A. E. van Vogt

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A. E. van Vogt
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66 Quotations from A. E. van Vogt

alien n. 1947 A. E. van Vogt in Fantasy Book 1 41/2 When an alien arrives on an inhabited planet, there is usually only one way he can pass among the intelligent beings on that planet without being recognized for what he is.
alien adj. 1939 A. E. van Vogt Black Destroyer in Astounding Science Fiction July 17/1 The killer attacked Jarvey, and then discovered his flesh was alien—uneatable.
alternative world n. 1943 A. E. van Vogt Search in Astounding Science-Fiction Jan. 56/2 Yesterday, you found this place deserted. Well, that wasn’t exactly yesterday…. That was today in the alternative world to this one.
automatics n. 1943 A. E. van Vogt Storm in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 20/1 The prompt reaction of the automatics in rolling back every floor, and plunging every person into the deceleration chambers of each section—that saving reaction was abruptly augmented as the deceleration chamber was flooded by a special type of gas.
blaster n. 1948 A. E. van Vogt Monster in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 64/2 When the blasters ceased their effort, the unkillable thing remained standing.
communicator n. 1943 A. E. van Vogt Concealment in Astounding Science-Fiction Sept. 89/1 Decisively, she clicked off the intership communicator, made an adjustment and stepped through a transmitter into the receiving room half a mile distant.
communicator n. 1948 A. E. van Vogt Monster in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 58/1 They have now adapted our universal speech machine, so that anyone who wishes to need only speak into his communicator, and so will have his words translated into the language of the revived person.
contraterrene adj. 1943 A. E. van Vogt The Storm in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 9/2 The stripped seetee nuclei carried now terrific and unbalanced negative charges and repelled electrons, but tended to attract terrene atom nuclei. In their turn the stripped terrene nuclei attracted contraterrene.
Earthside adj. 1951 A. E. van Vogt This Joe in Marvel Science Fiction Aug. 73/1 Barron, the only Earthside executive present, stood up and offered me his hand.
energy gun n. 1941 A. E. van Vogt Seesaw in Astounding Science-Fiction July 67/2 Energy guns!…That’s always been their problem: how to get their weapons close enough to our shops to destroy us.
energy gun n. 1949 A.E. van Vogt Weapon Shops of Isher in Thrilling Wonder Stories Feb. viii. 32/1 He was so obviously disconcerted, so fascinated by the showcases with their energy guns. And he gave an account of a weapon shop having appeared in a street in the little city in which he lived
energy screen n. 1939 A. E. van Vogt Discord in Scarlet in Astounding Science-Fiction Dec. 19/1 One moment he was thinking complacently of the metal sections in the hold of the ship, where he would secrete his guuls; the next moment he was caught in the full sparkling fury of an energy screen.
energy screen n. 1943 A.E. van Vogt Concealment in Astounding Science-Fiction Sept. 88/1 Alarms must have blared in the ship, too, for it slowed noticeably and, still braking, disappeared. Now it was coming back, creeping along, obviously trying to locate the small object that had affected its energy screens.
energy screen n. 1948 A. E. van Vogt Monster in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 60/2 He walked curiously to the nearest doorway, studied the other guard who waited there for him, and then, gingerly, stepped through. The first guard followed him, then came the mobile energy screen, and finally, trailing one another, the councillors.
energy weapon n. 1941 A. E. van Vogt Seesaw in Astounding Science-Fiction July 60/1 The window display was made up of an assortment of rather curiously shaped guns, rifles as well as small arms; and a glowing sign in the window stated: THE FINEST ENERGY WEAPONS IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE.
