Slan Hunter

Slan #2

by A.E. van Vogt, Kevin J. Anderson

A Novel. This startling SF adventure novel is a collaboration between the classic SF grand master A. E. Van Vogt and contemporary master Kevin J. Anderson. At the time of his death in 2000, Van Vogt left a partial draft and an outline for the sequel to his most famous novel, Slan . . .

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Classics

272 pages, Hardcover

First published July 10, 2007

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

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I understand the author's motivation in wanting to complete this "lost" work, I'm not sure it was a good idea. The original Slan novel by Van Vogt was at the beginning of his career, and felt a tiny bit incomplete, since it left most of the plot threads unresolved at the end of the short novel.
Unfortunately, because Van Vogt waited 50 years to begin work on the sequel, and left the book still unfinished at the time of his death, Kevin J. Anderson had a difficult task. He had to finish a book that involved the main characters having been written into a bunch of corners. Repeatedly, the main characters make seemingly illogical decisions, in order for things to come out right in the end...and if I understood the final few pages, I'm not at all sure they DID come out right in the end. The final chapter had me questioning the moral implications...
Unfortunately, Anderson duplicated Van Vogt's lack of development in Jommy's character, and he remained slightly annoying and overconfident well after he should have learned better. Still the story is a decent adventure, and it's nice to have some resolution to the original story, even if I didn't like how it came out.

[Jeffrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slan is one of those golden age of Science Fiction books that is so frustrating to read these days. I re-read it several years ago while traveling with my family on Christmas day by pressing a button on my Kindle and while speeding down the highway it instantly popped up on my screen. I finished it that day. It's an early work in van Vogt's canon.

The technology involved in getting that 60+ year old book to me at 60 miles per hour is so much more impressive than the technology of the future in Slan Hunter.

But, in this book the race of super-humans that we are supposed to be empathizing with on a number of levels (the Holocaust, Zionism, Christ/savior, next stage of evolution--pick your message they are all in here somewhere, jumbled about) are as petty and venial as the humans they despise. The main characters act in such nonsensical ways that it is hard to keep reading.

There are many layers of deus ex machina at work here. The science fiction tag comes from technology solving every solvable problem, while coincidence solves every other problem. Main characters are all passive verbs, merely floating along the plot. Every opportunity for real sacrifice is destroyed. There's some good story telling here and there, some nice imagery, but that's all destroyed by adverbial clauses and oddities of speech. (The Tendriless slan refer to their enemies as the True Slan without fail. If I had a narrative that included persecution by my enemies the last thing I would do is refer to them as "true" slan and by extension label myself as something lesser.)

There's a whole character arc, that introduces a new character that ultimately morally bankrupts the whole system in the last few pages. The last few pages are worse than the rest of the book for destroying any hope of lasting enjoyment from this book.

Perhaps the problem is me. When I was a young teen reading Slan for the first time I would certainly have self-identified with the notion that "fans are slans" that somehow, because I read and enjoyed Speculative Fiction, I was actually better than other people. It's a powerful motivation to belong to a group that is intellectually superior and ultimately destined to win. Now that I'm older I have a bias against such self-inclusive superiority (see also The Brights).

I'm just a mundane, human normal. And that's not so bad. I'm sorry if I let you down Mr. Van Vogt. And I will never re-read The Weapon Shops of Isher. Because I want to still be a fan.

[Oluwatoyin · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading SLAN over 25 years ago, I had always wanted to read its sequel. Unfortunately, it was a great disappointment, the literature was poorly written - almost like it was written for a slightly childish audience (which i was about 25 years ago)

[Rutuja Kshirsagar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. Characters have been well fleshed out. A small book which helped me to foray into the Sci fi world.

[Kip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the original as a kid, then after some discussion last summer decided to re-read that first on my way to reading the sequel. I must say, Kevin Anderson did a great job. I'm not sure how much material he had to start with from the Grand Master, but there were only a couple spots where the style was noticeably different from the original. That only in a phrase or two, IMHO.

It was nice to see some closure with Jommy and the crew, even if the science was a bit far-fetched. I've read the original twice, this one once, and don't plan to pick them up again. Classics.

* Couldn't finish
** I had nothing else to do
*** Passed the time, would be **** for genre / author fans
**** Everyone could enjoy this book
***** Everyone should read this book, I'll read it again

[Del · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sequel to Slan. Really enjoyed it. It felt like A. E. Van Vogt was still alive and writing great sci fi.

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This did not in any way, except for superficial style, live up to the original.

Jommy in this book isn't really a protagonist, he just lurches from one catastrophe to the next. The main plan he makes is where he is going to run to next. The only plan he has that is not running away is to get an item that he doesn't even have an idea as to how it can be useful. If you are writing a character that has superior intelligence, why write him as a moron? In the very short original he carried out multiple serious plans. They didn't go perfectly but he learned and moved on.

