The Silkie

by A.E. van Vogt

How would you create a superhuman? That the key to this startling new novel by the master original thinker of science-fiction, A.E. van Vogt. For The Silkie was a being that could move through space, water, or on land with equal ease, could think like a computer, communicate etherically, and change form to suit changing circumstances.

But were the Silkies all that was claimed for them? Were they truly man's own creations as heirs and helpers or were they "ringers" from some unknown outer-space world of some anti-humanity conspiracy?

The Silkies themselves did not know. . . and that's what makes this action-packed utterly unusual novel great. It's van Vogt's first new novel in many years.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

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' romances, but then moved to writing science fiction, a field he identified with. His first story was Black Destroyer, that appeared as the front cover story for the July 1939 edtion of the popular "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've learned to accept that not everything is going to make sense in a van Vogt story. I often wonder if I'm reading the English translation of his work that was translated from another language that was itself translated from the original English. There are strange leaps and gaps, bizarre turns of phrase and dialogue that you must mentally stitch together with some bubble gum and duct tape. I'm pretty sure much of his published stories were first drafts, with zero editing. Anyway, his raw exuberance, pseudo-science jibber jabber in all its excruciating detail, fantastical slapdashery and flimflammery and wild imagination keep me coming back for more.

Silkies were van Vogt's intensely intriguing imaginings of the ultimate in genetically engineered humans in the far distant future, which included multiple classes of enhanced humanoids. At the apex are "class C" Silkies, the few and proud protectors of humanity. Silkies possess a huge array of abilities, not the least of which is telepathy, mind reading, mind control, and the ability to rapidly morph their body physiology and structure to adapt to air or water atmospheres, or to the vacuum of hard space by transforming into a kind of self-contained interstellar space ship with propulsion and everything. van Vogt's descriptions of their mating and sexual habits is somewhat risque compared with his earlier writings, and as is perhaps a sign that these stories were written in the 1960's. Aside from that, little had changed in style or form since his writing heyday in the 40's and early 50's.

In the first episode, our Silkie hero takes on a powerful race of shape shifting aliens that travel across space seeking to "love" and then destroy civilizations. It's unclear to me what this "love" is, perhaps an enchantment of some kind achieved via mind control. Rather than confront them head on, he uses "levels of logic", a form of manipulative mind control, to thwart the aliens in a most horrendous and unexpected way!

The second story provides some true flashes of van Vogt's brilliance as he investigates the origins of the Silkies and an ancient threat from the very early days of the universe. There is some great pseudo-science here as van Vogt describes an incredibly ancient being who's traveled the universe since the dawn of time on a secretive, perverse mission and is now threatening Earth. The ending is truly shocking and unexpected and one of van Vogt's most intriguing twists, with the Earth becoming part of a new solar system inhabited by thousands of alien planets and civilizations.

The third story involves an ancient, implacable alien foe, but proved so difficult to parse it didn't make much of an impression.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Jackvanc3gmail.Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

AE Van Vogt is arguably the greatest Author of all time. Marooned on a strange planet with 1 Author's stuff to read I would be fine with AE Van Vogt. The ideas are mentally expanding. You will not see stuff repeated from elsewhere. No lame social justice BS. The only authors that come close or can be considered AE Van Vogt's peers are Jack Vance who inspired the game Dungeons and Dragons with the Dying Earth cycle, and wrote some of greatest space opera of all time, predating star wars which he heavily influenced, Robert E Howard himself who should need no introduction, and Michael Moorcock when he is at his best with Elric Hawkmoon and Corum before he started hiring ghostwriters. Azimov and Heinlein pale in comparison with AE Van Vogt, as does Arthur Clark, Vinge, Le Guin. Minor Authors who give a whiff of the magic are glen cook with black company 1-4, and Lawrence Watt-Evens with the lords of DUS. The empire of the Atom, the Empire of Isher, The Voyage of the space beagle inspired the greatest TV show ever the original Start Trek with Kirk and spock, as well as inspiring and predating the movie Alien. So you can see AE van Vogt's hand everywhere in the very greatest of science fiction art. Only the doctor who original series with Tom Baker has as far as I have seen given him some competition. Of course since the 90s the effort to conceal great scifi and replace it with social justice big government BS like next generation and newer doctor who and now in 2016 the feminist star wars drivel try to erase the superman model from scifi lore. It will never work! AE Van Vogt forever!

