The Wizard of Linn

The Mutant Mage #2

by A.E. van Vogt

12,000 A.D. The Earth, after the atomic holocaust, had reverted to a strange kind of barbarism, where men could build space ships but could not communicate except by the most primitive means. Alien invaders had been sighted at the edge of the galaxy - but no one took action. Only one man, THE WIZARD OF LINN could save the decadent empire and with his mysterious powers, prevent the Earth's destruction.

This was originally published in Germany in 1961 by Terra Sonderband, as "Der Zauberer Von Linn".

This book is the sequel to Empire of the Atom.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Novels, Post Apocalyptic, Speculative Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1950

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

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ace Books

Cover artist:Ed Valigursky

"The Wizard of Linn" is a science fiction novel by Canadian American writer A. E. van Vogt, a sequel to "Empire of the Atom". The novel was originally serialized in the science fiction magazine "Astounding Science Fiction" (April - June 1950)


An alien starship has entered the solar system sometime in the Sixth Century of the Thirteenth Millennium A. D. The ship appears to belong to the Riss, an alien race who had come to Sol millennia ago and destroyed the thriving human civilization. Now the descendants of the survivors, living in a medieval society with spaceships, must face the threat again. One of those is Jerrin, Lord Advisor of the Linnan Empire. Jerrin is annoyed that his brother, the mutant atom priest Clane, knew about the Riss incursion before he did and is more annoyed when Clane recommends an attack on the Riss ship, one that is guaranteed to fail.

The attack does indeed fail, but Clane, Jerrin, and their associates are protected by a glassy-looking aetherial sphere that Clane controls mentally and that absorbs energy. For his second attack Clane sneaks aboard the Riss ship and uses the sphere to eliminate the crew. Taking over the ship, Clane flies it to his estate. There he discovers that Jerrin has been assassinated, poisoned by his wife Lilidel, who was concerned that her son Calaj was to be disinherited from the Lord Advisorship. Worse, Clane discovers that his magic sphere has been stolen by followers of Czinczar, a barbarian from Europa who recently tried to conquer the Empire of Linn.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Moving beyond the focus on palace intrigue in Empire of the Atom, though not entirely past it, the story of Clane, everyone's favorite "mutation" warrior prince / scientist / high priest / master tactician and reluctant power behind the throne, gets interesting.

We've got invading barbarians, enigmatic nine foot tall aliens from God knows where, and lots of interesting twists as Clane uses his mutant super sleuthing powers to thwart the invaders and protect us ungrateful Earthlings despite all our selfish and self-defeating attitudes. You can feel van Vogt's creative juices starting to flow, with some truly bizarre inventions. Say hello to the energy sphere. A floating metallic "sponge" that converts matter to energy, and then sucks it up. It's also an entire universe, in miniature. Like a magical ShamWow, it will literally mop up your enemies, no fuss, no muss.

Great fun!

[Иван Величков · Rating 5 out of 5]