There were three endings crammed into the last few pages, definitely at least a hundred pages before it was properly wound up. It's like Anderson had used up his allotted time and decided to just stop writing. The first ending was a massive 'deus ex machina'. The second ending had characters directly contradicting themselves from a few pages earlier without justification. And the third ending had a historic character from the first book act waaaay out of character by basically committing infanticide. One of the new characters was the authors mouthpiece, conveniently pre-justifying it by calling him a 'tabula rasa'. I was disgusted.

[Marc Towersap · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book read like it was written shortly after it's predecessor was written. Slan is a book published in 1940. When you hear 'slan', think 'mutant', although unlike X-men/Incredibles, slan had the same basic capabilities, stronger, faster, smarter, and telepathic. No wings, no flames, no stretchy, no superstrength. Some are supersmart others, just smarter. And, like X-men/incredibles, humans have struggled to control the slan.

Anyhoo, even though this book was published 67 years after Slan, it reads just like the sequel, same writing style. FYI, A.E. Van Vogt started writing, but somewhere his Alzheimer's got worse, and ultimately, Kevin J Anderson had to finish it after Van Vogt passed away. In a way, this book (and Slan) kinda reads like a B movie script, but one must remember, this book precedes Marvel's X-Men and the Incredibles and Star Trek Khan (Space Seed/Wrath of Khan). For all I know, those works were inspired by Slan (I could be wrong!).

Anyhoo, if you read Slan, you should pick up Slan Hunter!

[Edoardo Nicoletti · Rating 5 out of 5]

C'è sicuramente qualche contraccolpo che viene dal fatto di essere un sequel nato oltre mezzo secolo dopo il titolo originario, frutto del collage tra gli appunti di van Vogt e interventi di altri. Ma è assolutamente da leggere per chi ha amato lo "Slan" del 1940. Le 125 pagine di appunti lasciate da van Vogt hanno consentito di riprendere perfettamente i personaggi e la dinamicità della trama originale, mentre gli interventi di Kevin j. Anderson sono secondo me legati più all'attualizzazione di pochissimi dettagli narrativi. L'impronta di van Vogt è ovunque fortissima. Leggetelo e non ve ne pentirete.

[Eightwaysanta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I thought that the first half of the book a bit of a fun read, but the second half was a bit of a train wreck for me. The writing and pacing were all over the place, with some truly cringe moments of an older man lusting ( wanting to rape) after a young girl. It almost seemed like he just wanted to finish up the story as quickly as possible and left plot lines dangling and just tried to conveniently sum everything up at the last minute. I'm not having any luck with these retro hugo award winners. 2.5 stars rounded up to three because the beginning was ok and early ideas about mutants which may have lead to the birth of the x-men comics.

[Ian Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviews of this both on Goodreads and elsewhere consistently take an axe to this sequel. It seems to be a logical successor to the original Slan, picking up where the first one ended. It’s not a masterpiece, and just like the original, there are significant plot holes and other outrageous narrative misfires, but it remains an enjoyable read. Granted, I don’t know how much of it was ultimately ghostwritten, but it seems to read like Van Vogt. It brought pleasure, and once it makes its way to my local community library share, hopefully it does the same for a fellow sci fi enthusiast.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a sequel to the book I have on the way. This was an interesting and engrossing story. And, apparently, this is considered one of the best from its time period. Looking forward to the prequel (Slan).

[Omar Alani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t mind the antiquity of this novel. I did enjoy the novel to an extent. What I didn’t like is that the characters act or feel a particular way without logical justification. It is like the backstory is not clear or doesn’t exist.

[Francesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gli Slan sono degli esseri formidabili, purtroppo l'età del romanzo si fa sentire

[Tex-49 · Rating 3 out of 5]

La conclusione, dopo più di 40 anni, del romanzo Slan, è molto più movimentata e… quasi credibile, ma si legge bene ed è obbligatorio da leggere per concludere la storia, senza lasciarla appesa.

[Elenaran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing after the first. The bad guys were like cartoon caricatures of bad guys in this one compared to actually scary in the first.

[Seth Heasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this. It definitely has the feel of something created from notes left behind, especially with the long sections of the history of the Slans, but it worked despite that.

[Maffew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed.
It tosses out so much logic. Things happen out of nowhere for no reason.

Do not read

[Wilbert Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful read because it reminded me of old science fiction which is very simple in presenting its ideas. It was not as good as the previous novel(Slan) but it held its own.

[Rick Zucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed like an unnecessary story. And if it was going to be written, it didn't need to be written in so ridiculous a manner.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good sequel well thought out and paced

[Morgan Dhu · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I've finally read Slan Hunter, the sequel to A. E. Van Vogt's classic novel Slan, written by Kevin J. Anderson from a partial draft and outline by Van Vogt. Like the Various Dune sequels written by Anderson and Brian Herbert, it really doesn't live up to the original - but then not much fan fic does.

