The Empire of Isher: The Weapon Makers / The Weapon Shops of Isher (Paperback)

~ A. E. van Vogt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Having more stories from A.E. van Vogt repackaged and reprinted can only be good news: along with Heinlein and Asimov, this prolific, wild-eyed author deserves much of the credit for pioneering science fiction's golden age back in the '40s and '50s. As a sort of crazy old uncle of modern sci-fi, though, van Vogt doesn't always get his due: his writing wasn't always spectacular, his plot and pacing fell somewhere between harum-scarum and willy-nilly, and his ideas were delivered in relentless salvos, each more outlandish than the last. But an embarrassment or not, the visionary van Vogt is indisputably part of the family, an entertaining and daring author whose influence can be seen in the work of countless other writers.

This 288-page paperback binds together two of van Vogt's better stories, "The Weapon Makers of Isher" and "The Weapons Shops of Isher," published in sequel-prequel order back in 1946 and 1951. These time-hopping, politically convoluted tales follow the struggle between the oppressive (but beautiful) Empress Innelda and the superadvanced libertarian Weapon Shops ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free," reads the storefront sign). Much of the melodramatic plot revolves around the Shops' immortal, ultragenius founder Robert Hedrock, his conflict with the Empress, and their differing visions for the future of humanity, but don't fret too much over the details: van Vogt keeps your head comfortably a-swim in a steady stream of whiz-bang gadgetry, plot twists, and breakneck action. --Paul Hughes

Product Description

Two classic Van Vogt works, The Weapon Makers and The Weapon Shops of Isher form the complete story of Robert Hedrock and the Empire of Isher. They are about revolution through time travel, the right to bear arms, the end of the universe and the beginning of the next.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Orb Books; 1st edition (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312875002
• ISBN-13: 978-0312875008
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #727,321 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Justly reprinted, June 26, 2000

By A Customer

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.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Confusion about two different books, July 26, 2000

By	David E. Siegel "-DES" (NJ/ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Van's best series in one big book, December 29, 2001

By	"icshi" (Ridgecrest, CA United States) - See all my reviews

"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.