Empire of the Atom

The Mutant Mage #1

by A.E. van Vogt

An awe inspiring and thought provoking book!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Novels, Post Apocalyptic, Pulp, Science Fiction Fantasy

155 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

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]

Mutants, inter-planetary political intrigue, oh my! Surprisingly coherent for van Vogt, but it seems like the reigning in of his "crazy" was a blow to his creativity as well, though no doubt this was top notch, post-apocalyptic space opera during the atomic radiation and mutant fueled mania of the 40's and 50's.

[Иван Величков · Rating 5 out of 5]

Един по-зрял прочит на тази книга, любима от ученическите ми години, ми отвори нови прозорци към писателя ван Вогт. Формата тип мечове и звездолети е доста забавна и любопитно изпитание за всеки писател, който е решил да обясни рационално тази смесица между епохите.
От самото начало едно нещо не ми даваше мира – очевидната алюзия с римската империя, подхранвана от робовладелския строй, малко променените имена и специфичната терминология. Чак след като сравних родословното дърво на рода Линн с това на Цезарите сгрях, че чета „Аз Клавдий“ в космоса и нещата си дойдеха на мястото. После, когато погледнах други ревюта в сайта, разбрах, че не съм гений в човешка кожа, а просто ненавреме осъзнал нещата наивник.

12000 години след Христа, човечеството е регресирало научно, макар все още да владее космическите полети в пределите на Слънчевата система. Атомната енергия, която ги задвижва, както и други аспекти от живота на хората, се контролира от жреци на атомните богове. На този фон един могъщ град държава и неговата управленческа фамилия контролират земята и водят битки с разселилото се на Венера, Марс и луните на Юпитер човечество, също изпаднало до варварство.
Един радиационен мутант от кралското семейство е уставен да живее по молба на един високопоставен член на „учените“ – жреческата каста на атомните богове. Клейн е емоционално нестабилен и физически уродлив, но под тази фасада се крие брилянтен ум, който внимателно насочван от учителите си се намесва ефективно в управлението на империята и успява да затвърди позициите си, да се справи с външните заплахи и дори да достигне до престола.

Въпреки разконспирираната алюзия (очевидна, след като веднъж я видях) и очакваното протичане на действието, идеята, че напук на напредъка на технологията, човечеството е склонно да се потопи отново в мракобесието на робовладелския строй ме разтърси дълбоко. Ван Вогт успява да нарисува реалистична картина дори с пълпи стила си на писане (дървени диалози, рязка смяна на сцени, липса на хомогенност) и веднага разбираш защо много хора още го смятаме за един от най-големите в жанра.
Книгата има продължение, което е преразказ на „Божествения Клавдий,“ но естествено не е превеждано, което прави преведените поредици на ван Вогт недовършени до една.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's only afterwards that I learn that the author apparently "borrowed" large sections of I, Claudius to tell his story of a deformed genius worming around the power structure of a decadent and corrupt post-apocalyptic barbarian space empire. And here I was wondering why the first half to two-thirds were abnormally coherent for van Vogt.

My goodness I loves myself some space barbarian stories. So deliciously ridiculous. Robert Cham Gilman / Alfred Coppel tackled it better with The Rebel of Rhada, but van Vogt's version has wonderfully evocative charm. Most technology vanished in the apocalypse, except for "atom god temples"--breeder reactors--and a sort of photoelectric propulsion using isotopes. As a result the Linn empire rules a chunk of the solar system by means of spacecraft no more advanced than sailing ships. (van Vogt doesn't even gloss over interesting questions about things like navigation and provisioning -- they'd distract from the image of a spaceship landing and longbowmen and knights flooding out.)

But as a recreation of the machinations of _I, Claudius_ it moves too quickly and is too in love with its ridiculous and glorious setting, and as a space adventure it has Lord Clane Linn as protagonist. And ultimately it all boils down to a series of unlikely twists, both in terms of an unexpected menace and an out-of-nowhere solution, indicating that van Vogt has jumped off the rails of Roman history.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Чарът на фантастиката от златните години е, че в малък обем синтезира максимум действие и идеи. Липсва разтакаването в безкрайни и дебели поредици.

