The Universe Maker

A.E. Van Vogt is one of those names that gets lumped together with other greats from the golden age of science fiction such as Asimov and Clarke, but I  wonder if his reputation is fading.

I've read several of his best known novels and enjoyed them, but could never quite figure out why critics and scholars seemed to hold his work in such high esteem. I have acquired a decent collection of his books and most of them remain unread. Periodically, I pick one up to see whether that will be the one that turns on the lightbulb so that I will see where his reputation comes from. My latest effort was a book called The Universe Maker, a 1953 fix-up of some of his previously-published "shadow men" stories. Unfortunately, this book wasn't the one.

It's an average tale typical of the time and neither the writing or the story distinguishes it from hundreds of other books from that decade. It deals with an average fellow who kills a girl in a car accident and is carried forward in time to pay for his crime where his victim is somehow alive and he will be executed for what he did.

Someone helps him escape and he's in a future society where there are three main groups of people - The Floaters, a bunch of welfare bums who float around in airshipes, the Tweeners who are out to control the world and the Shadow Men, a small minority of superman who are barely visible and yet control the world. Our hero's adventures thrusts him into the middle of the conflict. Ho hum.

If you're a huge Van Vogt fan, you've probably read this one already. If you're not, then you can avoid it unless you want to buy the Ace edition with its cool Jack Gaughan cover.

C.X.