Synopsis

An alien with abilities man has never encountered is found on a planet where the civilization has fallen. The alien gets on board a human spaceship.

History

First publication: Astounding July 1939

The first published story of Van Vogt. It is credited as the beginning of the SF Golden Age.

Review

This story is typical of many things. It is typical of the Campbell Astounding. It is typical of Van Vogt’s fiction. It is typical alien monster fiction. But it is one of the first. It is Van Vogt’s first story ever. It is very early in Campbell’s Astounding and it is somewhat early among alien monster stories. Later stories come to mind after reading this and even movies, like Alien and It! The Terror From Beyond Space. But we have to keep remembering that those look back to Black Destroyer for their inspiration. Really the only earlier story to match this is Who Goes There? by Campbell himself. The story is well constructed and the situation intelligently thought through. The alien may seem a bit silly in physical description, but it’s powers are terrifying. And I love the switch back and forth from the alien’s perspective to the human viewpoint. This is another example of how SF of this period can do great things.