Тук Вогт проследява как би изглеждала Римската империя от времето на Август и Тиберий, ако е наследник на отдавна забравена цивилизация с атомна мощ, а атомната наука се е превърнала в религиозен култ. Главният герой е подобен на император Клавдий - мутант, принуден да лавира из смъртоносните интриги на собственото си семейство, за да оцелее. Любителите на Робърт Грейвс и “Аз, Клавдий”, ще намерят свежо и точно възпроизвеждане на основните линии.

Водят се войни, владетели се издигат и рухват, а забравените богове на атома тихичко чакат своя шанс.

Към края събитията изгубиха връзка за мен, всичко се случи твърде набързо, с неясен край. Очаквах по-стабилна концепция зад сюжета, но тя се изгуби в края. Историята обаче е с епичен размах и увлекателна.

Сега видях, че това всъщност е началото на поредица, така че явно ще трябва да се види и продължението.

3,5⭐️

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Empire of the Atom
The Wizard of Linn


I'll review these together - you really need to read both of them to get the full sense of what van Vogt created.

Hail Lord Clane Linn - despised mutation from the long line of powerful Linn leaders. Hated, misunderstood, marginalized, and despised - can Clane become the "Pariah Messiah" needed to save humanity?

There are many other examples of this type of character. Consider Elric (by Michael Moorcock) - weak albino, outcast, last of a mighty line, hated by his own family. Or consider the first couple chapters of Harry Potter (by J. K. Rowling) - outcast (marked by a deformity on his forehead), hated, treated cruelly. It's the old Cinderella archetype - misunderstood to the point of injustice.

Yet Clane is extraordinary in one area - he has developed his mind to superhuman genius. Can this alone allow him to save humanity? Will he even be compelled to fight for those who have treated him so badly?

The first volume, Empire of the Atom, is not the stronger of the two, but needs to be read to understand the complexity of the politics of the world into which Clane is born. His family is ruthless and complicated. The degree of treachery in politics permeates both volumes.

Clane is not yet at the height of his powers, and the first novel is a bit disjointed, yet culminates in a significant test of Clane's ability (and will) to protect and preserve the human race.

But again, politics is King in this future setting. Absorbing this political basis of the postapocalyptic Earth is essential to understanding the first book, and also in appreciating the second volume, The Wizard of Linn.

The second novel is more cohesive, in which Clane travels through interstellar space to learn how to defeat the alien invading race, the Riss. Upon his return, with tactics in hand, he first has to deal with the humans who use political intrigue against him before he can deal with the Riss.

The early SF pulp style of writing permeates the novel, but this was first class work when it was published, and it holds up well even now. Again, I strongly urge you to read both volumes, in order. And revel in the way van Vogt reveals just how much the misunderstood Clane transcends!

4 stars for Empire of the Atom
4.5 stars for The Wizard of Linn

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was not as strange and confusing as I had expected it would be. The atmosphere and development of events kept my interest, though the odd mixture of low and hi-tech-the common use of spaceship while weapon used in war scenes are but swords and arrows, for example, was a bit baffling at first but then you realize that that is the point. Something has gone on in the past that is not fully understood by the general populous. The plot is (according to James Blish and others) loosely based on Robert Graves' "Claudius" novel. I have not read this myself, so can not comment, but reinterpretations of classic works are not uncommon in the scifi genre.

"Empire of the Atom" is actually a novel assembled from a series of shorter works all based on the Clane of Linn stories which were previously published in Astounding Magazine a decade of so before. Those are:
"A Son Is Born" May '46
"Child of the Gods" Aug. '46
"Hand of the Gods" Dec. '46
"Home of the Gods" Apr. '47
"The Barbarian" Dec. '47

These stories are slightly edited from their original form and small sections are either deleted or augmented with extra material. I read both the original stories and the novel simultaneously and found it especially interesting to see how van Vogt managed to link these stories into a somewhat cohesive novel.

2022 update. After rereading this and it’s sequel “Wizard of Linn” for a second time, I have come to the conclusion that this may be van Vogt’s most coherent and possibly best work. The only problem with that is, for this reason, it lacks the outrageous weirdness I have come to love with most of his other works.