My identification with Jommy Cross and the true slans, back when I read Slan, was so strong and so pervasive that just reading more in that universe revived my attachment to the characters, and that carried me through Slan Hunter, reading at a breathless pace. Of course, the text lends itself to such reading, being little more than tense action sequences interrupted by expository dialogue between multiple characters.

The narrative covers the span of a few days immediately following the abrupt end of the events in Slan. President Kier Grey is exposed as a slan by John Petty, chief of the secret police, and he, Jommy and Kathleen are arrested. Out in the city, a tendrilled child is born to two apparently human parents, and the father gives his life to buy tome for the shocked mother to escape with her baby. Suddenly, the first wave of the invasion fleet sent by the tendrilless slans living, unknown to humans, on Mars, appears in the skies, bombarding human cities around the globe into rubble.

After much dashing here and there, and many bloody scenes of destruction, these characters, along with Joanna, a tendrilless slan who was converted by Jommy to the true dlan cause in the original book, converge on a deserted slan complex that was once the secret laboratory and living facility where Jommy's father Peter Cross and other true slans had hidden away.

With only two days until the second invasion fleet carrying the ground troops arrives, Jommy and co. Are desperate to find a way to save the world and bring about peace between human, tendrilled and tendrilless slan. Fortunately, one of the biggest deus ex machinas I've ever seen arrives right on time to save the day, and the future.

A quick read, mostly enjoyable because anything that restores Jommy Cross and the true slans to their rightful place as peaceful participants in the glorious future of humanity, after seven decades of dangling on a cliff-hanger, is better than never finding a resolution.

[Matteo Pellegrini · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Petty, capo della polizia segreta, è il cacciatore di slan più spietato della Terra. Jem Lorry, consigliere del presidente, è l'uomo che sta letteralmente per vendere il pianeta agli invasori da Marte, gli slan senzantenne... Ma questi esseri - all'apparenza inermi e in realtà temutissimi - sono davvero i mutanti, la nuova razza che soppianterà l' Homo sapiens ? Solo Jommy Cross, lo slan dagli straordinari poteri mentali, può evitare che la caccia finisca in una guerra allucinante e senza vincitori. Perchè nelle nude, brulicanti città della Terra, come negli avamposti del pianeta rosso, sta per scatenarsi l'ultima sfida tra uomini e superuomini - un conflitto terminale che solo la mente di A. E. van Vogt avrebbe potuto immaginare.

[Josh T · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars, for what it is. People dont grasp what this is. They seem to approach the book with unreasonable expectations, then rate it poorly when those arent met. This is published in 2007. BUT it is written in a style thst reflect it as a sequel to the 1940 Slan novel. So of course the technology doewnt make sense by contemporary standards. It is also meant to be a kind of pulp science fiction style 40s novel, in 2007. Evidently this has pissed off ... everyone... except me!!

I loved it. It was a fun read which continued the tale AE Van Vogt never got to write. If you understand what this books strives to be, you will enjoy it. If you do not, you will hate it. There are complaints about the writing style, it being childish, the silly technology... got news for you folks, thats the intended effect of this book. Hating this book for what it is, is like complaining that a flower isnt a tree... it wasnt meant to be something it is not.

[astaliegurec · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.0 out of 5 stars
Never Let Anyone Finish a Dead Author's Works
July 24, 2007

A. E. van Vogt's works were some of the very first Science Fiction I read. I truly enjoyed them. Unfortunately, since it's been around 40 years since I've read them, I barely remember them. But, I KNOW they were a whole lot better than Kevin J. Anderson's version of "Slan Hunter." The book reads like a caricature of 1940s-1950s SciFi. It's corny to the point of being unreadable with shallow, fractional-dimensional characters and really silly situations. I've read comic books with more depth to them. Ugh.

It's a shame that this book is so bad. But, one good thing has come from it. Now that I've been reminded of van Vogt's work, I'll go back and re-read some of his actual stuff. But, for this book, I can only give it a Terrible 1 star out of 5.

[Richp · Rating 3 out of 5]

If one likes reading Slan now, one should like this sequel, which is largely a completion, also.

Kevin Anderson, who put his book together from van Vogt's plot notes and drafts, accomplished what he set out to accomplish. This sequel finishes a pulp SF classic, in the universe and style of the original. I agree with those who find its faults, but I found they were already there in the original, and should have been left for continuity sake.

As I write this, I find the rating discrepancy between all raters (3.38, based on 137) and previous reviewers (2.25, based on 8) to be huge. Small sample size of the latter is part, but I think selection bias is mostly what caused this.

[Fred · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing book by Kevin J. Anderson. Almost a mockery of Van Vogt's Slan.

It is as if Anderson was trying to write In imitation of Van Vogt's style of writing. I know Anderson can do better so what went wrong here?

[Bobo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slan Hunter was written from Van Vogt's notes from the 80's. It finishes a cycle from 1940. Anderson does an admirable job keeping with the language and feel of the first novel "Slan."

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book should have ended a few pages back from where it did.

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story, but I just couldn't get into it.