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Slan

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Slan first editionFirst edition, 1946
Publication details ▽ Publication details △

First publication
1940, serialized in Astounding Science Fiction magazine

First book publication
1946

Literature forms
Novel

Genres
Science fiction

Writing language
English

Author's country
United States

Length
First novel approx. 73,000 words

A classic stuck in the pulps

In the world of science fiction publishing and fandom, A.E. van Vogt's first novel is widely considered his best. Yet it is also in many ways typical of his entire output.

Slan first appeared, like almost every van Vogt work, in a 1940s-era pulp fiction magazine. Renowned editor John W. Campbell is said to have encouraged him to write the serial from the point of view of a superman character. This focus on transcending humanity would become a staple of van Vogt's work for the rest of his career.

The style and structure of Slan would also also become the author's trademark—the suspense starting with those first lines, verging on melodramatic, that kick the reader into an ongoing plot:

His mother's hand felt cold, clutching his. Her fear as they walked hurriedly along the street was a quiet, swift pulsation that throbbed from her mind to his. A hundred other thoughts beat against his mind, from the crowds that swarmed by on either side, and from inside the buildings they passed. But only his mother's thoughts were clear and coherent—and afraid.

"They're following us, Jommy," her brain telegraphed.

A few pages in, the anticipated action explodes, Jommy's mother is killed, and the boy is thrust into defending himself alone against powerful, unseen enemies. We are also clued in that they want to stop him because they fear his developing mental powers that could turn him into a being superior to them. A classic van Vogt theme.

Sketchy people  

The novel's ending is equally abrupt, revealing a twist you're unlikely to see coming and then stopping dead, without a single further word, giving you no time to take it in and consider what this new fact might mean for the continuing adventure. Except there is no continuing adventure as this novel, ending with a cliff-hanger, never gets a sequel—at least not from van Vogt.

This author is not one for explanations. He seems to expect his readers to be able to figure things out for themselves—whether it's the significance of the novel's sudden ending, or it's the myriad of barely referenced new technologies scattered throughout, or it's his never-letting-up characters who offer only sketchy hints about their motivations.

(Regarding technology in a novel, though, I'm not one who requires continual explanations. Nothing halts a good story more than having a character spout pargraphs of technobabble justifying the existence of inventions that are at best background to the narrative.)

The frenetic style and constant building of plot throughout Slan are also typical of van Vogt's writing. It's easy to get left behind. At any given juncture, readers may be forgiven for wondering where, when or why the story is taking place.

But it's all pretty thrilling. Or it can be. Readers who enjoy Slan are those who let go of those pesky details of place, time or reason, and enjoy the ride—similarly to how they might appreciate the fragmentary narratives of later post-modern novels.

Not that Slan is an example of post-modernist expression. Far from it. The novel is stuck in literary history somewhere between sensationalist pulp fiction and the more carefully considered narratives and credible characters that would evolve in the mid-to-late twentieth century.

Slan fails to advance much beyond its pulpy roots to conquer the more serious book market as did works by many of van Vogt's Golden Age colleagues. Which makes it a fun, fast read for some, a confusing mess for others.

— Eric

 

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