The War against the Rull Book

Alfred Etan van Vogt (1912-2000) was one of the great science fiction writers for the pulps in the 40s. And this book, published in 1959, is comprised of six short stories van Vogt wrote for "Astounding Science Fiction" from 1942 to 1948. As such, it's somewhat disjointed. Our hero is Jamieson, who finds himself in the war against the Rull, an insectlike species who seem to be intent on the conquest of the galaxy. He gets help from another alien species-the ezwal, huge six-legged critters, who turn out to be telepathic. I enjoy reading these stories from the 40s. They're fun, although dated--they have gone back to using ticker-tape typewriters in the far future. And an extremely sexist attitude toward women is certainly on display. I'll give this one *** mainly because the ending is a cheat. The horrible Rull are defeated all too easily. Although this is not one of Van Vogt's better efforts, it's important to remember A.E. van Vogt was one of the most influential SF writers from the 40s. Somewhat bizarre--the Canadian-born van Vogt moved to LA, where he met L. Ron Hubbard and became influenced by Dianetics, but he's a great original.