This book is the second in the Null-A series by A. E. van Vogt.
In my opinion, it was a very good book and much better than the first. The present book had a tighter storyline than the first and came to a more "satisfying" conclusion - one that explained a lot and only left the reader hanging a little. The technology and "special effects" in this second book do not seem "outdated" and "quaint" as in the first and should be more "believable" for readers of the present time - the book was written in the 1940's. There is better explanation of General Semantics/Null-A in this book as well, including information on the "pause"; readers don't have to take quite so much about it on faith (so to speak) as they might have to if all they knew was as given in the first book.
I have read that the third book in the series was written much later and was inconsistent with the previous ones and not well liked. It has been said that maybe van Vogt was already ill when he wrote it. There is "another" third book in the series, Null-A Continuum I think it is called, written by someone else that follows the first two better apparently - this is the one I plan to go to next.
Not to give too much away, but in this the second book, a very shadowy character called the Follower appears and creates havoc. Gosseyn's mind is shuttled back and forth without his consent between his body and that of a Prince Ashargin who is closely connected to Enro - the latter mentioned in the first book as the head of a great interstellar empire. We meet the race of the Predictors. Gosseyn discovers new abilities like prediction of the future and hones others. On Enro's home world, there is a strange religion involving the Sleeping God which plays a very important part in the book as revealed towards the end - this is tied up with the origin of humans in the galaxy no less! Crang and Patricia from the first book reappear.
If you liked the first book, you should really like this one. If you didn't care for the first, you may still find this one worthwhile. It seems to be out of print, but used copies are available. Give it a try.
In my opinion, it was a very good book and much better than the first. The present book had a tighter storyline than the first and came to a more "satisfying" conclusion - one that explained a lot and only left the reader hanging a little. The technology and "special effects" in this second book do not seem "outdated" and "quaint" as in the first and should be more "believable" for readers of the present time - the book was written in the 1940's. There is better explanation of General Semantics/Null-A in this book as well, including information on the "pause"; readers don't have to take quite so much about it on faith (so to speak) as they might have to if all they knew was as given in the first book.
I have read that the third book in the series was written much later and was inconsistent with the previous ones and not well liked. It has been said that maybe van Vogt was already ill when he wrote it. There is "another" third book in the series, Null-A Continuum I think it is called, written by someone else that follows the first two better apparently - this is the one I plan to go to next.
Not to give too much away, but in this the second book, a very shadowy character called the Follower appears and creates havoc. Gosseyn's mind is shuttled back and forth without his consent between his body and that of a Prince Ashargin who is closely connected to Enro - the latter mentioned in the first book as the head of a great interstellar empire. We meet the race of the Predictors. Gosseyn discovers new abilities like prediction of the future and hones others. On Enro's home world, there is a strange religion involving the Sleeping God which plays a very important part in the book as revealed towards the end - this is tied up with the origin of humans in the galaxy no less! Crang and Patricia from the first book reappear.
If you liked the first book, you should really like this one. If you didn't care for the first, you may still find this one worthwhile. It seems to be out of print, but used copies are available. Give it a try.
No comments:
Post a Comment