A truly under appreciated work I think.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth time I have read Empire of the Atom -- not because it is any good, but because it so impressed me when I was a teenager that I find it to be a window into my own past. In fact, I wrote a blog about my experience.

This is a strange book in which a post nuclear war society simultaneously has access to the power of the atom (which it worships as gods) and spaceships, yet uses bows, arrows, spears, and swords as its prime weapons.

Also to be noted is that the first 60% or so of the book is plagiarized from Robert Graves's I, Claudius. There is a one-to-one correspondence between A.E. van Vogt's Earthmen and Graves's Romans: Clane is Claudius; the Lord Leader, Augustus; Creg, Germanicus; Tews, Tiberius; and Lydia, Augustus's wife Livia. Fortunately, he doesn't try to throw Caligula into the mix.

[Peter Tillman]

I don't remember reading this one, which doesn't mean a hell of a lot, given my memory for pulp. Here's the cover that caught my eye, which doesn't seem to be here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brighto...
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_...
Damon Knight said that the plot was "lifted almost bodily" from the plot of I, Claudius.
Hey, steal from the best! Time for a reread? If indeed I ever red the thing.

Kirkus: "The year is 12,000 A.D. with a culture which makes gods of Uranium, Plutonium, Radium and Ecks and has temple scientists to guard them. The birth of a mutant, Clane, to the ruling family is attended by a crisis and the child, allowed to live in seclusion develops into a supernormal. He is responsible for Martian and Venusian victories, salvages the empire after a barbarian invasion and is ready to protect the system against a possible attack from outer space. A fantasy of future frontiers."

Galaxy reviewer Floyd C. Gale faulted the novel for its odd internal contradictions, in particular a scene where "a fleet of spaceships makes a strafing run over the enemy, loosing flights of arrows from point-blank range."
Heh. Maybe they had Gatling-style crossbow repeaters? 1940s pulp: check your mind at the door before entering....

[E.T. Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, Nostalgia, Goddess of Tilted Memories. I blame her for the fact that I re-read Empire of the Atom about once a decade. As another (probably wiser) reviewer said, part of why I do so is to try to calibrate how my own perceptions have changed over the years.

My first copy arrived in the mail as one of those cheesy Science Fiction Book Club hardcovers with deckle-edged paper back in '57. Loved it, mostly because I've always been a humongo fan of underdogs who can do cool sciency stuff...and what could be more underdoggy than a vilified genius-mutant like Clane?

In my most recent re-reading (of a used 60¢ paperback) many decades later, I found myself most fascinated by the politics. It was all too easy to see the ruling Linn family as the shadowy PTB of our modern world, the 1/100 of 1 percent (or so) that have the rest of us watching their circuses and dancing on their strings. I rue the fact that there is no Clane to save us from a contemporary archenemy like Czinczar because (to paraphrase Walt Kelly's Pogo), Czinczar is us. Oh well, guess we'll have to get lucky some other way...unless it turns out that we're stuck with politics-as-usual forever.

In earlier re-readings I used to wonder when it was, exactly, that our scientific understanding of the Venus and Mars blossomed enough to preclude the kinds of habitations van Vogt writes about here. And how atomic morphed into nuclear and became yet another (well-deserved) hazard of our human adolescence. But now I just smile and wallow in the politics. Yeah, there's plenty to criticize if one wants to go down that road. But I don't. I just want to savor it as a deliciously flawed window into a future past when I was simpler, scifi was simpler and the world was simpler.

[Roger Cottrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A corker of a book in the best traditions of 1950s pulp science fiction. Much better than The Voyage of the Space Beagle, which is all over the place (losing one's controlling idea half way through a narrative is bane to an Aristotelian script writer like myself). In the 1960s, when I was a (small!) kid, Clifford D. Simack wrote an excellent episode of the original Star Trek in which the Roman Empire survived into the mid-20th Century on a parallel Earth. Then, in the 1990s, when I didn't have a clue how to write a film script, I submitted a proposal for a Star Trek movie that revisited this planet in the early 21st Century, with the Romans using Virtual Reality to control their populace while preparing to nuke the Carthaginians. It was rejected and I didn't start writing film scripts properly for another couple of years. Only more recently have I discovered that AE Van Gogt beat Clifford D. Simack to it by a decade and I'm now reworking the story as a sequel to AE Von Gogt's original - when I have time.