Europan n. 1 1940 A. E. van Vogt Repetition in Astounding Science-Fiction Apr. 70/1 We can trust that crew of rabble-rousers to encroach immediately on the rights of the Europans, as defined by the agreement we will draw up. Whereupon we shall declare the agreement null and void and take over Europa.
fix-up n. 1975 A. E. Van Vogt Reflections of A.E. van Vogt 135 Fix-up novel consisting of Film Library, The Search, Far Centaurus, and 50% new material.
fix-up n. 1975 A. E. Van Vogt Reflections of A.E. van Vogt 85 My next work was a fix-up novel, The War Against the Rull.
galactic n. 1 1942 A. E. van Vogt Asylum in Astounding Science-Fiction May 9/1 There are no Galactics out here. But there is an Observer. I've been catching the secret ultra signals for the last two hours…warning all ships to stay clear because the system isn’t ready for any kind of contact with Galactic planets.
gravitonic adj. 1948 A. E. van Vogt Rull in Astounding Science Fiction May 26/2 At top speed, obviously traveling under gravitonic power, the enemy warships turned a sharp somersault, and came back toward the table[-]land.
gravity n. 1951 A. E. van Vogt Voyage of Space Beagle in Triad (1959) iv. 214 The frightful acceleration continued. It was at least five, possibly six gravities.
grounder n. [1950 A. E. van Vogt The Shadow Men in Startling Stories Jan. 42/2 They were floaters, people who had no home but a house in the sky…. The bitter feeling between the floaters and the grounders, already intense, grew sharper and deadlier with the passing years. Everyone took sides. Some who had been grounders bought floaters and joined the restless throngs in the sky.]
home galaxy n. 1971 H. Ellison & A. E. van Vogt Human Operators in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Jan. 20/2 Could we got back to the Home Galaxy, the place we came from, where the war was?
hyperspace n. 1942 A. E. van Vogt Secret Unattainable in Astounding Science Fiction July 19/1 The hyper-space machine at Gribe Schloss will be completed in February, 1941. No less than five duplicate machines are under construction.
insectoidal adj. 1971 H. Ellison & A. E. van Vogt Human Operators in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Jan. 21/1 The found the ruined diving suit with its fish-eaten contents lying on its back in deep azure sand, sextet of insectoidal legs bent up at the joints, in a posture of agony.
light-day n. 1943 A. E. van Vogt Concealment in Astounding Science-Fiction Sept. 93/2 If you wish, I will prepare orbits involving maximum speeds of ten light days a minute to all the nearest stars.
lightspeed n. 1 1941 A. E. van Vogt Not First in Astounding Science-Fiction Apr. 105/1 Just how far the madness would carry on, whether it would end at the point of light speed, only time would tell.
light-week n. 1943 A. E. van Vogt Storm in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 19/1 By making a point 0100 turn we shall miss the storm by seven light weeks. I admit it is an appallingly sharp curve, but I feel that we should have at least that much leeway.
mind-controlling adj. 1949 A. E. van Vogt Players of Null-A in Astounding Science Fiction Jan. 119/2 Robot Control confirmed that a hundred and eight warships, including two battleships and ten cruisers, had been seized by a concentrated force of fifteen million mind-controlling robots.
mind shield n. 1940 A. E. van Vogt Slan in Astounding Science Fiction Nov. 132/2 You will lower your mind shield. Of course, I don’t expect absolutely free access to your brain. That would be like asking you to undress.
mutation n. 1946 A. E. van Vogt Hand of the Gods in Astounding Science-Fiction Dec. 144/1 It would be impossible for a despised mutation ever to become Lord Leader.
needle-beam n. 1972 A. E. van Vogt Ersatz Eternal in Lost: Fifty Suns (1979) 83 Silently, Malkins produced a needle-beam projector. Grayson took it, pointed it at his own right temple, and pressed the curved firing pin—as Malkins grabbed at him frantically but too late. The thin, white beam seemed to penetrate Grayson’s heed. It burned a round, black, smoldering hole in the woodwork beyond.
non-human n. 1945 A. E. van Vogt World of Null-A in Astounding Science Fiction Oct. 93/1 First, the word ‘alien’ seems all wrong. There are too many human beings involved. Gosseyn, human beings would not co-operate with nonhumans.
