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47th out of 53 books
—
16 voters
The Silkie
Paperback, 160 pages
Published
January 5th 1982
by DAW
(first published 1969)
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This is an old favorite about a shape changing species that lives with man. It's completely SF, although it has paranormal elements, but they're explained through science. Van Vogt creates a mental logical structure that's interesting & packs several adventures into this book. I think there are 3 stories that were published separately.
I never read any A.E. van Vogt before reading this and I won't be reading any again. The premise is intriguing if a little juvenile and pulpy. A novel needs two things to succeed: A good story, and good writing. This novel fails on both counts.
Story:
there doesn't seem to be any real coherence throughout the novel. The setting is weak and the background is thin. The novel chops and jumps between different settings that have very little relation, making the story not worth following. There are som...more
Story:
there doesn't seem to be any real coherence throughout the novel. The setting is weak and the background is thin. The novel chops and jumps between different settings that have very little relation, making the story not worth following. There are som...more
This read was totally not what I expected - very interesting however - A Silkie who is Alien - someone who can live aboard space ships and then go through earths atmosphere into the ocean Alien and then turn silkie/seal like and then into human. I learn something new from every book I read.
I first began reading and then soon realized this novella is quite good. In fact depending how I choose on understanding of good and bad dialogue and twists in story plot. There it was a surprise for it starts then seems to almost end with a few chapters of the book. Simple rules in The Silkie. How there are sketches of its outline in events and fulfils descriptive matter speculatively in a fantastic sort of way. Science fiction couldn’t have been this advanced when it was first written I suppos...more
The Silkie is a fix-up novel by A E van Vogt. It’s actually 3 separate short stories that were originally publish in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine. The Silkies are at first presented as a group of genetically altered humans who can change form into fish, space ship, and human and act as space police for the human race. The main character is Nat Cemp who can do basically anything necessary to carry the plot along. While the stories had many awe inspiring concepts I just couldn’t get into the st...more
The saving grace of this book is the length. I haven't tried A.E. van Vogt before this and he is quite a prolific writer, so it is tough to decide where to jump in. One thing to noticed is the quotes on the back of the book claim this to be one of his greatest creations. So maybe I should start there. Well ... it had some interesting moments, and it was short and easy to read but in the end I just don't really care. It was pretty obvious that this book had originally been intended as three separ...more
Van Vogt’s creation, the silkie is both human and fundamentally alien, integrating elements of “us” with the “Other”. Possessing senses beyond human understanding -enough to reframe the entire sensory network – the silkie sees the world through different eyes, yet it is forced to take a human mate and live as a human for periods of time. It is at home in the depths of the ocean and in the expanse of space, able to shift its form from an aquatic being, to a human form, to a space-fairing form cap...more
This was, I think, the very first "proper" sci-fi novel I ever read, in my early teens. One of the many around the house. Absolutely loved it and I've been hooked on the genre ever since.
Silkies are aliens that live alongside humans. They can take three forms a space-travel form, a human form and a seal form. The story follows Nat Cemp as he becomes involved in discovering new Space Silkies (that claim they are old), plus an ancient enemy of the Silkies and discovers an asteroid filled with shru...more
Silkies are aliens that live alongside humans. They can take three forms a space-travel form, a human form and a seal form. The story follows Nat Cemp as he becomes involved in discovering new Space Silkies (that claim they are old), plus an ancient enemy of the Silkies and discovers an asteroid filled with shru...more
I searched on this one to see if it was here. It's not the edition I read, but then it was the first novel without pictures that I read in its entirety. I think I must have been seven or eight at the time. I don't remember. Reading it as an adult wasn't nearly the amazing experience I remember having had as a child.
A Silkie - vagy ahogy én hívom, az űrbálnaember. Magyarul az 1985-ös 8. Metagalagtikában, Elek István fordításában. Érdemes!
Apr 03, 2010
Netanella
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
author-a-e-van-vogt
Classic SF novel about an alien species living in cooperation with humans. Nat Cemp is one of about two thousand Silkies who live on earth as a sort of galactic police force. The Silkies have the ability to change shape - human, fish, and space ship. There are three very separate stories in this book, about a mantis-like alien who eats his lovers, a galactic collector of worlds, and the ancient enemies of the Silkies.
Dutch Title: "twee honderd miljoen A.D.: de Silkie"
May 18, 2013
Dale Subitch
added it
May 13, 2013
Mickslibrarian
marked it as to-read
May 04, 2013
Amadeus
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
Matthew Atkinson
marked it as to-read
Apr 28, 2013
Florin Pitea
marked it as to-read
Apr 26, 2013
Logan
marked it as to-read
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Alfred Elton van Vogt was a Canadian-born science fiction author regarded by some as one of the most popular and complex science fiction writers of the mid-twentieth century—the "Golden Age" of the genre.
van Vogt was born to Russian Mennonite family. Until he was four years old, van Vogt and his family spoke only a dialect of Low German in the home.
He began his writing career with 'true story' ro...more
More about A.E. van Vogt...
van Vogt was born to Russian Mennonite family. Until he was four years old, van Vogt and his family spoke only a dialect of Low German in the home.
He began his writing career with 'true story' ro...more
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Oct 14, 2009 03:30am