Which brings me to a general point. At Blind Samurai Films we will shortly be launching a magazine called DARK SIDE OF THE SUN which will consiste of science fiction stories by ourselves (and submissions will be welcome) together with works by vintage pulp writers whose copyright has expired. These will later be published, periodically, as hardback ominibus editions and we will be developing some of these ideas as film scripts

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

First thing, I absolutely love old-school pulp Sci-Fi. Sometimes cynical, sometimes optimistic, frequently trite and juvenile; It almost always had a sense of wonder that was contageous. For me, that mostly went missing somewhere back in the sci-fi of the 70's and after. Probably around the time the sci-fi section in Walden's got invaded by elves, dragons and wizards...

As for Van Vogt; I once read in an essay by Isaac Asimov that Van Vogt "lost" many productive writing years to promoting Dianetics in California. Perhaps Asimov was refering to this period in which Empire of the Atom was produced. Pieced together from a series of stories published in the late 40's and early 50's this novel is clumsy and stiff. Narrative summary often substitutes for the vimm and vigor Van Vogt built his rep on.

The story of the mutant Clane, and his rise within the Linn dynasty somewhere around 14,000 AD, long after an atomic war decimated the earth's population, this novel is surprisingly removed and dull. It was, all-in-all, sort of a let-down.

That said, there were still a few sparks here and there of the old magic. For example, when Clane descends into an ancient atomic pit on the surface of Venus, or when frozen cadavers of an alien warrior race are discovered on the moons of Jupiter. Moments that still make an old fan like me smile and turn the page to see what happens next. Maybe next time.

[Dominic Muresan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este usor sa vezi influentele care au colaborat in creearea lumii acestei carti; un imperiu pornit dintr-un singur oras-stat, o dinastie mahnita de jocurile de putere din interiorul ei, atacuri ale unor barbari de pe taramuri indepartate...

Inspirat din romanul clasic I, Claudius, povestea lui Clane incepe cu acest prim volum. Mutantul, ostracizat, se foloseste de singurul sau atuu - curiozitatea sa - pentru a descoperi secrete antice si a le folosi in scoaterea Imperiului Linn din haosul politic in care se afla. Clane este personajul din umbra, cel nebagat in seama de nimeni, dar singurul capabil sa influenteze cu adevarat cursul istoriei.

Un roman plin de suspans cu o lume ce impresioneaza prin ea insasi - complexa, dar ridicola. Genul de lume in care nave spatiale ataca planete indepartate - nu cu lasere sau rachete, ci cu sageti. SF-ul contemporan a uitat de acest gen de concepte, dar un astfel de roman ne aduce aminte ca nu tot ce e depasit e si rau.

un clasic al genului: 4/5

[Cole Schoolland · Rating 2 out of 5]

As always, van Vogt takes foreign thoughts, and paradigms and weaves an entire world unlike any the reader has likely experienced. The paradox of medieval fantasy and the atomic age is enchanting.
I deeply wish that he had chosen to pursue this series. The end was sudden, and contrived. None of the themes created early on persisted. In the last 2 pages of the book a plot device is revealed for shameful convenience, the narrative wrapped up, and NONE of the major themes revisited. And like that, the world van Vogt created disappears into a puff of disappointing smoke.
Had this been a short story or a series, I think he could have pulled it off.

