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dustydigger
Posted 2016-11-19 6:57 AM (#14612 - in reply to #12239)
Subject: Re: Pick and Mix 2016		Quote Reply



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Location: UK		Just completed A E Van Vogt's [Voyage of the Space Beagle] a fix up of some of his earliest stories. The writing is a bit stodgy.,characterisation nonexistent,and some of the science theories are a bit lame or vague,but the book earned its place in Jim Harris's Defining Books of the Fifties because of some of its ideas being used later.
Such as the fact that this is a five year voyage out across the galaxies seeking out life forms and new planets. It has an outsider who promotes a new science which integrates all others,but his dependence on sheer logic and rationalism separates him from his fellows,who are wary of him and his lack of human warmth. Each section of the book shows a new and dangerous lifeform to be bested. Certainly they killed off beasts a lot more readily than Star Trek,but the Enterprise voyagers did their fair share,high ideals or not!
Then in one episode a beast gets into the ship and steals crew members to act as incubators for the creatures eggs. After the crittur is finally killed the surgeon does an op to remove the egg,burning the eggs as they are removed. Suddenly-

''an ugly round scarlet head with tiny beady eyes and a tiny slit of a mouth poked out. The head twisted on its short neck and the eyes glittered up at them with hard ferocity.With a swiftness that almost took them by surprise the creature reared up and tried to to climb out of the vat. The smooth walls defeated it. It slid back and dissolved in the flames that poured upon it.
Smith licked his lips and said''Suppose it had escaped and dissolved into the nearest wall?''

Well,we all know someone with an evil imagination DID let the creature escape in a very gruesome fashion and frightened the wits out of millions of filmgoers in a modest little film called Alien.
But you can see why Van Vogt was able to contest them and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. :0)Hope it was a good sum! :0)

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