Customer Reviews

The Empire of Isher: The Weapon Makers / The Weapon Shops of Isher

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I have not seen this edition, but both the component novels, "The weapon makers" and "The weapon shops of Isher" are old friends. These are among the better of van Vogt's works, perhaps not the absolute best, but close. For books written some fifty years ago still remarkably readable. Justly reprinted.

Note that "The weapon makers" was written first but that "The weapon shops of Isher", added later, is a prequel. The stories are also different in tone: "The makers" is highly dynamic (almost dynamite), while the "The shops" is much quieter.

Another reviewer has reviewed a different book. "Reviewer: Trevor J Hall (see more about me) from PERRY,, ME USA At last the two books of the life of the mutant prince of the House of Lin have been combined in one cover...."

This is actually a review of _Empire of the Atom_, an SFnal re-telling of Robert Graves's _I Claudius_, and a quite different book, also by Van Vogt.

As to the books at hand, they are some of vV's best, but suffer from all his characteristic faults -- the too frequent plot changes, the endless consipiricies (often where the leaders of two opposed sides are secretly the same person) a society whose economic basis is dubious at best. But it is a page-turner, and one that keeps this reader returning from time to time. A classic that any SF fan should read sometime or other.

Someone once said that a simple definition of science fiction would be: "ordinary people doing extraordinary things in extraordinary situations". The reader is captivated NOT by strange, futuristic technology, space travel, monsters and aliens, but by how the genre's protagonists live and move about in a world where such possibilities are commonplace. This is why Golden Age pulp sci-fi has so far never translated well to the movie screen. A classic like Asimov's original Foundation series does not consist of action/wars/battles/grotesqueries (which is what movie viewers want), but of well-written, cerebral characters who attempt to discuss and make sense of wild events and mind-bending dilemmas happening all around them. So too is this omnibus edition of A.E.van Vogt's two outstanding novels, "The Weapon Shops of Isher" and "The Weapon Makers". Well-respected but never one of the biggest names of 1940s sci-fi, van Vogt wrote voluminously but never exceeded the scope, imagination, and wonder of this all-too-brief series. He has a devoted readership and has elicited much scholarly discussion, but is mostly dismissed as too "far out" by today's self-congratulating distopians. I will not defend everything he ever wrote (he is definitely an acquired taste), but The Empire of Isher is highly, highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Astounding-era sci-fi and is much more accessible and less bizarre than most of his oeuvre.

Your best introduction to this magical world would be to read van Vogt's original 1942 short story, "The Weapon Shop" (it has been anthologized many times, most significantly in Avon Books' 1971 "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume I"). It is one of three stories (from 1941, 1942, and 1949) that were put together with connecting links to form this edition's first book, "The Weapon Shops of Isher". This "fix-up" reads like a mosaic, with 3 storylines weaving together to tell the story of an underground benevolent organization with superior technology that protects and empowers the citizens of a worldwide empire that would otherwise exploit them. Founder/overseer Robert Hedrock must deal with a catalyst (Cayle Clark) who threatens to destroy the financial stability of the Solar System while two innocent bystanders (Chris McAllister and Fara Clark) are caught in the struggle for power between Empress Innelda Isher's corrupt government and the idealistic Weapon Shops. Because the three original stories were all conceived separately, there is a sense of disjointedness in the narrative where major characters and storylines can disappear, then suddenly reappear many chapters later. Nevertheless, the depth and breadth of van Vogt's vision is brilliantly awe-inspiring, and while a quieter book than its sequel, "The Weapon Shops of Isher" is both absorbing yet paradoxical, and fun yet thought-provoking.

The second book, "The Weapon Makers", was conceived as a full-fledged novel in 1943. This raises the questions: is book 1 a prequel to book 2, or is book 2 a sequel to book 1? This writer holds the second possibility, because book 2 answers many of the unusual questions raised in book 1. But then most of book 1 appeared in magazine form in 1949, while book 2 appeared in 1943. Then book 1 was published in novel form in 1951, while book 2 was revised and published in 1952. A paradox, just as van Vogt would have liked it. "The Weapon Makers" features the same world of the Weapon Shops and the Isher Empire with Robert Hedrock, Innelda Isher, and a few minor characters also returning. This is a much wilder ride than the first book. There is much more emphasis on story than on characters, and there is an impossible-to-escape cliff-hanger at the end of seemingly almost every chapter. All-powerful, unbeatable interstellar aliens are also introduced, and of course they never stand a chance. The scenes where Hedrock visits the crooked CEOs of the gigantic firms he secretly owns are both priceless and prophetic, almost ripped from today's business world headlines. Some might consider it a change of premise when the Weapon Shops do not prove to be as altruistic as they are in the first book, but this is a typical van Vogt device where nothing is quite what it seems to be at first. And while I would have loved for the series to have been continued or expanded, "The Weapon Makers" does conclude with a definitive ending.

One final thought. The cover of this omnibus edition depicts a long-barrelled gun, looking very much like real-world firearms or at least a typical movie-style laser blaster. The defensive guns that figure so prominently in the two novels were described by van Vogt as a brass-knuckles type device that fitted easily in the hand, being activated by thought. In the Prologue of "The Weapon Shops of Isher", they are described as: "It was a tiny thing, shaped like a pistol, but with three cubes projecting in a half-circle from the top of the slightly bulbuous firing chamber." Later on, in Chapter 16, we're told of one model: "Notice the flanges on this barrel are little more than bulges." These descriptions of course do not mesh with the cover illustration. It can only be assumed that the publisher did not want to commission a more representative illustration, but do not let that deter you from buying this awesome, visionary sci-fi masterpiece. I've been continuously reading and re-reading these books since the 1980s, and have yet to tire of them.

A classic, wonderfully written story I first read in high school. Nearly forty years later it's still outstanding.

This is one that should be adapted for film.

"The Weapon Shops of Isher" is an interestingly mosaic novel based on a few short stories published in the '40s, and the plot strands understandably hardly touch, but the overall effect is one of a nice cross-section of this society.

"The Weapon Makers," a 1943 novel that was written as a finale to the stories that made up "The Weapon Shops of Isher" is even better than the first, and is perhaps Van's finest novel. The plot is very straight-forward but nonetheless full of surprises and interesting turns. The writing style is far better than most of his output, which when combined with the excellent plot and characters makes an outstanding masterpiece.

At last the two books of the life of the mutant prince of the House of Lin have been combined in one cover. A E van Vogt is a master wordsmith, 'thus died a whole legion of men', and this is one of his masterpeices. Somehow both dated and yet timeless this is the career of a mutant prince overcoming his handicaps and ultimately triumphing against his political foes, inspiring loyalty in his companions and gaining the cooperation and admiration of his piratical foes. The tale is told in a somewhat ironic vein which is unforgettable. I have spent many years wishing for a further sequel.