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taking place ~12,000 A.D. our time (the "golden age"), the Empire of Linn is a Dynasty. The daughterinlaw of the Leader gives birth to a "mutant." His mother has somehow been exposed to radiation while pregnant with him. The usual would be to kill it, but it's decided to let it live. Nothing is wrong with the child's mind, but its body is defective.
This boy is taken under the wing of the "atomic scientist" Joquin, who spares none of the grandfather's money in hiring tutors to teach him.
Atomic scientists are those who study and guard the remnants of the golden age, whose power mankind had used to destroy (our) civilization. They believe that the radiating materials are gods. They, the atomic scientists, are revered and sometimes protected.
Clane grows up to be a good-hearted genius, and because of political maneuverings on the part of his grandparents (who constantly intrigue with each other) he is made Chief Scientist at the age of 16. This is the beginning of his rise to power over the Solar System.
Curiously, the Empire has spaceships and spacescooters, but when the Linn dynasty is in battle against Venusians or Martians or Europans, they shoot arrows out of the spaceships 🤣.
Towards the end, there's a puzzling part:
1957 Hardcopy Shasta Publishers
P.187:
" 'guards,' he said, 'bring that box over here.'
it was soaking wet when they brought it. It left a dirty trail of water on the priceless rug, and a pool began to accumulate immediately in the place where it was set down. there was a delay while sweating man pried off the top. Even the guards at far doors strained to see the contents. A gasp of horror broke the tension of waiting.
what was inside was about 8 ft long. It's width was indeterminable, for it seemed to have folds in its body that gave an impression of great size. it had obviously died only a short time before it was packed in the ice. It looked fresh, almost alive, there in its case of ice, unhuman, staring with sightless eyes at the ornate ceiling.
'where did you get it?' clane asked at last.
'it was found on one of the moons - hours after a strange ship was sighted.
'how long ago?' the mutation spoke in a steady tone.
'2 years, Earth time.' "

This somehow assists bringing to a stalemate the barbarians' from Europa conquest of the dynasty of linn. If anybody figures out what it's significance is, would you enlighten me?

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)

I'm finally going through my physical library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.

I'm only adding one book per author and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)

First time read the author's work?: Yes

Will you be reading more?: Yes

Would you recommend?: Yes


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a weird one. A sci-fi novel with spaceships and wars on other planets but they still use swords and spears because technology was lost thousands of years ago. But a mutant is born into the royal family and he is not killed but instead learns to master atomics and saves the day. This is mostly a novel of political machinations and is interesting enough for me to go ahead with the sequel.

[Car · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una noia mortale.
Frettoloso, senza capo né coda.

[Roddy Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting fix-up here which is loosely or partly based on Robert Graves’ ‘I, Claudius’, and has been assembled from five stories ("A Son Is Born" (May 1946), "Child of the Gods" (Aug 1946), "Hand of the Gods" (Dec 1946), "Home of the Gods" (April 1947) and “The Barbarian" (Dec 1947)), all originally published in Astounding.
On a far future Earth a child, ‘Clane’ is born to Tania, the daughter of the Lord Leader of Earth. The child is malformed as a result of his mother’s exposure to radiation.
Normally children such as this would be out to death but Jonquin, one of the scientist priests who maintain the temples of the God Metals, convinces the family to allow the child to live in order that he can study the development of such an unfortunate.
van Vogt here postulates a far future Earth where the automated production of power from nuclear materials continues in temples of scientist priests, although no one appears to understand the principles behind the science and attributes the power to Gods who control the God Metals. Following a war with an alien race known as The Riss, humanity has fallen into a stagnated society of ignorance. Nuclear powered ships travel from world to world despite the fact that the secrets of their construction have also been lost. It’s a bit of a hard pill to swallow, it has to be said.
The Lord Leader discovers Clane to be highly intelligent despite his nervous tics when in unfamiliar company, and takes his advice on military strategy when the Earth forces are under siege when trying to conquer the human population of Mars. As pointed out, it loosely follows events in at least Graves’ account of the life of Claudius. The Lord Leader’s exiled stepson, Tewes, for instance, is clearly Tiberius and the Lord Leader, the Emperor Augustus.
Clane fits in to the usual van Vogt ‘logical hero’ template and becomes adept at anticipating and deflecting assassination attempts and, when he finally assumes the position of Lord Leader, defeating invading barbarian armies from Jupiter. In retrospect it might have been far more interesting if van Vogt had kept to the Claudius template. Claudius avoided death because the schemers and plotters around him found him a harmless and somewhat ludicrous figure, which was far from the case. van Vogt has Clane control his nervous reactions very early on, and his physical abnormalities are concealed under voluminous clothing, and so may as well not be there.
Rather like the conclusion to ‘The Weapon Makers’ van Vogt throws in some surreal non-sequitors at the finale. Clane has been captured by the Barbarian leader Czinczar who brings in a package containing a deformed possibly alien body packed in ice. Clane proves that he has complete control of a ball of light which hovers within the room by killing the guards who try to harm him and then the Barbarian surrenders his entire forces to Clane. Is this body an alien threat from outside the Solar System, or one of the Riss?

