Il libro di Ptath

by A.E. van Vogt, Vittoria Puggioni (Translator)

Peter Holroyd, comandante di un reparto corazzato impegnato in un combattimento in Africa Orientale durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, si risveglia nel corpo del grande Ptath, Signore di Gonwolane, ma non ha ben chiara quale sia stata la sua vita precedente e cosa lo aspetti ora. Conteso da due donne - una malvagia e astuta, l'altra buona e prigioniera della prima - cerca di orientarsi in questo nuovo ed esotico mondo, mentre i sette incantesimi di protezione che aveva predisposto a propria salvaguardia vengono meno uno ad uno, con la prospettiva di diventare anche lui schiavo come la donna che lo ama...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Roman, Novels

94 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Alfred 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.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where to begin with this? Although fantasy and not sci-fi, which was van Vogt's mainstay, this has got all of the same hallmarks. Dazzling creativity, more weird inventions and conventions than you can shake a stick at, plot twists and turns galore, characters with shrouded motivations, a protagonist that doesn't have a clue about who or what anything is and must piece everything together from scratch, so many layers of deceit and subterfuge it makes your head spin, and too much internal dialogue, contemplation and analysis paralysis vs stuff actually happening. Still, it's a fun, quick read about a demigod, who derives power from the prayers of women conducted via mystical metallic "prayer sticks", hundreds of millions of years in the future inhabited by the psyche of a WWII tank commander who brings his "blitz" military tactics to bear in a primitive future ruled by magic tyrannical gods. Where else are you going to find that?

[Jokoloyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short novel, even for A.E. van Vogt works.

The description on the book is pulp-fiction standard, and the story is relatively simple with a few characters. It is a good quick read.

The rating might be not so good(3.41 when I write this review), but it is not overrated by zealous fans. When you read this short novel you can expect a light story for killing time.

I didn't commit to praise this is the best book of my life, but when we were together, I had a good time.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

An awful lot of story crammed into something that only just barely exceeds novella length (if it does even that).

After a rather confusing beginning (the god Ptath finds himself on a road with no idea of who or what he is, or what he's doing other than a generalized urge to get to the city of Ptath for reasons that aren't entirely clear), we discover that a) we're now 200,000,000 years in the future and the continents have again merged into a single supercontinent and b) Ptath is actually driven by the reincarnated spirit of one Holroyd, a 20th century WWII Army veteran who probably died in a tank in Europe in 1944. Opposed to him is an incredibly powerful goddess; aiding him is another mysterious woman with powers beyond mortal ken.

Not altogether plausible, but so breathlessly paced that it's hard to notice how ridiculous it all is.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

An American soldier fighting in Germany in 1944 finds himself thrust into the world of the future, 200,000,000 years in the future, to be exact. He also finds he is sharing his mind with the great god Ptath as well as getting caught up in a great global war against a goddess who seeks total control of humanity in that future. Another imaginative work by one of SF's greats, AE Van Vogt (written in 1943, which means that Van Vogt predicted that US troops would reach Germany in 1944, which I guess was a pretty safe prediction at the time).
I want to add it's not one of his better books, but I like a story where someone is thrown into the future (or past).

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a fan of A.E. van Vogt ever since my teens, when Empire of the Atom was one of my favorite books. Although he has been consistently good across his works, The Book of Ptath is weak. How can one write a book about a duel between two goddesses without leaving the earthly plain? To complicate matters, Van Vogt's hero is both a human from World War Two, and a god in his own right. Sounds confsing? It is.

[Tom Britz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A. E. van Vogt has always seemed to be hit or miss with me. He has written some of SF's great stories and novels and yet again he tends to be repetitive and almost nonsensical at times. The Book of Ptath or as it's also titled Two Hundred Million A.D. tends toward the latter. It's more or less a fantasy story but it just seemed to ramble on and on and then rush to a close. I cannot in good faith recommend this to anyone, unless like me you are a completist and want to read as much of an author as you can. Believe me when he's on target, A. E. van Vogt was a powerhouse storyteller.

[blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A.E. van Vogt is one of my favorite SF authors, and I'm sure I've read stories that were based around the same technological concept—that of "god power", a way of channeling the emotions of large numbers of people into a force captured by a few "gods"—though I'm pretty sure I haven't read this actual book.

The premise is that an ancient god Ptath has "returned to the people" while a conniving goddess struggles to undo the traps he set protecting his "throne of power". The first step in this plan involves pulling one of his incarnations through time (a 1944 tank driver, conveniently enough) to use his limited understanding of the situation with his inherent Ptath-ness to get him to undo the traps. On Ptath's side is a greatly de-powered goddess trapped in a dungeon with limited projection/possession powers.

There are two things about van Vogt, generally: The first is that he wastes no time or words in telling his story. Everything moves along at a hellacious clip. This is one book that could benefit from being twice as long or more.

With relates to the second thing about van Vogt: He always seems like he's writing from some long remembered history (kind of like Robert E Howard and his Conan stories), and there always seems to be history, technology and backstories to every element, if only there were time to write it down.

I guess that's why he's one of my favorites. That said, four stars instead of five because I felt the story needed a little more room to breathe.

[Dustin M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Habs nicht durchgehalten. Sind interessante Konzepte dabei, aber auch zu viel verwirrende Körpertauscherei und endlose Exposition, bei der dann doch nichts klar wird.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another title that I've long searched for. The only other copy I've ever seen is in a local bookstore, but it has significant water damage. This particular copy, with the Jeff Jones art, I found in Tupelo at a store called Greatest Hits Books & Movies. If you are ever in the area be sure to check them out.

Ptath is reborn in mortal adult form with all the knowledge of an infant. Misadventures ensue. All the while one Goddess wants him dead and gone while the other wants to help him reclaim what is his. The story has a medieval/pre-industrialized feel but this is actually 200 million years in the future with massive populations.

I've been reading this just before bed. With that being said, there are parts that just didn't make sense or just kind of fell together. I am unsure if it was the writing, or my sleep fuzzled head glossing over pivoting plot points. I would go back to make sure, but this one just didn't hold my attention like I wanted it to, and I really don't feel like re-reading it so soon.

Not sure how I would classify this book either. It's the distant future. But the protagonist is from 1944, and he shares the body of a living god. The creatures are alien but the setting seems medieval. Body possession is also a thing. The spine states Science Fantasy; who can argue with 1969 marketing?

Also, I have a love/hate relationship with markings in books. This particular copy has a stamp from a bookstore called Wise Owl Paperback. What's interesting, at least to me, is that this store was evidently also located in Tupelo. Just a few blocks down the street from the store I purchased it from. I wonder if this is the first time it has left Mississippi?

[PRJ Greenwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

It starts off well enough, then accelerates into some kind of frenetic battle between the reincarnated Ptath and the goddess Ineznia, with the rules of the game changing every chapter. Too ridiculous to truly like, but too audacious to throw away dismissively.

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ptath just sounds like an ancient god with a name transliterated from Egyptian hieroglyphics or Akkadian cuneiform. Instead, A. E. Van Vogt conjured this image of an immortal god who had “merged with the race” of humans who worshipped him. By merging, he had lost control of his kingdom and allowed an evil goddess to not only take control, but to threaten his very existence. The Book of Ptath is the type of fantasy one would expect from Van Vogt. It doesn’t measure up to what I consider his masterpiece Slan or what the majority seems to consider so, The Weapon Shops of Isher.

It is, however, a perfect example of pulp adventure serialized in magazine form in 1943 by Street & Smith’s John W. Campbell publication, Unknown Worlds and then published in book form in 1947. My local library has a copy of the first edition of the Fantasy Press book from 1947. It contains line drawings which perfectly fit the style I’ve seen in my meager stash of pulp magazines collected over the years. And, even though Van Vogt may have expanded the story slightly for the book edition, the short chapters and the significant temporal gaps between them make this a relatively choppy reading experience.

