Rogue Ship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rogue Ship | |
 1975 cover by Peter Jones |
|
| Author | A. E. van Vogt |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | First edition by Doubleday. |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | 1965 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| ISBN | B000O5WU4K |
Rogue Shipis a 1967 novel by A E Van Vogt created and adapted from 3 short stories to form a novel. The 3 short stores used were:
- Centarus II Originally published in Astounding Science-Fiction in 1947
- Rouge Ship Originally published in Super Science Stories in 1950
- The Expendables Originally published in if Worlds of Science Fiction in 1963
Using Van Vogt own terminology when creating a novel from 3 previous short stories, he so named it as a Fixup.
[edit] Plot Summary
Rogue Ship is a standalone novel in a form of a Fixup, because of its form of 3 short stories re-hashed into one, the reader can tell without difficulty when the story changes from one original short story to the next. Because of this Rogue Ship can sometimes lose some continuity as there are 'large gaps' missing from the plot/story line.
Centaurus was the destination of the space ship 'The Hope of Man'. It had been traveling through space for almost twenty years, and still had nine years of flight remaining before Centaurus would be reached. For many on board the craft, earth had become a vague memory, while for others it was a mere dot in the vast starry reaches of space. Restlessness was evident everywhere; the people wanted to return to a place they knew was inhabited - not continue to an unknown where life was questionable. Mutiny seemed inevitable. Captain Lesbee (the ship's main officer) knew that mutiny bred mutiny, but what was more vital was his knowledge of earth's possible obliteration. The one hope was Centaurus. Now more than ever, there could be no turning back. Order had to be maintained even at the price of human life. After reaching Centaurus and finding it unsutiable to live on, The Hope of Man heads towards the next destination, the Alta system; because the ship at this time was unable to obtain light speed it took decades to travel there. Upon arriving in the system, through mutiny and backstabbing, The Hope of Man is now captained by Browne who used to be first officer. The Hope of Man starts to orbit Alta III in search for a new planet to settle on, but again they find it already inhabited and come under attack from the occupiers. During this time we see a surge of power from various sources. Power changes quickly through different characters until the arrival of the ships owner, Avil Hewitt. The novel concludes with Hewitt in charge and the ship finding many plants to inhabit.
