Rogue Ship [Paperback]

A. E. Van Vogt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 1980

Science Fiction. A very nice vintage collector's item. Number # UJ1536 (385). Originally $1.95.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: DAW (May 6, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879975369
• ISBN-13: 978-0879975364
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,513,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Mishmashing stories & squabbling mutiny, December 18, 2008

By 

M-I-K-E 2theD "2theD" (The Big Mango, Thailand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rogue Ship (Paperback)

A ship sets off from earth on the search for habitable planets around the nearest stars. However, the engine doesn't perform as expected so the ship becomes a generation ship. While Voyage of the Space Beagle is my favorite SF novel (also by van Vogt) and that this has the aura like Space Beagle. However, it fails in ever way which Space Beagle made it famous. Rogue Ship is a disjointed mishmash of glued together short stories. The fist quarter was captivating as we witnessed generation by generation involve themselves in the captaincy. But the plot becomes tedious when internal squabbles dominate the scenes through the rest of the book. When the suspense unfolds it involves the struggle to secure more docile wives. The depiction of females in this novel is very negative (some may say it's part of the plot, but it's the general case when talking about Golden Age sci-fi). In the end, there are some novel ideas thrown out into the mixed bag of happenings, which also mucks up the readability of the book. Stick to Space Beagle, keep it real!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mutiny on _The Hope of Man_, February 1, 2010

By 

Paul Camp (Chattanooga, TN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rogue Ship (Paperback)

Sometimes a novel with a trite plot and cardboard characters can be redeemed a little by the novelity or color of the setting. Alas, _Rogue Ship_ (1965) has no such background. Most of the action takes place on a generation starship, but it is never described in much detail. It has a bridge, a hydroponics section, a drive room, and living quarters. But once A.E. van Vogt has given the name to a section of the ship, he goes little further.

There is a partial exception, and that is the bridge. We are told that it is made of "plexiglass," has various control boards and a few viewing ports. But that is the extent of van Vogt's description. We are not shown what the controls do or how they work. Actually, the bridge is not so much a functioning part of the ship as it is a dais; upper class members of the ship alone are permitted there. It is the seat of power, and everybody wants to get on the bridge.

The plot of the novel is mostly a series of dreary episodes about how one faction after another murders, emprisons, and double-crosses others in order to keep control of the bridge or to wrest it from somebody else. When you start reading these episodes, you might assume that this is a bit of background before van Vogt starts into the "story proper". You would be wrong. Almost the entire novel is nothing more than one damned mutiny after another. There is no real structure to it.

The various members involved in the power struggle come from three families: The Brownes, the Lesbees, and the Gourdys. ( The Gourdys are from down in hydroponics and are therefore a bit "lower class".) The problem with the characters in this novel (aside from the fact that they are cardboard) is that most of them don't live long enough to be fleshed out or developed. One character after another is introduced, only to be killed a couple of chapters later. Sometimes this is done so casually that a character playing in active role in one chapter is mentioned in the next chapter as having been killed offstage.

But the few longer-lived characters-- John Lesbee V and Gourdy II-- tend to confirm the suspicion that even if more of the characters had been allowed to develop, it would not have made much difference. First, there is little difference between these characters and their ancestors... or between one another. They are all selfish, power-hungry, and ruthless. None of them can think of anything more profound than wresting power from somebody else.

Van Vogt obviously wants the reader to believe that his characters are intelligent (or, in the case of Gourdy, "cunning"). Much of the "logical" deductions that he has his characters make are not really logical at all. For example, on page 62, van Vogt says that Lesbee V deduces that a group of aliens in a lifeboat are actually robots. Why? Because a long-ago study showed that humans can only utilize telepathic powers with outside electric assistance. The aliens are utilizing "clear thoughts" without using such assistance. But why does this prove that they are _robots_? Why not some other type of alien with clarity of thought? And if the study was well known, why does no human but Lesbee guess the truth?

For characters with great intelligence, van Vogt's characters act like idiots. For example, Lesbee believes that Captain Browne will _really_ share the captain's chair with him. So he tells the captain of his earlier plot to assassinate him. Imagine his surprise when kindly Captain Browne orders the crew to execute him! Much later, after Lesbee has gained a number of superhuman powers, he allows himself to be killed by an assassin whom he knew to be present.

_Rogue Ship_ is a mess. It is a thoroughly bad science fiction novel. Readers should turn to novels like _Slan_, _The World of Null-A_, _The Weapon Shops of Isher_, or _The Voyage of the Space Beagle_ if they want to see van Vogt at the top of his game. Avoid this novel like the plague.