The Voyage of the Space Beagle (©1939, 1943, 1950)

The title is a nod to Dawrin if you were wondering. The stories are episodic in nature, and as you would expect originally appeared in the pulps of the time.

The stories themselves are fun, and cheesy. There are times when you have to wonder about the intelligence of the characters when they continually invite hostile life forms aboard their vessel.

This novel had elements that served as the basis for the original Alien. So for that if nothing else this novel is kind of cool to read.

In all this was fun, but nothing special by today's standards.

Reviewed June 23, 2005

Masters of Time (©1942, 1944, 1950)

Continuing my little journey down memory lane with Mr. van Vogt. This is essentially a strange little story about two factions at war who mine the past to arm the future.

Along the way Norma and Jack find a way to thwart the bad guys and save the day. This is horribly dated stuff now, and it's fun for the cheese factor.

Reviewed June 24, 2005

Quest for the Future (©1970)

Quest for the future is in some ways the best of the van Vogt stories I've read so far. It doesn't have the clunkiness of his earlier works, and the premise of time, and alternate realities are always good for a laugh. Time stories can get tricky with all the puts and takes, and Mr. van Vogt is a deft writer.

It's too bad his main character is such an unlovable shit. He goes throughout time trying to find a mysterious Palace of Immortality. The story went along its merry way, and when it was over I was feeling a little bit bemused. That's it?

But then again it was 1970 ... maybe that's how you ended stories back then.

Reviewed June 25, 2005