The Empire of Isher

by A. E. Van Vogt

A book review by Elisabeth Carey

I'd read The Weapon Shops of Isher before, but not The Weapon Makers. I had been afraid that it wouldn't be as good as I remembered it, but in fact it's better. I think it suffered, when I first read it, from my less developed ability to appreciate what Van Vogt was doing. Yes, it's space opera. It's really good space opera, with the sensibilities of the 1940s and 1950s, rather than the 1980s and 1990s. It has an innocence Vinge's work will never have, without being particularly naive about human nature. The Weapon Makers I think is not quite as good, but it's still great fun.

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