Van Vogt

When I finished all the Verne books in the library, I became the first in line for any book that arrived written by modern science-fiction writers such as Heinlein, Asimov, van Vogt, Clarke, and Bradbury.

I was sprawled on the rug in the living room, reading The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A. E. van Vogt.

New fans were expected to know such influential works as Robert Heinlein’s Future History stories, A.E. van Vogt’s “Slan” and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy.

During the 1940s Gunn found inspiration from what he calls “the great foursome” of Golden Age sci-fi: Asimov, Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon and A.E. van Vogt.

He also gives rather short shrift to van Vogt, one of Campbell’s most prominent discoveries and a fan favourite during Astounding’s acme, whose work has never since received the attention it deserves.