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this novel in its first hardcover edition at some used bookstore in East Rogers Park, Chicago. Recall reading it in my miserable studio apartment in the building on the corner of Morse and Ashland one evening, finishing it more quickly than expected, and wondering "what next?"

What next was perhaps my first visit to the No Exit Cafe on Lunt by the Red Line elevated tracks since I had gone there with Cathy Harrer junior year in high school. Back in '78 it may have been the only cafe in the neighborhood. Billing itself as the oldest beat cafe in continuous existence, it certainly had the atmosphere: smoke darkened walls and wooden booths, dim lighting, a stage, chess and go players with the dates of their tournaments posted on the walls.

I started going to the No Exit regularly. It was only three blocks away. The music played, canned or live, wasn't bad. The only problem is that it wasn't dependable. Some nights there was a cover. Other nights the place was packed for one of those aforementioned tournaments. Every night it was just a little too dark for comfortable extended reading. Still, with no choice, I became an habitue.

Empire of the Atom struck me in comparison to both Asimov's Foundation Trilogy which I'd read in elementary school and Herbert's far superior Dune which I'd read not long previous. What surprised me was how much I enjoyed Van Vogt's little novel despite its mediocre quality.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was brilliant! It was what people term today a "re-imagining" a term I hate but in this case it worked WONDERFULLY! This was Augustus, Livia, Claudius and Tiberius in a far future post apocalyptic world where people worship the atom gods who destroyed the earth 1000s of years previously. There are working spaceships and bows and arrows and swords. There are colonies on other planets. It is Rome in space. A couple reviews have said he was simply copying Robert Graves I Claudius, but then Graves was just copying Suetonius. Livia here didn't kill Augustus so it seemed different enough to me. I randomly found this for a pound in the charity shop and I'm so glad I did. Will definitely be reading the second one.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A.E. Van Vogt ( born near Gretna, Manitoba, 1912, died in Los Angeles, 2000) can be a difficult author to read. This one, published in 1957, seems episodic, as it's a fix-up of 3 short stories published in '46 and '47. It's the world of 12,000 A.D., following an atomic war. Strangely enough, while the Earth civilization has atomic power and rockets, it has forgotten a lot of technology--such as guns. So, we have a rocket attack in which arrows are fired! What I liked about the story is the central character, Clane, a despised "mutant," who rises to holding supreme power. The story seems to be based on Robert Graves' excellent novel, "I, Claudius," about the awkward, stuttering Cl-cl-claudius, who became a Roman emperor. The story of Clane is continued in "The Wizard of Linn."

[Capitalismissexy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vogt is arguably the best author ever.

Insane quality plot world building.

these 2 novels would make awesome films, and I wish someone would write 3rd 4th + clane novels....


czinczar one of the mos awesome characters of all time.

as is clane........

star wars kinda bit this.....and star trek is directly from vogt's voyage of pace beagle except beagle had each of 500 crew was different scientific specialist....think about it!
nexialism!

anywya back to the plotting of this novel was awesome!!

vogt in 2 pages does what many authors do in 15

and yes you see wily women

[Nemo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking for an old school Golden Age Sword and laser type of thing and I got it in this.
Overall it was a more entertaining read than the last two or three modern science fiction novels I managed to slog through.
For all its faults it was just what the doctor ordered.

[Michael Gerardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opinions differ radically on A.E. van Vogt, but I am firmly in the camp of those who admire his work. The story is fascinating, and the political intrigue is rare in SF, at least that I've read. A classic.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://gnomeship.blogspot.com/2018/1...