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 some nice ideas in there, but they are explored with complete ineptitude.

Writing style:
Is it just me or is the writing style unforgivably bad? It reads like a 12 year old's first story written in English class. Random concepts thrown into the mix without any explanation. Limitless escalataion of power and a sense that fantastical elements were being made up as he went along to keep the story flowing. I gather that this book is essentially three magazine shorts glued together, so I can appreciate why it's not his best work as a cohesive novel. But even the individual passages and the way he explains concepts didn't come across at all well.

[Tim Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memorable novel contains two great ideas: the Silkies themselves, of course, but also the Logic of Levels.

The Logic of Levels is something like the Jedi Mind Trick. Any intelligent being has fantasies, and if you can trick the mind into believing those fantasies are real, that being can be made to act in self-destructive ways, turning itself inside out. The Logic of Levels certainly works on humans: that is what gives drugs, gambling, advertising and religion their insidious power. That is how Donald Trump gets people to vote for him.

[Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very strange collection of linked stories based on a race of super-humans capable of transforming themselves into three stages: human-like, aquatic beings and space-faring - literally becoming a sort of living spaceship.

In 1950, Van Vogt had taken a decade long hiatus from publishing new material (excluding one non-genre novel "The Violent Man" published in 1962 based on a strange brainwashing method of converting American prisoners of war to eastern ways in China. He had opted to put all of his efforts into L. Ron Hubbard's scientology project and exploring other interests such as hypnotism.

The Silkie stories were some of the first van Vogt published once encouraged by the late Frederick Pohl to return to publishing SF.

Compiled in the form of a novel, these stories don't entirely work cohesively as a whole but in a weird way, are still somehow engaging.

[Roddy Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Silkie - a living spaceship, impervious to heat and cold, virtually indestructible and capable of travelling at supersonic speeds.

The Silkie - similar to a human being, but not the same. Highly intelligent.

The Silkie - able to live under the oceans with the ease of a dolphin and the speed of a shark.

The Silkie - a modern angel or a computerised demon?

The Silkie - a friend of Earth, or a pitiless, alien destroyer?'