Зачудих се в началото дали да я чета на английски или немски, защото първото издание е немско, а знам, че ван Вогт принадлежи към едно немскоговорящо православно малцинство в Щатите. В последствие видях, че немското издание си има преводач, така че предпочетох оригиналния език на автора. (Не, че някой го интересува.)
Еми, обичам му книгите на този човек.
„Магьосникът от Лин” е продължение на „Империята на атома”, за съжаление непревеждано на български. Книгата започва от там където свършва предишната, но се оказва, че тя е била само загрявка за грандиозните мащаби, които разгръща автора в продължението.
Този път историята на Цезарите не води повествованието пряко. Въпреки, че братът на Клейн (нашият Клавдий на дванадесетото хилядолетие) е убит и наследен от лудия си син Калиж (да се чете Калигула), който започва да властва, харчейки милиони за циркови игри и избивайки безразборно хора, ван Вогт смята да ни разкаже съвсем друга история.
Тялото, което намират при варварина Зинзар в първата книга се оказва от извънземна раса, която напада земята. Клейн успява да отблъсне първото нападение, благодарение на контрола си над Сферата. От там поема на далечно космическо пътешествие с превзетия извънземен кораб (което все пак може да се разгледа като Британската кампания на Клавдий). На края му намира човешка цивилизация, деградирала до аграрна анархия, но запазила напредничави умствени техники, така както хората от Земята са запазили атомната енергия. По-нататък в приключенията войните от Лин намират още посейки от бившата човешка империя, също живеещи като в средновековието, но запазили други парчета технология. Накрая разбираме, че само мутантът Клейн може да спаси човечеството от извънземната угроза.
Този път диалозите са на високо ниво. Много ми допадна сблъсъка между политика Клейн, милитариста Зинзар и философа Маркон и идеята, че е необходимо да се обединят трите за спасяване на човечеството. Няма как да не направа аналогия с цикъла „Дорсай” на Диксън(разделение на учените, военните и философите-езотерици, някой?), въпреки че винаги съм го смятал за отговор на Азимовата „Фондация”. То като става дума и самата „Фондация” може да се разпознае (мутант с нечовешки сили бутащ империи, някой?) в пълпи писанията на ван Вогт (първата книга излиза година след тази, а тази на Диксън - 10 години по-късно).
Другото което ми направи впечатление е отново наблягането на ефективността от анархистично упревление, както и тезата, че високо морален индивид със свръхспособности е способен да оправи дереджето на цялото човечество. И двете са застъпени в повечето книги на автора и май-май са пряко следствие от увлечението по харбъртовата Дианетика, на чието учение ван Вогт е бил духовен водач в продължение на години и периодът съвпада с написването на книгата. Въпреки че тези идеи се срещат и в по-ранни негови книги като „Слен.”
Ама стига съм плякал. Прочетете, препоръчвам на всеки зажаднял за класическа фантастична история.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Empire of the Atom
The Wizard of Linn


I'll review these together - you really need to read both of them to get the full sense of what van Vogt created.

Hail Lord Clane Linn - despised mutation from the long line of powerful Linn leaders. Hated, misunderstood, marginalized, and despised - can Clane become the "Pariah Messiah" needed to save humanity?

There are many other examples of this type of character. Consider Elric (by Michael Moorcock) - weak albino, outcast, last of a mighty line, hated by his own family. Or consider the first couple chapters of Harry Potter (by J. K. Rowling) - outcast (marked by a deformity on his forehead), hated, treated cruelly. It's the old Cinderella archetype - misunderstood to the point of injustice.

Yet Clane is extraordinary in one area - he has developed his mind to superhuman genius. Can this alone allow him to save humanity? Will he even be compelled to fight for those who have treated him so badly?

The first volume, Empire of the Atom, is not the stronger of the two, but needs to be read to understand the complexity of the politics of the world into which Clane is born. His family is ruthless and complicated. The degree of treachery in politics permeates both volumes.

Clane is not yet at the height of his powers, and the first novel is a bit disjointed, yet culminates in a significant test of Clane's ability (and will) to protect and preserve the human race.

But again, politics is King in this future setting. Absorbing this political basis of the postapocalyptic Earth is essential to understanding the first book, and also in appreciating the second volume, The Wizard of Linn.

The second novel is more cohesive, in which Clane travels through interstellar space to learn how to defeat the alien invading race, the Riss. Upon his return, with tactics in hand, he first has to deal with the humans who use political intrigue against him before he can deal with the Riss.

The early SF pulp style of writing permeates the novel, but this was first class work when it was published, and it holds up well even now. Again, I strongly urge you to read both volumes, in order. And revel in the way van Vogt reveals just how much the misunderstood Clane transcends!

4 stars for Empire of the Atom
4.5 stars for The Wizard of Linn

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much to my dismay, van Vogt sets aside the quasi-medieval setting of the first book and rockets into space, his hero Clane Linn sent on a mission to discover a means to defeat the Riss menace. And when he returns, he has shiny toys.

(As introduced late in the previous book.)

In addition to the worlds and inhabitants discovered, Clane must also maintain political control of the ship, against an ambitious barbarian leader and the rest of the crew.

This becomes tiresome but for a nugget that van Vogt mentions then throws away: the Riss super-spaceships in their own way are patched and decrepit. Are these artifacts or remnants of their own earlier civilization? Sadly, this goes nowhere.

