A review by ranaldclouston
The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This was my absolute favourite book for part of my childhood. Does it hold up? Not really, sadly, as today I see clunky prose and dialogue, a ridiculously arrogant protagonist in an all-male cast, and repetitive action. Oddly I've read other A. E. van Vogt in recent years and enjoyed them more - I appreciate his surreal side these days, which isn't featured so strongly here. This book is apparently important to the history of Sci Fi, as the 1939 short story Black Destroyer which was expanded into this novel is considered by some the start of the genre's Golden Age, so that adds interest, as does the nostalgic factor of trying to remember exactly how this story plunged so deeply into my brain when I first encountered it. For all its flaws, there is *something* mind expanding and exciting here in its story of human explorers meeting increasingly powerful and threatening alien races. I can't go back to who I was when I loved this book, but it was still fascinating to revisit.