Blurb from the 1973 NEL paperback edition



It at first appears that as part of a longevity experiment, Earth scientists created a new sort of human, a Silkie; a being that can change form to live in sea or on land or in space. It is mentioned early on that the word 'Silkie' is taken from an old song, by which was meant the Orkneys folk song 'The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry'.
This is the story of a woman, unhappy (and no doubt ostracised) because she does not know her son's father. A man rises up from the sea to tell her that he is the father, and that he is a silkie: a man only on the land, a seal in the water.
By the time we get to the main narrative Humanity is comprised of ordinary humans, Special people (who communicate telepathically with Silkies), Silkies themselves and 'Variants'. As the Silkies are all males, they mate with women of the Special People. Some children are not true Silkies and are classed as Variants.
The Silkies have appointed themselves policemen of the Solar System and beyond, reporting to the Silkie Authority and a governing body composed mainly of humans and Special People.
Nat Cemp is a Silkie who finds himself at the forefront of the action.
Cemp encounters three hostile alien races and has to deal with each one either alone or with the help of other Silkies and Special People.
This is, as can probably be guessed, a fix-up novel, comprised of three stories originally published in Galaxy, along with some introductory material that van Vogt wrote for the novel.
There are some echoes of 'Slan' here in that human women are giving birth to 'evolved' humans and, as with 'Slan' the origins of the Silkies are not what humans believe them to be.
In Cemp's first encounter he is intercepted in space by a shipful of Variants. Their ship is basically a mile-long space-going ocean with its own internal biosphere. Cemp is confronted here by a powerful alien, one of the Kibmadine, who tries to convince Cemp that he is his son.
There are several instances in this book, in fact, where people (mostly) in authority have convinced others of things that were completely untrue, which is both ironic and fascinating given that, for several years prior to this, van Vogt had been heavily involved in L Ron Hubbard's Scientology programme.
It's an interesting coincidence, but whether the matter is worth investigating further is for someone with greater insight into these things to determine.
In the next section, it is discovered that an unknown group of Silkies is already living within the Solar System unbeknown to anyone else, and some of them are women. They are the servants of an ancient alien creature called the Glis who has been traveling the galaxy for millennia in the hollow of a large asteroid, finding inhabited planets and compressing them to form part of a collection. Here again there is deception. The Space Silkies have had their memories tampered with while humans were hypnotised into believing that Silkies were created on Earth.
Earth Silkies have developed a mental defence technique called 'The Logic of Levels' which, when applied correctly, sets up a feedback loop in the opponent's mind and basically buggers up their heads. This was used in the first section to defeat the alien threat.
van Vogt, who is well used to writing in widescreen, attempts to increase the spectacle with each section. Cemp manages to defeat the ancient Glis with his 'logic of levels' techniques. In death, however, the Glis is not an inanimate corpse. For reasons that are both unclear and scientifically implausible, the Glis expands to become a supermassive star, incidentally releasing all the habitable planets that it had captured and compressed, Earth among them.
Thus Earth, seemingly unharmed, becomes one of around eighteen hundred habitable worlds, orbiting the starcorpse of The Glis. It is a ludicrous and unfeasible concept. Anyone with any common sense could tear any number of holes in the idea, and yet it somehow works and is one of the great romantic images of Space opera.
In the final section, the Silkies are pitted against an ancient enemy, the Nijjan. This is the weakest section of the novel, it has to be said, since van Vogt gets so carried away with his esoteric pseudosciences that some of the explanations for what happens, or is happening, make little sense.
Suffice it to say Nat Cemp finds a way to defeat the aliens with his 'logic of levels' jedi mind tricks and fully expects to die in the process. The trouble is, the Nijjan seem to be somehow psychically bonded to the structure of the universe. The universe therefore begins to collapse swiftly in on itself dragging Cemp with it.
The denouement though sees Cemp able to analyse the structure of the universe and to reconstruct it as he wishes it to be. The troublesome Kibmadine, the Glis and the Nijjan do not exist now and the Earth is back where it belongs.
It is a slightly 'Deus ex Machina' finale where all the loose ends are not just tied up, but wiped from memory and from existence.
We have some van Vogt hallmarks here such as the logical superman/scientist/leader and the mile-long space ship. We have the emergence of a super-race from Humanity that humans will fear and distrust, which we have seen in both 'Slan' and 'The Mixed Men' previously.
There is also the author's casual sexism, not as pronounced here as in some earlier works, but still evident. The Silkies for instance are exclusively male until the arrival of the Space Silkies, where females are clearly represented. It is pointed out however that the female Silkies are somewhat bulky, unattractive and no match for the blonde curvy femme-fatales of the Special People. They also hardly play any further roles in the narrative.
In comparison with his later work, it's a decent read, and arguably the last good novel he published.

[Ulf Kastner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book broke me with its levels of heck-if-I-want-to-think-about-it-too-much-but-it-sure-felt-like-the-product-of-a-very-confused-and-simple-mind-but-to-each-their-own (logic my ass).

Was it entertaining, though? Yes, it was. Expect near constant bafflement. I read up on Van Vogt's Dianetics entanglement and his fix-up approach to publishing and all that makes perfect sense in the face of this book. What a gas.

[Fernando Cárdenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good books require few words to review them, this, for example, is the purest form of science fiction written. Genius in its core, not everyone can imagine this type of story and put it in words that can appear strange and without logic to some, but really ingenious to others.

[Al "Tank" · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second time I've read this story. Not as entertaining as the first time (many years ago). It's a steady story, but done in the style of the time it was written (1969). The hero is pretty much a one-man (one being?) show who gets only a small amount of help from his allies. His weapon never changes and is hard to swallow as an effective solution (you'll have to read it to find out what that's all about).

I'll not read it again.

[Capitalismissexy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind Blowing! AE Van Vogt is arguably the best author ever. Only Robert W Howard, Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance come close!! Wow this is really out there ever for Vogt! He said this and the battle of forever are his two most far out novels. This is not democrat scifi!!! I am so mad that I was not shown AE Van Vogt earlier! Same as Jack Vance he is hidden because he is not democrat fascist. WOW so awesome I have cheap softcover copy to reread once a year at my leisure!