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Savanţii juniori vegheaseră toată ziua lângă funiile clopotelor, pregătiţi în orice clipă să vestească evenimentul. Veni însă noaptea, aşa că schimbară câteva glume răutăcioase pe seama presupuselor motive pentru care naşterea întârzia. Avură totuşi grijă să nu fie auziţi din întâmplare de vreun senior sau un iniţiat.
De fapt, copilul mult aşteptat venise pe lume la câteva ore după revărsatul zorilor. Era un băiat plăpând şi bolnăvicios; în plus, mai avea câteva trăsături care o îngroziseră pe Camerista-Şefă. După ce mama lui, Lady Tania, se trezi şi ascultă scâncetele jalnice, comentă cu acrime:
— Cine-a speriat stârpitura asta mică? Se pare că nici n-a făcut bine ochi şi se şi teme de viaţă.
Savantul Joquin, cel care asistase la naştere, socoti vorbele ei rău-prevestitoare. Hotărâse să nu o lase să vadă micul monstru până a doua zi, aşa că trebuia să acţioneze rapid pentru a preveni un dezastru. Trimise în grabă mai multe sclave să facă roată în jurul copilului, poruncindu-le să stea cât mai aproape una de alta, ca un paravan împotriva radiaţiilor nefaste din dormitor.
Aflată în pat, cu trupul firav rezemat de perne, Lady Tania privi cu surprindere – apoi cu îngrijorare – alaiul straniu ce înainta cu greu spre uşă. Mai născuse patru copii, aşa că îşi dădea seama că ceea ce vedea era cu totul neobişnuit în astfel de ocazii. Era o fiinţă cu limba ascuţită, iar prezenţa unui savant în încăpere nu o impresiona. Spuse furioasă:
— Ce se întâmplă aici, Joquin?
Savantul se întoarse neliniştit spre ea. Oare chiar nu înţelegea că orice vorbă nesăbuită rostită în acele momente nu putea decât să-i aducă micuţului alte nenorociri? Observă cu groază că femeia se pregătea să vorbească din nou; atunci îşi luă inima în dinţi, implorând în gând zeii atomici.

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story, one that could have only been written in the Age of Atomics, the MAD time of Mutually Assured Destruction as a deterrent to war. Of course, in this story, four thousand years have passed since the near total destruction of everything and everyone on Earth around the year 8000 AD. In four thousand years following that, Earth civilization has rebounded somewhat, utilizing spaceships they do not understand, conquering Mars, Venus and numerous moons in our solar system, but with arrows, spears and swords. 10,000 years is a long span of time, but the story only occurs within a few of those years. Little is actually known of the radiation weapons that destroyed much of the world in the far distant past, why or by whom, or the politics and beliefs of that time. And humanity does not appear to have learned anything about avoiding war in the interim; they just don't have that power any more. Yet. And few people recognise its usefulness or potential. But the radiation gods - Uranium, Plutonium, Radium and Ecks - worshipped, but misunderstood by a caste of Scientists, may have some surprises.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like to read old science-fiction, but this one I struggled with. I did like it, but I found the plot confusing and disjointed. Storylines and characters came and went with frequent ease, and although I was left with a good overall impression of the world that Vogt had created, I'm not sure I understood all of its nuances.

I did like that peculiar twist where nuclear power is worshipped as Gods - sites of weapon discharge are considered hallowed ground and people whose DNA has been corrupted by radiation are considered people of the Gods. It's an intriguing thought and did make me pause to think what sort of history could have led from our world to theirs.

Since finishing this, I have found out there is a sequel, which makes the rather odd and abrupt ending to the novel make a lot more sense.

[Shari Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK only one star deserves an explanation. This book started out interestingly enough with the birth of a radiation induced mutant to a "royal" family. While the story was concerned with his attempts at normalcy and his family's reactions to him, I was enthralled. Then the story turned to war and intrigues and the undiluted deaths of various characters with practically no fanfare. I had a hard time figuring out who was doing what to whom and why. There was just enough about the mutant and his science experiments to keep me reading, and then the story ended on an improbable and inexplicable note. Cannot recommend this book to anyone without a love of warfare tactics.

[Charles Winters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the point Van was making is that history repeats itself, I, Claudius plays out again in the future here with the deformed child being a mutant, politics can and does repeat a predictable cycle, with the barbarian invasion being moved up a few centuries.

The book itself is slow in the first half, however Van is setting the stage for it to take off and be a page turner later on, with a mind blowing ending that makes you want to jump right into the sequel.

Of course, typical Van, he states in one line what others would spend a chapter on, and just let's what happened expand in your head.