Clane himself appears yet another manifestation of van Vogt's perpetual fascination with thought systems and mentalities: Clane obsesses with mental maturity and stability, considers the problem of detangling the psyches of the obviously damaged people around him, and doing away with the petty squabbling and intrigue that impede progress in general. Given the timetable of the author's life, I wonder if this is a reflection of his interest/pursuit of Dianetics.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read the first book in the series but having read "The Wizard of Linn" quite comfortably, you don't need to read the first one to understand the second. There were a few moments of dryness but I loved the dialog between the characters. It works really well as a book about "how to ask questions". I haven't seen this book mentioned in the lists of books that were influenced by General Semantics, but this clearly was and anyone with a passing knowledge of General Semantics can enjoy it on that basis as well.

[Dominic Muresan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Urmatoarea si ultima parte a povestii mutantului Clane.

De data aceasta, o invazie asupra pamantului il va forta pe geniul mutant sa faca o adevarata odisee spatiala, cautand raspunsuri printre ramasitele vechii civilizatii pamantene.

Ca si cu prima carte, din nou avem de a face cu geniul prevazator al personajului principal, intotdeauna cu un pas inainte. Volumul are aceasta valoare, de a te tine tot timpul in priza, asteptand criza, dar si urmatoarea rezolvare - fiecare, tot mai iesita din comun. In acelasi fel avem de-a face si cu latura mult mai palpabila a personajului, in relatie cu ceilalti. Introducerea unui nou personaj genial, va produce un duo de minti stralucite, fiecare completand-o pe cealalta.

Cartea e si cu mult mai tehnica decat prima, intrand in explicatii concrete despre noua technologie descoperita, explicatii ce uneori pot rata intelegerea unui cititor contemporan - dar interesante oricum. Chiar si asa, naratiunea nu se opreste la tehnicalitati, ci continua cu un dinamism ce te tine tot timpul in suspans: situatie limita dupa situatie limita.

In mare, duologia lui Clane este o lucrare a unei vremi pierdute. Autori ce nu aveau nimic de pierdut, se pierdeau in imaginatie, incercand sa creeze lumi si eroi, care in final deveneau printre cele mai ridicole si iesite din comun vreodata gandite; dar fara dar si poate, influentiale pentru tot ce va urma. Recomand cele doua carti macar pentru aceasta valoare, dar ele merita citite pentru tot ceea ce am mentionat mai sus.

> 4.5/5

[Scott Holstad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pulp sci fi rubbish. I bought this for sixty five cents at a used bookstore because I remembered that the author was a favorite of a young Philip K Dick, one of my favorites. So I decided to see what he was about. Well, I couldn't finish it. The writing is clumsy, klutzy, simply terrible. We're jerked from scene to scene in parallel paragraphs without any warning to prepare us. The dialogue is wooden and disjointed. Jerrin's wife plays a major role, but has almost no dialogue to speak of. Clane, some type of mutant, just seems to know how to fight the aliens. Magically. I tell you, the book makes no sense. Jerrin and Clane are at odds, but in a single paragraph, are back to being such great brothers to each other that Jerrin writes Clane into his will, right before he's poisoned by his wife. It strains the imagination. The author might be a favorite for some people, but I don't think I'll give him another chance if this is representative of his work. Not recommended.

[Michael Bafford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read the first part I moved on to this. From a slow beginning Van Vogt launched out into the wider universe and drew me into a story of which I can honestly say I had no idea where he was going. Well, there is the Riss - the alien race intent on taking over the earth. I figured our hero Lord Crane would have to sort that out, and he did. But getting there is lots of fun.

Some parts read like separate stories tossed in without any real connection to the main story but this is at least partly an illusion.

There is entirely too much intrigue for my taste and the conclusion - while grand in concept - left me baffled as to what was happening. But all in all a good ride.

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good sequel to the fix-up novel "Empire of the Atom. This novel completes the "god stories" with clearly and logically - not always the usual for Van Vogt.

The plot reflects the Roman Empire while still being uniquely written in Vogt's truly pulpy SF style, truly making the story his own. The original Clan stories were loosely based on "I Claudius".

Maybe Van Vogt's best effort.

[Bill Meehan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, though it says it no where on the book is a sequel to 'Empire of the Atom', which probably should be read first.
Not a bad story, quick rather easy read.
Never was able to figure out what the picture on the cover had to do with the story either?