[Eric Witchey · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Ronda Tutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Jim Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (or maybe 3 if I'm feeling generous)

A.E. Van Vogt is often considered one of the writers developed by John Campbell, along with others like Heinlein, Asimov, and de Camp. But often Van Vogt’s works read as if they were pre-Cambellian. His prose and plots, even in his later works, often read like something from the 1930s. At his best, in some of his memorable short works like “Black Destroyer” and “The Weapon Shops” (often cobbled together to form novels) he’s a fun writer. But often his work is flawed, marred by muddled concepts, gaps in logic, and things that just don’t make sense. Often in reading science fiction you need to suspend disbelief, but its incumbent upon the author to make what they are creating seem realistic. Too often with Van Vogt, you need to suspend disbelief in the face of absolute nonsense. Combine this with Van Vogt’s method of throwing in a new big plot twist or revelation every ten or fifteen pages and you can wind up with a choppy, often illogical work.

The Silkie is a novel sewn together from three shorter works. In the near future, a race of genetically engineered humans (or at first that’s what we’re told, though it turns out otherwise) called Selkie’s act as space police of sorts. They can change form from human to fish-like creature to a being that can travel through space unaided. In three separate stories, the Selkie main character, Cemp, must defeat an alien threat.

In his Null-A books, Van Vogt had his characters, in some fuzzy fashion, use General Semantics to defeat their foes. Here, the characters use something call the Logic of Levels. How does this work? Who knows? Van Vogt isn’t very clear about it. It just does.

The Silkie also features some real scientific nonsense. In the second of the stories, as Cemp confronts an ultrapowerful alien being, he determines that it has atoms and molecules different from those we’re familiar with. The being is very old, from the earliest days of the universe, and thus its atoms are of a type that existed then. As I said above, Van Vogt needs to you suspend disbelief in the face of absolute nonsense.

It's not all bad. There is an energy here in parts that make those parts fun to read. But the flat characterizations, the fuzzy descriptions, and the scientific nonsense make this one only for those who are interested in the history of SF and like pre-golden age stuff (even thought this one dates from the 1960s, not the 1930s). If you really want to sample Van Vogt, I’d recommend the NESFA Press collection Transfinite as a good selection of his best work. Or try his Weapon Shops “novels,” or The Voyage of the Space Beagle, or The War Against the Rull.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sub tălpile Mariei, străzile oraşului haitian dogoreau chinuitor, ca nişte plite. Lăsă în urmă umbra copacilor şi se îndreptă către un bătrân care o întâmpină râzând batjocoritor şi arătându‑şi dinţii falşi, prea albi şi prea regulaţi.
— Să dau bani ca să scot de pe fund un vas cu comori? Mă crezi nebun?
Mai râse o vreme, apoi o cercetă cu priviri obosite şi pofticioase şi adăugă cu tâlc:
— Acuma, fireşte, dacă o tânără atât de drăguţă ca tine s‑ar arăta binevoitoare cu un om bătrân…
Aşteptă, întins la soare ca un broscoi plin de zbârcituri, strângând căldură în oasele care nu mai erau în stare să se încălzească singure. Cu tot soarele, tremura de parcă i‑ar fi fost frig.
Marie Lederle îl studie cu curiozitate. Fusese crescută de un căpitan de cursă lungă dotat cu un viu simţ al umorului şi era întrucâtva surprinsă că acest moşneag desfrânat putea să aibă în priviri o licărire umedă la vederea unei femei tinere. Reluă calmă:
— Vasul s‑a scufundat în timpul războiului, lângă o insulă din Santa Yuile. Tatăl meu a fost ultimul comandant şi atunci, când compania a refuzat să finanţeze expediţia, el s‑a hotărât să caute capital în sectorul privat. Unul dintre prieteni i‑a dat ideea să vi se adreseze.
Era o minciună. Fata făcuse cercetări, iar bătrânul era, pur şi simplu, ultimul de pe o lungă listă de clienţi posibili. Ea continuă cu vioiciune:
— Şi, pentru numele lui Dumnezeu, nu trebuie să vă simţiţi vexat. Sunt atâţia oameni care au spirit de aventură! De ce, domnule Reicher, un vechi jucător ca dumneata nu şi‑ar petrece ultimele zile făcând ceva atât de pasionant?
Din buzele prea subţiri, dinţii perfecţi ieşiră la iveală într‑un rânjet:
— Uite care e răspunsul, draga mea, spuse cu un ton ceva mai amabil. Îmi păstrez economiile pentru cercetarea medicală. Încă mai sper că se va descoperi ceva…
Ridică din umerii lui uscaţi, în timp ce pe chip îi apăru o spaimă adâncă.
— Ştii că sunt cu un picior în groapă.
O clipă, Mariei i se făcu milă de el. Se gândi la vremea când avea să fie şi ea bătrână şi neputincioasă. Gândul se risipi asemeni unui nor pe cerul senin. Avea o problemă mai urgentă.
— Deci nu vă interesează?
— Câtuşi de puţin.
— Chiar deloc, deloc?
— Nici cât a zecea parte dintr‑un cent, spuse Reicher, necruţător.
Îl lăsă spunându‑i în cele din urmă:
— Dacă vă răzgândiţi, ne găsiţi ancoraţi la cel de‑al patrulea doc, la bordul vasului Golden Marie.

