Rogue Ship

Rogue Ship by A.E. Van Vogt

Rogue Ship follows the crew of The Hope of Man as they travel to the next planetary system and beyond in the hope of finding a new home for Human’s as Earth’s future in is doubt thanks to an anomaly with the sun. The journey is long and perilous as we witness several generations partake in the mission, all with rebellion of their mind as the ships politics gets in the way of their ultimate goal.

I love A.E van Vogt’s writing. These Fixup novels as he dubbed them are my kind of thing. The time covered in this book is fantastic, with each generation being more conniving than the last, and less concerned about the mission. Why should they fight for an Earth they’ve never seen? Do they even believe Earth is in dangers? And how can they wield any new technology they discover?

Each crewman aboard the ship has a role, and their kids inherit that role meaning there’s little room for progression, and naturally this becomes the biggest problem the crew faces. Just because Captain Lesbee was captain, what gives his son the right to hold that position? And his son after that, and after that? And are all Lesbee’s created equal. While Captain Lesbee is a smart capable logical patient man who believes in the mission, what makes you think his grandkid would inherit any of those qualities?

The dynamics and power struggle aboard the ship are the driving force of the story, but we get to see plenty of interesting worlds too. Discover that the galaxy is teeming with life, and most of it wants little to do with us… or we’re simply not adaptable. I love the idea of having to find a planet that suits our very specifics needs, only for it to be potentially occupied already, that’s not something that comes up often.

As always I really enjoy the writing and pace. I think Vogt has a way about him. There’s a lot of characters thanks to the various time skips as It takes ages to fly between systems, and they’re all developed quickly. Their motives understandable, whether you agree with them or not. There’s a lot of backstabbing and politicking and as the reader you want to bash a couple of heads together, but that’s part of the fun.

A modern reader might not like the way woman are treated onboard, but it’s pulp sci-fi from way over half a century ago, and it works well in the context of how the ship and its crew have evolved. It’s horrible, and that’s part of the dystopian fun brewing onboard the Hope of Man. There’s a massive twist half way through that I won’t go into other than to say I didn’t really like it at first, but it quickly grew on me and ended up working well and adding to the fantastical nature of the tale.

I’ll always recommend A.E. Van Vogt books and this one is no different. It’s not quite Voyage of the Space Beagle, but I think if you enjoyed that one you’l really like this one as well. He just writes great crazy sci-fi, and I can’t get enough of his work.