[Jheurf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good follow up to the first one.

I was worried there that it would be another re-hash of the firsts political intrigue, and it is for a whole. But I'm actually glad it decided to go a different route and become a space exploration tale.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

It drags in some places, but otherwise a thoroughly worthwhile read.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should be read directly after Empire of the Atom. Interesting political intrigue subplots and examines what leadership requires, but the space opera is a bit forced and perfunctory.

[Phil Giunta · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the distant future, Earth is ruled by the Linnan Empire, led by Lord Adviser Jerrin—until he is poisoned by his scheming wife, Lilidel, in the chaos of an attack by a powerful alien race known as the Riss.

Rather than take his brother’s place and find himself in Lilidel’s crosshairs, the scientist and high priest Clane turns his attention to defeating the Riss with assistance from Czinczar, general of a barbarian army defeated and assimilated by the Linnan years before. Meanwhile, Jerrin’s oldest son, Calaj, is installed as Lord Adviser of Linn, but is wholly unprepared for the responsibility and is quickly corrupted by power and the influence of his mother.

After capturing a Riss vessel during the battle, Clane, Czinczar, and a crew comprised of Linn and barbarian soldiers set off in search of help in their battle against the Riss. After traversing the cosmos for months, they encounter twin planets known as Outland and Inland on which reside agrarian societies of enigmatic humans with remarkable abilities of telepathy and spontaneous teleportation—not to mention an alliance with the Riss!

Clane attempts to forge a friendship with the reluctant Outlanders in order to learn the source of their powers and find a way to use them against the Riss invaders on Earth.

The Wizard of Linn is a sequel to Empire of the Atom, a patchwork novel comprised of short stories focusing on Clane of Linn, who is reviled by the population as much for his physical deformity as for his pursuit of matters beyond their comprehension.

The Wizard of Linn is a stronger and more cohesive story that sees a mature Clane at the height of his scientific prowess. Still, he is not perfect and makes the occasional mistake. The Outlanders find him amusingly incompetent and even upon returning to Earth with the knowledge and technology to potentially rescue the planet from the Riss, Clane is beset by the forces of his nephew Calaj.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to be honest, this was really pretty bad!

Partly my bad, since it was a #2 and clearly stated it on the back cover, but it could never have been that great. The writing is patchy, the narrative is choppy - again not surprising as this is meant to be a fix up - and that narrative often meanders around so much that it made me very impatient. Allegedly, these book are based on the tactics of Ancient Rome, but reading a history book would have been more entertaining. Even knowing it is meant to be based on Rome, the only similarity I can see is that the main dude keeps calling another one a barbarian...

That main dude. Ouch, he spends the whole novel telling us how smart he is, without ever doing anything smart that I could tell. He is inefficient, dithering and ineffectual his unwillingness to dispose of enemies who hate his is VERY unlikely to be based on ancient Rome tactics as I understand them.

van Vogt does at times mention science topics that were current in the 60's when he wrote this; childhood developmental theories, hypnotism theories ect and those were by far the best parts of the book.

The two year trip into space for... reasons unexplained, based on a hunch, well at least it was clearly SF, but just not great. None f it was great. Small book in which I still had to resort to skim reading a couple of times as male protagonist sits around brooding inside his head for pages and pages. His preoccupation with being a 'mutation' is excessive and his repeated statements about how physically hideous he is do not mesh with the description of him we have been given.

And the writing was terrible. Ok, sorry I will stop now.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