[Oscar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Non ricordo di aver mai letto qualcosa di tanto scadente. Il racconto, aperto in pieno fulgore nella parte prima, L'isola dei Polimorfi, comincia a scemare e perdere di spessore nella parte seconda, L'alieno di Kibdmadine. Raffigurazioni di contesti e personaggi che prima trasmettevano ricchezza e rifinitura di particolari lasciano spazio a una scrittura povera e semplice, la realtà psicologica dei personaggi assume connotati di puerilità, la plausibilità fantascientifica, a causa di mezzi tecnologici e capacità psicofisiche dei polimorfi buffe e grottesche, inizia a mancare di verosomiglianza. Un universo fantascientifico mal costruito e mal tradotto in prosa. Mi è mancata la forza di superare la parte terza, Il Glis, il dio dell'infinito.

Schiumando di rabbia, Cemp si lanciò a mani nude contro l'alieno che si fingeva di essere sua moglie, e lo sollevò di peso con le mani nude. Per diversi secondi, lottarono. Fu uno spettacolo assai curioso, perché la donna era seminuda e Cemp invece lo era in modo completo. Poi Cemp venne respinto all'indietro da dei muscoli che erano almeno dieci volte più poderosi dei suoi. Riuscì però a restare in piedi, mantenendo sempre alla perfezione il controllo dei propri pensieri. Nella frazione di un istante, Il Polimorfo riesaminò tutta la situazione che si era creata. Ripensò a quello che poteva significare per la Terra l'arrivo di quell'alieno, e si convinse ancora di più della gravità della minaccia che la venuta della creatura extragalattica rappresentava per l'intera specie umana. Intanto, la copia di Joanna aveva cominciato a trasformarsi. Il corpo di fronte a Cemp diventò quello di un uomo con gli occhi fiammeggianti e pervasi da una malvagità infinita. Fu anche una visione curiosa, perché quell'uomo portava ancora indosso le mutandine e il reggiseno della donna che era stato prima.

[Giulia Blaziken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarò sincera, non pensavo che avrei apprezzato così tanto questo libro. Ho letto molti commenti di persone che hanno criticato la semplicità dello stile di scrittura, ma personalmente non l'ho trovato un problema. L'autore utilizza spesso paragrafi interi per spiegare al lettore il funzionamento dei Polimorfi o i ragionamenti del protagonista, e se lo stile di scrittura fosse stato complesso la lettura sarebbe risultata molto più pesante.
Il concept dei Polimorfi mi è piaciuto molto, così come mi sono piaciute le descrizioni minuziose dei ragionamenti del protagonista, che spesso sconfigge i suoi nemici con l'intelligenza piuttosto che con la forza.
Unica critica il finale: è abbastanza assurdo che Cemp sia riuscito a riscrivere l'universo, in più mi sarebbe piaciuto vedere come i Polimorfi della Terra avrebbero risolto il loro conflitto con i Polimorfi Siderali. Invece Cemp ha riscritto l'universo creando un mondo dove tutti i Polimorfi stanno dalla parte della Terra.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling action scenes but way too much focus on the magical "levels of logic" as a handy Swiss Knife Deus ex machina plot device. There was so much attention paid to all these weird psychological "levels" concepts I googled Vogt's background and confirmed my suspicion that he was an adherent and leader in the 50's Dianetics movement which explained the goofiness re all these mechanistic psychological constructs he loved using.