pre-spaceflight adj. [1943 A. E. van Vogt Concealment in Astounding Science-Fiction Sept. 96/1 And the man’s name, Watcher, is so typical of the ancient pre-spaceship method of calling names on Earth according to the trade. It is possible that even the sun, where he is watching, is a service heritage of his family. ]
probability world n. 1943 A. E. van Vogt Search in Astounding Science-Fiction Jan. 53/2 He lived in this probability world of his own until his death in 2874.
ray gun n. 1948 A. E. van Vogt Monster in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 59/1 The two-legged monster dissolved, writhing, in the beam of a ray gun.
robo- prefix 1945 A. E. van Vogt World of Null-A in Astounding Science Fiction Oct. 83/1 Sensitive detectors must be probing the skies, to make sure no roboplanes or other solar craft were passing overhead.
rocket-ship n. 1940 A. E. van Vogt Slan in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 37/1 Could he dare slide down that glass-smooth slipway when any second a rocketship in all the fury and power of irresistible motion could come smashing up toward the sky?
science-fictionist n. 1978 A. E. van Vogt Interview in Galileo #8 8/3 I am known as a hardcore science fictionist.
seetee n. 1943 A. E. van Vogt Storm in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 9/1 The stripped seetee nuclei carried now terrific and unbalanced negative charges and repelled electrons, but tended to attract terrene atom nuclei. In their turn the stripped terrene nuclei attracted contraterrene.
slan n. [1940 A. E. van Vogt Slan in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 27/1 They…accuse Samuel Lann, the human being and biological scientist who first created slans, and after whom slans are named—Samuel Lann: S. Lann: Slan—of fostering in his children the belief that they must rule the world.]
slan n. [1940 A. E. van Vogt Slan in Astounding Science-Fiction Sept. 23/2 What do you know about the mental outlook of an adult slan, whose intelligence is three hundred percent higher than a normal human being?]
sol-type adj. 1943 A. E. van Vogt M 33 in Andromeda in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 137/2 The fourth star was Sol-size, Sol-type. Of its three planets, one made a neat orbit at eighty million miles, a steaming world of jungle and primeval seas.
spaceboat n. 1968 A. E. van Vogt Proxy Intelligence in Worlds of If Oct. 75/2 He opened his eyes to realize that he had slept. He realized something else. The screens were down; a Deegh in a spaceboat was coming into an airlock at the extreme lower side of the meteorite.
space bum n. 1968 A. E. van Vogt Proxy Intelligence in Worlds of If Oct. x. 156/1 Exactly as each little island post of Earth’s Pacific Ocean gradually accumulated a saturation of human flotsam and jetsam, so on Spaceport there had gathered a strange tribe of space bums. The tribe consisted of men and women in almost equal numbers, the size of the group being variable. Currently, it consisted of thirteen persons. They were not exactly honest people, but they were not criminals.
space drive n. 1963 A. E. van Vogt Beast xi. 81 Some terrible emergency had arisen, and because your body had been exposed to the energies of their space drive, and because your blood type is a rare kind, they had to use you in this emergency.
space freighter n. 1940 A. E. van Vogt Vault of the Beast in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 50/1 It crept along the corridor of the space freighter, fighting the terrible urge of its elements to take the shape of its surroundings.
spacehand n. 1940 A. E. van Vogt Vault of the Beast in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 59/2 She’s a woman of the world, and it’s utterly impossible to expect her to live with a man who’s going to be a mere pilot or space hand or something on a Martian spaceship.
space lock n. 1942 A. E. van Vogt Asylum in Astounding Science-Fiction May 27/1 Her voice took on a whiplash quality. ‘So back to my rooms. I have a space lock there to get rid of your body. Get going!’
space yacht n. 1940 A. E. van Vogt Vault of the Beat Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 60/1 He has commanded his own space yacht; he knows more about the mathematical end of the work than our whole staff put together; and that is no reflection on our staff. He knows the hardships connected with space flying, and believes that it is exactly what he needs.