Of course, the novel has many of the ideas (one critic labeled them “gnostic” with rather uncanny accuracy) one associates with Van Vogt—transmigration of the soul (with or without death), teleportation of a sort, attractive females associated with religion, a military veteran protagonist finding himself in improbable surroundings, and a protagonist engaged in moving against the establishment. In The Book of Ptath, a WWII veteran (an Allied “tanker”) cohabits the body chosen by the god Ptath while in The Universe Maker (originally, The Shadow Men as presented in the pulp magazine Startling Stories), the protagonist is a Korean War vet. Indeed, both stories even use hypnotism embedded in one’s brain as the key to success.

The Universe Maker epitomizes the Van Vogt “Ur-plot” in that all religious figures are corrupt and self-serving (much like the goddess in The Book of Ptath). The self-aggrandizing minister seeks a bribe and tries to enforce his authority with fear during a key point in The Universe Maker. In The Book of Ptatch, Van Vogt finds closure in having Ptath mock the goddess by saying: “Religion, you see, is not in its roots adoration of a god or a goddess. Religion is fear. Religion is the spark that issues forth when the thought of death or danger strikes the individual. It’s personal. It grows out of darkness and uncertainty.” (p. 227) Such Freudian sentiment on the origin of religious impulses would still be common in the mid-20th century and, even today, would find some resonance in modern society. Personally, I don’t buy such a simplistic idea, but at least Van Vogt turned it into a fast-moving, albeit choppy story.

[Kateblue · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reasons I am giving this book 2 stars are 1) for the beginning and 2) because it is a better example of early SFF than others I have read recently. But by the time I finished, I decided "don't bother."

I really liked the beginning, but when they pulled in the character from 1943 to overlay the amnesiac Ptath, I started liking it less. I never did really understand the enmity between Ineznia and the Ptath/L'onee team. I started skimming at about 35-40% because I really wanted it to be over, but I couldn't quit because felt a need to see if it was Hugo-worthy for the retro Hugos this year. (I don't think so.) I slowed down at the end in the big prison camp and read the last 10-15% through, and then, it just ended. OK, so the ending didn't stink, but it was just so offhand and not at all what I expected. It made the middle where I was really bored seem even more like filler inserted to make a shorter work into a novel.

The writing seemed to me to be so much "tell instead of show" that I was really bored. The characters of Ptath and L'onee were pretty fleshed out for such a "pulp" sort of book, but I felt that there was just no distinguishing between info important to the story and info that was either just setting or else just left in because the author liked it. You know, some things should be accentuated and some not, and here, every thing was the same. Bland. Glad when it was over.

All in all, don't recommend, for a retro Hugo, or otherwise.

[John Loyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ptath has returned, but with amnesia. He is stronger than other men and invulnerable. Knowing nothing he goes to the temple in the nearest town where the priestess, saying she was helping, led him to a dungeon and slammed the door. After a week or seven hundred years he’s found by a fellow captive, but now he has reverted to his last incarnation, Holroyd, with just a vague cognition of Ptath. Ineznia brought him back early, has L’onee captive, and is trying to trick Ptath into removing all the protections he had left in place. With those safeguards gone she will become supreme goddess.

Holroyd/Ptath has to become aware of the manipulations being used against him. Will he find out that Ineznia is misleading him? Will it be soon enough? The battle between the godlike entities didn’t grip me. Oh, we’re rooting for Ptath because we are following his actions, and he seems to have compassion for the humans that is lacking in Ineznia. The world building may have been great eighty years ago, it felt a bit make-it-up-as-you-go-along to me. 2.9 stars.

[Bogdan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prima impresie asupra cartii, dupa ce am primit-o prin posta, a fost ca e cam subtire. Ma asteptam la ceva mai voluminos, dupa exemplul seriei lui Gene Wolfe, la care de altfel Gheara Conciliatorului are cam aceeasi dimensiune ca si Umbra Tortionarului. Tinand-o in mina, nu te poti abtine sa nu admiri coperta si in plus sa realizezi cu adevarat potentialul si farmecul pastrarii copertii originale.