It's odd in a way, despite his structural issues and concepts that now seem laughably outdated, he really has some serious talent in story telling and has no fear about taking on big universe concepts. Overall the Silke was clunky plotwise, the protagonist was almost a robot emotionally and the psychological "science" was like listening to the ramblings of a crazy person ...but even with all this it was still an audacious and enjoyable yarn.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book sports such a completely weird and uniquely extraordinary idea I’m still not sure what to make of it. It features superheroes (the Silkies of the title) of near-limitless power, who serve humanity as sort of Green Lanterns They can control almost all kinds of energy as well as manipulate the basic drives of any creature intelligent enough to have them, using something called “logic of levels”.

Like Superman, they have not rebelled against normal humanity.

The obstacles they face are similarly—but from vastly different abilities—superpowered individuals dating from the dawn of the universe.

Like Superman, even when ascendant to god-like (if time-limited) power the Silkie hero chooses to remain limited while remaking the universe.

It is utterly fascinating and different.

[Jonathan Waugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall very good, with an interesting central premise that develops well.

Spoilers ahead:

While there is a comment thread - how the central character develops - the book is episodic, in the sense that it is divided into distinct scenarios that don't interact much with each other. I think the book is one episode too long: the stakes get one step too high, with a result that the ending is weak - rather than the central character's actions remaining bounded, in the final few pages they can essentially do anything, with the result that what they do feels arbitrary and so rather meaningless. It's a shame, as the book is great up until then. I've still given the book 5/5 as it is really only the final few pages that is affected.

[Brian Welsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pulpy, sci-fi, space thing. This book, a fix-up of 3 shorts, has some big ideas and an often goofy delivery. There is a vintage sci-fi campiness to it that is both cringey and a little endearing. I wanted to give up on this a few times, but it's short and once you decide to just go along for the ride it's stupid but sort of fun.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story of evolving humanity to have different transformative shapes, for water, land, and space. Contact with other races, and oddity ensues. I like that the aliens are not your standard, but the book was a interesting but dry read.

[Tell Tale Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Gregory Kerkman

[Arsalan Chishty]

If 20th century sexism could be distilled into a book, this would be it.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://gnomeship.blogspot.com/2017/07...

[Devero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nel complesso soffre dei difetti di van Vogt più che dei pregi dello stesso.
Dopo aver letto diversi suoi romanzi purtroppo i difetti pesano maggiormente.

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 supposed but that’s my ego speaking again to me warning that most science fiction writers were way ahead of themselves but predicted accurately enough to thrill the readers into believing just about anything. The Silkie there is just about everything.

[Derek Newman-Stille · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 capable of swimming through the stars, it possesses the ability to move beyond the limits of human exploration, both sets of depths.

You can explore my longer review at http://speculatingcanada.wordpress.co... .

[Matteo Pellegrini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nat Cemp è un Polimorfo, un essere superiore frutto di mutazioni genetiche, che vigila sul genere umano. L'intero universo è accessibile a questi individui che possiedono tutta la conoscenza tecnologica della propria razza e del contesto nel quale vivono. Questa gigantesca saga narra la storia di Nat Cemp e dei Polimorfi i quali, nel perseguire la missione che si sono proposti, vanno a scontrarsi con coloro che amministrano le sorti della Galassia. Una nuova, avvincente storia di uno dei più famosi scrittori di Fantascienza.

[Eric F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thin volume - complicated up enough to make the following easily lost. Our Silkie, Cemp, is the sole key to many, many problems. Not just any Silkie... Cemp. And the universe folds into itself, expands out from its core and hits a resonating frequency - fairly competently handled each time by our man Cemp. The concept of core universal organisms that persist from the earliest days of the universe and therefore would affect and be affected by different rules than more recently evolved organisms was nicely done as we are introduced to the Glis and ultimately the Nijjan. The way in which these different types of beings might need one another to unlock their stuck place in developing and therefore further both.