spy ray n. 1966 A. E. van Vogt Silkies in Space in Worlds of If May 29/2 A breeze touched the super-sensitive spy-ray extensions that he maintained in operation under all circumstances. The little wind registered through the spy mechanisms, but did not trigger the defense screens behind them. It was only a breeze, after all; and he had never programmed himself to respond to such minor signals.
spy ray n. 1944 A. E. van Vogt Far Centaurus in Astounding Science Fiction 76/1 They’ve already spotted us with their spy rays and energy screens. A ship’s coming out to meet us.
star system n. 1942 A. E. van Vogt Asylum in Astounding Science-Fiction May 9/2 This star system contains one inhabited planet, the third from the Sun, called Earth by its inhabitants.
star system n. 1944 A. E. van Vogt Far Centaurus in Astounding Science Fiction Jan. 70/1 In fifty-four years we had covered approximately one tenth of the four and one third light years to the famous nearest star system.
star system n. 1945 A. E. van Vogt World of Null-A in Astounding Science Fiction Oct. 88/2 No one, least of all league agents, turned down the invitations of the reigning big shots of an Empire of sixty thousand star systems, especially when one’s purpose required considerable tact.
subspace n. 1940 A. E. van Vogt Vault of the Beast in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 56/2 Most Martian histories refer to it as the beast that fell from the sky when Mars was young—some terrible warning connected with it—the beast was unconscious when found—said to be the result of its falling out of sub-space.
terrene adj. 2 1943 A. E. van Vogt The Storm in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 9/2 The stripped seetee nuclei carried now terrific and unbalanced negative charges and repelled electrons, but tended to attract terrene atom nuclei. In their turn the stripped terrene nuclei attracted contraterrene.
terrene adj. 2 1943 A. E. van Vogt The Storm in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 9/1 They came finally to where a thousand flaring seetee suns had long before doggedly ‘crossed the street’ of the main stream of terrene suns.
thought shield n. 1940 A. E. van Vogt Slan in Astounding Science-Fiction Nov. 121/1 She must have known her thought shield was faulty; and so, with the purest of animal cunning, she had allowed that pathetic little story to leak through, designed to show him that she would never, oh, never, have the courage for a fight to the finish.
thought wave n. 1940 A. E. van Vogt Slan in Astounding Science-Fiction Dec. xvi. 151/1 He could see the fountain he wanted, a great, glittering shape with its sparkling streams of water. But there was too much artificial light, too many minds around, a confusion of vibrations that must be interfering with the one thought wave his mind was reaching for—if the damned thing was still there after all these hundreds of years. If it wasn’t there, God help him!
time binding n. 1945 A. E. van Vogt World of Null-A in Astounding Science Fiction Aug. 32/1 His mind made a timebinding leap backwards: This, he thought, absorbed, was how religious folk had felt in the old days the first time an atheist or rationalist manifested verbal hostility towards their religion.
time storm n. 1942 A. E. van Vogt Recruiting Station in Astounding Science-Fiction Mar. 38/1 Your spaceship either by accident or design caught in the eddying current in the resulting time storm.
videophone n. 1945 A. E. van Vogt World of Null-A in Astounding Science Fiction Aug. 9/2 He closed the door, fastened the three plasto-windows and put a tracer on his videophone.
videophone n. 1948 A. E. van Vogt Players of Ā in Astounding Science Fiction Oct. 18/1 He looked for a message that might have been left for him, a more complete and personal account than could be intrusted to the videophone exchange.
videophonic adj. 1949 A. E. van Vogt Players of Null-A in Astounding Science Fiction Jan. 120/2 The capture of the warships of the Greatest Empire made it possible to set up a chain of ships stretching to within eight hundred light-years of the nearest League base, which was just over nine thousand light-years distant. From that near point videophonic communication was established.
vision plate n. 1948 A. E. van Vogt The Rull in Astounding Science Fiction May 10/2 It was shortly after midnight—Laertes III had a twenty-six hour, sidereal time, day—when Jamieson saw a movement at the perimeter of his all-wave vision plate. Finger on blaster control, he waited for the object to come into sharper focus.