Cartea lui Ptath este impecabila atat ca prezentare, cat si in ceea ce priveste continutul. Iata ca se poate si o traducere fara litere mincate si bine realizata, efort aproape imposibil pentru cealalta editura impricinata, situatie vizibila mai ales in cazul colaborarii cu traducatori neexperimentati.

Intriga este una destul de simpla, insa implicatiile si personajele folosite au dimensiuni, daca le-as putea numi asa, grandioase.

Ne aflam la peste 200 de milioane de ani in viitorul omenirii, viitor in care care Zeita Ineznia, avida de putere, il readuce la viata in urma unei reincarnari pe zeul suprem al Gonwonlane-ului, Ptath. Gonwonlane-ul este de fapt numele statului ce “ocupa jumatate din emisfera sudica, continuandu-se cu un promontoriu imens in directia nordului si terminandu-se intr-un indepartat punct estic, unde cu peste o suta de milioane de ani in urma fusese stravechea Australie”. Stat este populat acum, printre altele, si de o specie de pasari zburatoare, asemanatoare cu pteranodonul preistoric (sau cel putin asa mi le-am imaginat eu din descrierile autorului si din ce apare pe coperta), screerii, cu un rol foarte important in actiunea viitoare a romanului.

Ptath si-a consolidat puterea zeiasca printr-o serie de vraji speciale, despre care la momentul de fata nu prea are habar, constiinta sa fiind amnezica si personajul in care se reincarneaza neputand sa descifreze mai nimic din misterele lumii in care a ajuns. Cel putin la inceput, pentru ca pe parcurs acest fost soldat, participant la cel de-al Doilea Razboi Mondial, se va dovedi o nuca destul de tare pentru o zeita Ineznia mult prea increzatoare in fortele si farmecele proprii.

Intriga se concentreaza in special pe rivalitatea izbucnita intre locuitorii Gonwonlane-ului si asa-zisii proscrisii din Nushirvan, rasculati impotriva guvernului zeitei Ineznia (5 miliarde), implicat in acest conflict fiind si vecinul Gonwonlane-ului (54 de milioane de locuitori), nemultumit si invidios pe statutul si bogatia statului precedent, Accadistran (19 miliarde de locuitori). Am subliniat si numarul de locuitori pentru a va face o idee despre cum ar arata un posibil conflict deschis intre cele trei state, lucru de altfel aproape neexploatat de autor in afara de o secventa din final, cand unul dintre ele se confrunta cu o invazie militara surpriza.

Ca tot veni vorba de lucruri neexploatate de autor la maxim, mi-ar fi placut sa aflu mai mult despre fauna si flora acesti lumi, despre obiceiurile oamenilor si modul de desfasurare a vietii zilnice. Din pacate autorul se opreste foarte fugar asupra acestor detalii, preferand sa se concentreze pe dilemele de moment si evolutia interioara, dar si sprirituala a personajului Ptath, pe incercarile sale de a se adapta noii lumi si de a evita intrigile Inezniei.

O alta scapare pe care am observat-o pe parcurs ar fi cind se spune ca Ptah in forma sa actuala aduce foarte bine cu printul Ineznio, fratele zeitei, substituindu-i-se fizic de altfel la un moment dat, cu precizarea ca scriitorul nu spune nimic despre destinul celui de-al doilea, trecut total cu vederea. Intr-adevar, zeii mai aveau capacitatea de a poseda oamenii, trecand dintr-un trup in altul, insa scriitorul subliniaza clar ca Ptah era identic ca infatisare si, in plus, eu nu am intalnit in text sa se precizeze explicit aceasta posedare; din contra, se subliniaza substituirea fizica. (Daca ma insel si mi-a scapat vederii, atunci imi fac mea culpa, insa eu zic ca nu ma mai prinde nimeni de data asta).

