding Science Fiction.
But Black Destroyer was not actually van Vogt’s first science-fiction story : that distinction goes to this one, a remarkably inventive and dramatic space-adventure tale that he had submitted to the Astounding magazine in 1938.
Its publication was however delayed for editorial reasons, as a shape-changing alien had featured in Who Goes There?, (…) -
"The Sea Thing" by A. E. van Vogt (1940)
11 February 2015, by A. E. van VogtIn this very early story first published in the January 1940 edition of Unknown magazine, A. E. van Vogt made a rare but very successful venture into the realm of fantasy. Or rather near-fantasy, as the shark-god "Thing" (in human form!) that comes out of the sea to wreak revenge on a group of fishermen in an isolated area of the South Seas is an interesting and just-about-credible (especially at night in sufficiently-eerie surroundings) incarnation of the ancestral lore of the native (…)
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"Centaurus II" by A. E. van Vogt (1947) - a golden-age novelette never before republished
10 February 2015, by A. E. van VogtThis novelette, which was the cover story in the June 1947 issue of the celebrated science-fiction magazine Astounding Science Fiction, covers some of the same ground as van Vogt’s magnificent 1950 novel The Voyage of the Space Beagle: exploration of far-off star systems, discovery of highly-developed not to say superior alien civilisations and, especially, the grave dangers that internal social/sociological conflicts can and probably always will pose to the very survival of such long-term (…)
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"The Monster" (1948) - A. E. van Vogt’s best short story
3 October 2013This golden-age story, first published in the August 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, was considered by its author to be one of his – an opinion we heartily concur with.
It was later republished in some anthologies as Resurrection, but it appeared in van Vogt’s first anthology of his own short stories (Destination: Universe!, in 1952) with its original title, and it was referred to by that name by him in later interviews, so The Monster clearly is the proper "canonical" title of (…) -
"The Beast" - an early van Vogt novella now available for the first time since 1943
15 September 2013, by A. E. van VogtThis golden-age novella by the author of The Monster and Black Destroyer, that appeared in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, has never been included in any anthology of van Vogt’s works, possibly because of its length: 22,000 words, the equivalent of some 65 paper-back pages. An overview of this very imaginative war-time story, featuring rocket ships with atomic engines (!), a deadly world-wide Nazi conspiracy (the Nazis have lost the war but are actively preparing for (…)
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"The Shadow Men" (1950) — an outstanding golden-age novella by A. E. van Vogt never before republished
3 September 2013, by A. E. van VogtThis striking tale from the golden age of science-fiction was never republished in either magazine or book form after its initial appearance in the January 1950 issue of Startling Stories, where it was highlighted on the quite spectacular cover by Earle Bergey
With its 36,400 words – the equivalent of some 110 pocket-book pages – it is technically a (long) novella, according to the criteria developed by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America association: short story - under (…) -
INDEX OF THE 83 VAN VOGT STORIES ON THIS SITE, in alphabetical order
1 January 2013, by RayA CAN OF PAINT ABDICATION ASYLUM AUTOMATON BLACK DESTROYER CARTHING CENTAURUS II CO-OPERATE OR ELSE! CONCEALMENT DEAR PEN PAL DEFENSE DISCORD IN SCARLET DORMANT ENCHANTED VILLAGE ENEMY OF THE SILKIES FAR CENTAURUS FEMWORLD FILM LIBRARY FINAL COMMAND FOOTPRINT FARM FULFILLMENT HAUNTED ATOMS HEIR APPARENT HUMANS GO HOME! ITSELF! JUGGERNAUT LIVING WITH JANE LOST: FIFTY SUNS M33 IN ANDROMEDA NOT ONLY DEAD MEN NOT THE FIRST PENDULUM PROCESS PROLOGUE TO FREEDOM RECRUITING STATION REPETITION (…)