Slan by A.E van Vogt

Slan, by A.E. van Vogt, is considered a classic science fiction novel. Published in 1940, Slan, by nature, feels old-fashioned and obsolete, especially in the technological sense, but it tells a story that is entertaining and intense, at least until the end.

We meet our protagonist, Jommy Cross, when he’s a young boy who is running from the police who have just killed his mother. Jommy is a Slan, a race of genetically-engineered super-humans who are stronger and smarter than normal humans and who can read minds and speak to each other telepathically. They are identifiable by the gold-colored tendrils that hang down the sides of their heads, like antennae. At one point in our world’s history, the Slan had almost conquered humans, but their numbers were few and humans pre... Read More

The Mathematics of Magic: The Enchanter Stories of de Camp and Pratt

Back in the 1940s and 1950s, L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt co-wrote five fantasy stories about psychologist Harold Shea and his colleagues for the pulp magazines. The Mathematics of Magic: The Enchanter Stories of de Camp and Pratt collects all five of these original Enchanter stories, plus an introduction by Christopher Stasheff (who edited many of the later Enchanter stories written by other authors), an article written by de Camp about Fletcher Pratt and their collaboration, two additional Enchanter... Read More