„Fiul zeilor” era într-un evident progres. Devenit mutant, ajunsese să fie dispreţuit. Se născuse în familia conducătoare a Imperiului Linnan, pe jumătate barbar, cam prin anul 12.000 d.Hr.; crescuse aproape neobservat de rudele apropiate ca şi de cei din guvern, preocupaţi mai tot timpul să-şi apropie puterea. Tratat cu dispreţ în templele învăţăturii, reuşise să pătrundă sensul lăuntric al materiei cu ajutorul câtorva bărbaţi înţelepţi care ghiciseră măcar o fărâmă din secretul zeilor atomului.
Pentru adversarii lui potenţiali, Clane ajunsese deja prea puternic ca să mai fie distrus deşi aceştia îşi dăduseră scama ce pericol serios putea el constitui în ducerea la bun sfârşit a planurilor lor.
Cercetase gropile uriaşe, în care se bănuia că sălăşluiesc zeii atomului, şi aflase că acestea nu erau altceva decât ruinele unor foste oraşe. Din hăurile uriaşe, ce fuseseră cândva megalopolisuri pline de viaţă, mutantul adunase fragmente de maşinării şi de arme. Printre ele, o sferă de energie care absorbea sau distrugea orice formă de materie întâlnea, cu excepţia celei denumită „protejată”; aceasta era însă doar presupunerea lui Clane, care nu-şi putea explica de ce o armă atât de extraordinară nu fusese în stare să salveze civilizaţia dispărută. Sfera era acţionată de gândurile persoanei care o controla.

[Leo Wagner · Rating 2 out of 5]

An entertaining little book dealing with intrigue among royals in a future world. While fun to read, there is little substance. The author does a poor job of world building, repeatedly telling the audience of a primitive culture that somehow has spaceships, but elaborating very little on how this society functions. One can still imagine it as a stereotypical future world and the plot would be affected very little. The characters are not so complex, and seem sort of flat. Overall, it's good for a quick read, but not for anything deep or meaningful.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel to Empire of the Atom, this starts up a couple of months after the last book ended. Earth is a spacefaring world within their solar system but only have swords and spears because technology was lost thousands of years ago. But now aliens from outside the solar system are invading! The main character, a mutant genius, searches the galaxy for a way to stop these aliens. There's less political maneuvering here and more weird atomic technology than in the last book. Still weird but enjoyable.

[Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set on a future techno barbarian earth, where blacksmiths can build spaceships but nobody knows what a radio is. After millennia the aliens that bombed us back to the proverbial stone age are back, and the only man who has any chance of stopping them is tangled up in medieval court politics.

This was a real pulp page turner, no high minded ideals and slightly cartoonish characters, but it all fell apart at the end. 4 stars for 80% of its length, shame about the voodoo ex machina ending.

[Luca Pelorosso · Rating 1 out of 5]

L'ho abbandonato al quarto capitolo. Ho finito il quarto capitolo ieri sera e ho deciso di smettere la lettura. I primi quattro capitoli descrittivi con tanti dialoghi. Come nel ciclo della fondazione di Asimov. A differenza del ciclo della fondazione ne Lo stregone di Linn non avevo voglia di sapere cosa sarebbe successo nel capitolo successivo.

[Matthew Tszen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Нет, если взять сюжет I, Claudius и перенести его в настолько далёкое "будущее", что оно становится фэнтэзийным - хорошей научной фантастики не получится. Даже если вы растянете повествование на две книги.

[Jonathan Waugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second of a two-book series. The story follows on from the first book in a natural way, and it is well-written, with an inventive plot. The almost-superhuman central character and the way the story is told have points in common with the Lensman books by E.E. Doc Smith, and I think if you enjoy that you are likely to enjoy this (I do!). Very good, 5/5.

[Edward Woeful · Rating 3 out of 5]

Вторая и заключительная часть истории получилась довольно слабой. Остаётся только догадываться, что мог понять читатель в 1950 г., прочитав эту книгу, если начало истории, которое хотя бы что-то объясняет, вышло только в 1957 г.
В целом — весьма сумбурное повествование, персонажи-функции, никаких объяснений ни как всё работает, ни что стало с персонажами, которым уделили первую половину книги.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read, however many parts seemed hurried along and the climax of the book was only a few pages. A terrific story with wild imagination, without the proper page count to adequately let it breathe.

[Mystery Theater · Rating 3 out of 5]

How an intelligent adult could write such nonsense is beyond me. Even worse, how could i find it entertaining? And yet, I did. Not recommended unless you are a fan of old school sci fi in general, and van Vogt in particular.

[Shari Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish it/.

[Sir Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cinzar the great space prince commander from empire of the sun returns. After battling the inter racial genetic super men who colonize planets. He nukes the capital of the bad guys. Saving the universe.

[Arthur B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lesser sequel to its somewhat better predecessor. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/200...

[BBFlyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat dated style but an interesting story.