Din punct de vedere al constructiei, personajele mi s-au parut convingatoare, desi ar mai fi fost loc si de mai bine pentru reincarnarea lui Ptath, mai ales pe directia dezvoltarii intamplarilor din trecutul fostului tanchist. Iar Ineznia nu pare prea malefica daca privim comportamentul si felul sau de a fi, insa rezultatele finale ale actiunilor sale sunt in mod cert oripilante.

Un alt aspect – despre care abia in final ne dam seama ca a fost abordat in dese momente (insa fara a sacai cititorul) – este si inclinatia fintei umane spre o religie, spre dorinta de a crede in existenta unei fiinte divine. In fond, fiind o carte cu si despre zei, nu se putea trece cu vederea nici acest lucru. Insa, dupa cum se intampla si in realitate si nu ar trebui sa ne ascundem nici noi dupa deget, pina chiar si cei prea evlaviosi pot cadea victime ale indoielii, iarin urma unor incercari grele si cei necredinciosi isi pot intoarce prin rugaciuni fata la Divinitate. True facts, isn’t it?

Van Vogt a construit un roman care se citeste cu placere si in care esti transportat intr-o lume presarata de piramide si razboinici fanatici, cu o influenta egipteana vizibil mai redusa decat m-am asteptat, dar cu un subiect si o tema centrala suficient de intrigante cat sa-ti pastreze viu interesul pina la final – si asta chiar daca se poate observa o incheiere a socotelilor mult prea brusca si grabita, tiparul fiind spart de lovitura finala de teatru.

Nu as cataloga Cartea lui Ptath in categoria romanelor fantasy de neratat, insa multa lume s-ar putea sa fie atrasa tocmai de exotismul lumii, dar si al subiectului exploatat, si este foarte posibil sa aiba parte de o surpriza placuta.

http://www.cititorsf.ro/2009/10/07/te...

[Ganesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a re-read for me. The Book of Ptath was one of the first fantasy books I ever read and no wonder I fell in love with the genre. The beauty of the book is not in the story, which is bare to the bones at best, but in the way the author sets a scene by building an exotic world around you all within a few masterful strokes of sentences. Suffice to say that the far-future land of Gonwolane has always been alive in a corner of my mind after more than 15 years.

[Per · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://archive.org/details/Unknown_v...

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A. E. van Vogt – The Book of Ptath

A. E. van Vogt is largely forgotten now, though the DNA of his work is present in genre offerings such as the Aliens franchise and Star Trek.
This is van Vogt’s only full-length work of fantasy and is listed in David Pringle’s 100 Modern Fantasy Novels, which is a list of post World War II fantasy novels from 1946-1987 and is a good representation of the classic foundations of fantasy proper and works that have been influential.
It is the second listed work, after Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast, and is a vastly different book, as Pringle says, “from the sublime…to the ridiculous.” Which is an apt description, if a somewhat unfair comparison. Gormenghast is a long, intricately structured and ornate work, The Book of Ptath is a short work of pure pulp adventure fantasy, and where the language in Gormenghast is mellifluous and intricate, the prose here is serviceable and staccato, with dream-like leaps in logic, and a convoluted plot that will not hold up to logical scrutiny.
It is set 200 millions years in the future, where the continents have again reformed into a supercontinent, here called Gonwonlane, and ruled by a man-god Ptath, who has had his power usurped by the goddess Ineznia. Into the god body of Ptath Ineznia causes the mind of World War II tank commander Richard Holyrood to be transported through the ages into the body of Ptath, hoping to bring about the final destruction and humiliation of the man-god Ptath, who lacks full awareness of who he actually is, Holyrood being an incarnation of Ptath but unaware of his power or the danger that Ineznia presents to him. He is assisted along the way Ptath’s lover L’onee.
What follows is a sword and planet adventure, with magic and mind-swapping and a plot that twists and turns like a snake, covering much ground in 160 slim pages. This kind of sword and planet fiction has been done much better by writers such as Jack Vance and Gene Wolf, and while this work might have been influential in the sword and planet sub-genre, the stilted prose and the distorted logic of the plot do little to elevate this into a classic of the genre. I would say it is interesting from a historical standpoint, and has some interesting ideas and aspects of the world building are interesting and inventive, the story is overly complicated for what is at heart a straight adventure-fantasy.

