Home > A. E. van Vogt > THE 14 VAN VOGT NOVELS ON THIS SITE, in chronological order > "The Voyage of The Space Beagle" (1950) by A. E. van Vogt
"The Voyage of The Space Beagle" (1950) by A. E. van Vogt
Saturday 2 November 2019, by
If there is one "golden-age" science-fiction novel that has passed the most demanding literary test of all – the test of time – with flying colours, it is this brilliant account of the exciting – and thought-provoking – adventures of mankind’s first voyage of exploration outside of his own galaxy.
The eponymous space vessel was named in honour of The Beagle, the ship that took Charles Darwin and his fellow scientists on the five-year journey of scientific investigation that led to the publication of perhaps the most important single book in the history of mankind, Darwin’s The Origin of Species.
First published in 1950, most of this seminal book was written much earlier and published separately:
– Chapters 1-6 appeared as Black Destroyer in the July 1939 edition of Astounding Science Fiction;
– Chapters 13-21 appeared as Discord in Scarlet in the December 1939 edition of Astounding ScienceFiction;
– Chapters 22-28 appeared as M33 in Andromeda in the August 1943 edition of Astounding Science-Fiction.
Those stories were however considerably modified to introduce (in Chapters 1-6 and 13-21) and to enhance (in Chapters 22-28) the role of the new central character, the senior scientist Elliott Grosvenor and his "Nexialist" (holistic) philosophy for resolving crises.
The new material written for the publication of the novel consisted of:
– Chapters 7-8, containing linkage material filling out the role of the now-central character, the Nexialist scientist Elliot Grosvenor;
– Chapters 9-12, published separately shortly before the publication of the novel as War of Nerves in the May 1950 issue of Other Worlds Science Stories.
If there is one science-fiction novel that can be unreservedly recommended to one and all, especially those who have never delved into the genre, it is this masterwork of imaginative fiction by one of Canada’s greatest writers.
(73,000 words)
An e-book of this great classic is available for downloading below.