Rating: 
Summary: A rousing ride
Review: One of Van Vogt's most loved books, I have to admit that there was a certain thrill in here that was lacking in "The World of Null-A" probably because it's much less based in an unfamiliar philosophy, but at the same time it's much less complex. Still for straightforward authentic Golden Age SF it doesn't get much better than this. Basically you have four stories (it's all treated as one story but it's four separate situations) of the crew of the Space Beagle as they explore the vast reaches of space. Each is a little mini-adventure, two involve horrific aliens, one is a tad dopey and the last involves an alien so big that only in the Golden Age could you get away with it. Beyond the ideas the stories themselves are exciting, even if in the beginning the crew comes off as a bunch of total idiots (twice they bring the alien onto the ship! twice!) and they never really stop being self centered. Much of the book is seen through the eyes of Grosvenor, the new guy with the new science of Nexialism which is apparently a way to integrate all the sciences, among other things . . . unfortunately this means that the stories fall into a pattern where everyone has the wrong solutions to everything because they are self centered and can't see past their own disciplines until Grosvenor basically forcefeeds them the solution. But, as typical for novels from this period, you don't read them for the staggering charactizations but the ideas and Van Vogt writes like a madman here, cramming so many fanciful into each chapter and making you believe them that you find yourself devouring the book more than reading it, especially the bits with the aliens (the second alien was an obvious influence on the movie Alien, right down to it picking people off in the ship) which are genuinely frightening . . . it's a credit to Van Vogt that he can write the scenes from the aliens POV convincingly, sometimes more convincingly than the people. It may or may not be his best book, but it definitely ranks as one of the few all out fun classics from the Golden Age of SF. Sadly it's only available used these days but even then a little searching can probably dig it up.
Rating:
Summary: The Original Trekkie
Review: The Voyage of the Space Beagle is the mapbook that the Star Trek T.V. and Movie series has followed. Go into Deep Space and encounter one adventure after another. I like Star Trek. I love Voyage of the Space Beagle. Nexialism should be taught at our Universities. Grovsner is an early combination of Star Trek's Mr. Spock and Tom Clancy's lead character, Jack Ryan. Voyage of the Space Beagle is an action packed science fiction book that can be read over and over. I re read it at least every two years.
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