[Mirko · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ancient Eternal Space God is reborn but with a lost shifting identity that includes that of a World War II tank commander. The world he is in is 200 million years in the future when Earth has tranformed itself back into a Gondawanaland-style super continent. Space God is fought over by two Temple Goddesses and people transport themselves around on flying lizards called Screers. Everyone is limbering up for warfare that is set to involve armies of billions of soldiers. Hypnosis powers factor in somewhere.

This book is certainly not...familiar. And it is fascinating that it was written in the late 1940s. I think the old, somewhat forgotten term 'science fantasy' suits it well. The shifting identities, imaginitive landscapes and odd scene shifts reminded me of David Lynch's Dune or the underrated classic Zardoz. But 'Book of Ptath' is a tough, compressed and very hard-to-parse read that is only saved by its brevity. Hard to recommend except to dedicated archaelogists of mid 20th century SF. However, I am keen to try more van Vogt (this was my first), his ideas are not boring!

[Jessica Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has the problem of a lot of early science fiction and fantasy in that the whole thing is supported by some interesting ideas and nothing else. The writing is bland, the dialogue is stiff, the characters are paper-thin, and the plot is clearly less important than describing the way it allows the central gimmick to flourish. I like a cool idea but if I don’t care about the people in the story, I won’t care about what happens to them.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Van Vogt's work has a raw power that has never been equalled in science fiction." - Damon Knight
Like many of Van Vogt's novels this first appeared in shorter form in the early forties. Set some two hundred million years in the future, it is a variation on the superhuman hero theme that Van Vogt employed in many of his novels (see Gilbert Gosseyn in The World of Null-A for one of the best examples). Here we have man reincarnated by a god and sent to the future. With multiple personalities, super-human strength and a faulty memory. This is a sort of truly fantastic science fiction that Van Vogt exemplified and I enjoyed during my college reading escapes in my Van Vogt period.

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this pulp story of a god brought into human form in the far future, who has to fight to regain his power from the evil goddess who seeks to overthrow him.

Van Vogt can tell a story well and this is an excellent example of it. From the early frustration of the protagonist being manipulated, while seeing why it seems to be the logical thing for him at the time to his gaining knowledge and then the final battle. Rip-roaring stuff.

[Richard Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read short stories by A. E. Van Vogt when I was in my teens and, remembering how entertaining and clever they were, sought and purchased a novel by him (The Book of Ptath). I enjoyed it, certainly - but it didn't quite grab me the way that his short stories did. (This might have more to do with my advancing age rather than the skills of the author!)

[Timothy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I could not.

It is too rushed and way too confusing.

It is probably the worst novel I have read all the way through in years, perhaps decades.

Which is a pity, for there are some good ideas in it.

[David Roma Palou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seguint una recomanació d'un de molts reculls o llistes definitives sobre els 100 millors llibres de fantasia. Vaig intentar localitzar el llibre i vaig descobrir que estava descatalogat d'una editorial de llibres Pulp.
Genial vaig pensar ... pot ser divertit investigar i trobar-lo on sigui .. el vaig trobar a una llibreria de compra i venta de llibres: www.mitiendadelibros.com a Ponferrada ... va ser molt divertit descobrir-lo i ficar-m'hi en contacte qual buscador de tresors.
Sorpresa total quan el rebo emocionat i obro el paquet. Estava impecable i molt nou segurament producte d'una liquidació d'una editorial de l'excedent d'estoc. Genial penso.
En si l'obra té la qualitat de les produccions en série de les novel·les Pulp nordamericanes dels cinquanta però és divertit llegir-la i pensar els teus ídols (Stephen King, Dan simmons, George RR Martin i altres) llegint de nens aquests llibres i entenen que ja els plantava la llavor de la fantasía.
Destacable la línea argumental grandilocuent de grans escenaris i xifres temporals estratosfèriques ... i el concepte de la migració astral de l'esperit o l'eséncia de l'ésser ... un concepte que sorprén en novel·les d'aquest tipus.
Llàstima que el format per revista i els temps d'entrega no permetessin a l'autor (un obrer de l'escriptura per masses àvides de fantasia i ciéncia ficció) fer el que George RR Martin fa avui en dia ... crec que per imaginació i conceptes no té res a envejar.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story first appeared in the October 1943 issue of Unknown, the most prominent fantasy magazine of the time. It is a sword and sorcery tale that has not aged well, unlike say Robert E. Howard's. Van Vogt's first novel length publication it is written very much in his style. Occasional flares of brilliance and excitement intertwined with long passages waiting for the plot to move and narrative that fails to answer logical questions a reader might have, causing the plot to not make entire sense.

The plot is a two versus one story. The villain, a "goddess" named Inexnia (blonde) is opposed by another goddess named L'onee (brunette) who is teamed with an amnesiac god named Ptath. These gods have the ability to project their presence into people and take them over. They also seem able to move through time. Inexnia is more powerful than the other two and has been winning, but the L'onee/Ptath team have a plan. They just have trouble implementing it because Ptath for unknown reasons can't remember who he is and L'onee has been captured and imprisoned by Inexnia. The story is about how the underdogs overcome their disadvantages in order to confront Inexnia.

My plot summary just offered is more coherent than the actual plot as it's written, but it will serve. There were a few interesting moments from time to time in the novel, but mostly it was a slog to get through. Recommended only for fans of old timey sword and sorcery tales.

[Steve Goble · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I absolutely LOVE sword-and-sorcery and sword-and-planet fiction. It is brain candy to me. I just want to get swept up in adventure and forget about taxes and politics and shit for a few hours, and this genre is perfect for that.

However, this book seemed to have a very cool idea, but poor execution. The plot did not advance swiftly. The protagonist went along in the story without actually doing much — things happened to him, but he did not make things happen. And with some of the characters sending their souls or essences bouncing around through various bodies and even pretending to be other people sending their souls or essences into living bodies — no. Screw that. Too confusing, especially if the protagonist is just kind of wandering through the story anyway.

Give me Robert E. Howard. Give me Edgar Rice Burroughs. Don’t give me this.

[Amelie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ...

L'idée était très bonne mais mal développée. La confusion de Ptath pendant une bonne moitié du livre est frustrante. Comment comprendre quelque chose quand le personnage principal ne comprend jamais rien?

Pour un livre où une guerre d'une telle amplitude a lieu, c'est impressionnant comment l'histoire est ennuyeuse. Aucune émotion ne transparaît, aucune surprise... quelques bonnes idées mais pas assez pour en faire un bon livre.

Et pourquoi "le livre de Ptath"? Il n'y a aucun livre dans l'histoire et le roman lui même n'est pas construit comme son livre personnel.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, Golden Age Sci Fi. This book fell into all the traps typical of the genre: 1) the male protagonist is unrealistically idealized, 2) the future world is so large in population but simple in culture that it's a meaningless place to be, 3) the female characters are laughably underdeveloped caricatures, 4) the plot doesn't truly threaten the characters, but they're also unlovable so it's hard to say you'd care if it did.

[Lindsay Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ptath was a god of Gondwonlane. In the very distant future, all the old landmass rejoined. Ptath had been the premier god of this supercontinent, but to purge himself "re-merged"` with the human race in the past to rediscover his humanity. He wakes up as Peter Holroyd, a world war 2 tank commander, who then has to juggle to contrasting aims of two of his former wives to overcome a plot to destroy him, while coming to terms with godlike powers.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale of a god that awakes with the mind of a man from WW2 starts weird with the air of mystery that Van Vogt mastered. As he becomes aware of his situation, he realizes he is in the middle of a power struggle between two goddesses and one is imprisoned by the other. What follows is fascinating as each of the three jump from body to body as the goddesses can jump to any woman and Ptath can jump to any man. Of course, it all ends in entrapment.