180:, and conclude the Coeurl is the killer. To test their theory, they bring the Coeurl a bowl of phosphorus, which he attacks with relish and almost kills the person who delivered it. They lock him up, but the Coeurl's ability to control "vibrations of every description" allows him to easily open the electric lock. He waits until they are sleeping and then kills several crew members before returning to the cage. This does not fool the men, and they begin planning ways to kill him.
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complex counterattack based on emitting a confusing blast of discordant vibrations. While they plan, the Coeurl builds a tiny spacecraft in the engine room's machine shop. He escapes in his ship just as they put their plan into action. However, the Coeurl is unaware of the ship's ability to instantly maneuver, and after a few moments, he notices the ship has reappeared in front of him. He goes mad with fury and destroys himself rather than face death at the hands of the humans.
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concluded that the Coeurl is a member of the race that constructed the dead cities they explored on the planet and that they have reverted to a criminal state after an unimaginably long time of isolation and starvation. Knowing humanity's own criminal past, he concludes that "It was history, honorable Mr. Smith, our knowledge of history that defeated him."
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Using his powers to control energy, the Coeurl causes the rear wall of the cage to dissolve and locks himself in the engine room. He uses the ship's power to reinforce the walls of the room so the men cannot blast their way in, and then sends the craft into space at high acceleration. The men plan a
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Considering the situation, the men decide they must return to the planet and kill the other Coeurl. The ship's biologist is stunned when he learns the plan is to simply wait for them to come to the ship. But the key to the plan is a proper understanding of their enemy; the ship's archaeologist had
167:
A Coeurl, a large, intelligent, black cat-like animal, considers its near-future starvation as its food source of id-creatures has been hunted to extinction. Just as all seems lost, a spaceship lands near an abandoned Coeurl city and id-creatures pour out. He quickly surmises they are a scientific
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expedition from another star, which excites him as he considers scientists to be unlikely to harm him. He approaches them as if simply curious. The human expedition is first concerned about the Coeurl's approach, but he shows himself to be intelligent and attempting to communicate via
221:
Van Vogt's next story, December 1939's "Discord in
Scarlet", formed chapters 13 through 21 of the same book. Taken together, they describe almost invincible alien animals being taken aboard a spaceship so they can lay eggs within the crew. The plot of these two portions of
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novel. Several minor changes were made to the Coeurl; the tentacles that act as receptors and fingers now end in suction cups, and the dietary chemical was changed from phosphorus to potassium. The story also postulates they were the servants of the original race.
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waves. Assuming an intelligent species would be as curious about them as they are about him, they show him their ship. The Coeurl begins to plan to kill all of the men onboard and then fly to wherever they came from so he will have unlimited id.
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278:, "Almost everybody agrees that the Golden Age started with the July, 1939, issue of Astounding, however. That's because its cover story was 'Black Destroyer,' the first published SF by A. E. Van Vogt."
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was somewhat dismissive of its place in history simply because both were thirteen years old when they read it, and "thirteen ... was the age that defined everybody's 'Golden Age'."
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Tortured by his long starvation, the Coeurl kills a man that went off exploring and eats his id. Examining the body, the humans discover it has been drained of all its
274:
Asimov cited "Black
Destroyer" itself and not the issue as the starting point, stating that the presence of his story was "pure coincidence". According to
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but received a positive rejection letter. Encouraged, he submitted "Black
Destroyer" and it was promoted as the cover story.
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for pulp magazines in the 1930s. He switched to science fiction and submitted his first SF story, "Vault of the Beast", to
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that van Vogt sued the production company for plagiarism. The suit was eventually settled out of court for $ 50,000.
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Industrial
Society and the Science Fiction Blockbuster: Social Critique in Films of Lucas, Scott and Cameron
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Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other
Science Fictions
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267:'s, "Ether Breather". As a result, this issue is described as the start of the
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in July 1939. It has been marked as the story that represents the start of the
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The story, in its original form, has appeared in anthologies on occasion.
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The story was re-used in 1950 as the basis for the first six chapters of
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and van Vogt collected an out-of-court settlement of $ 50,000 from
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Works originally published in Analog
Science Fiction and Fact
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418:Drake, David; Flint, Eric; Baen, Jim, eds. (2005).
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459:"Vacation in the Golden Age, Episode 1: July 1939"
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149:. It was claimed as an inspiration for the movie
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446:. Garden City NY: Doubleday. pp. 79–82.
443:The Early Asimov; or, Eleven Years of Trying
196:Van Vogt got his start as an author writing
251:'s first story to appear in the magazine, "
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472:Asimov, Isaac; Greenberg, Martin (2012).
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603:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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552:Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy
213:, Van Vogt's first and most famous
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475:The Mammoth Book of Golden Age SF
388:. New York: Simon & Schuster.
457:Rubin, Jamie (21 January 2011).
282:also praises it, but notes that
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399:van Vogt, A E (December 1939).
226:so closely matched the plot of
678:The Voyage of the Space Beagle
385:The Voyage of the Space Beagle
210:The Voyage of the Space Beagle
146:The Voyage of the Space Beagle
1:
1065:Science fiction short stories
734:The Man with a Thousand Names
269:Golden Age of Science Fiction
138:Golden Age of Science Fiction
556:. Indiana University Press.
478:. Little Brown. p. 10.
424:. Riverdale, NY: Baen Books.
421:The World Turned Upside Down
243:The same July 1939 issue of
126:by Canadian-American writer
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671:The House That Stood Still
835:The Weapon Shops of Isher
819:The Weapon Shops of Isher
577:. Lulu.com. p. 140.
499:Jameson, Fredric (2005).
198:"true confession" stories
37:
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882:The War Against the Rull
810:(with Kevin J. Anderson)
548:Ketterer, David (1992).
44:Cover story painting by
382:van Vogt, A.E. (1950).
918:Destination: Universe!
505:. Verso. p. 314.
440:Asimov, Isaac (1972).
601:title listing at the
574:Yesterday's Tomorrows
529:Decker, Mark (2016).
130:, first published in
939:More Than Superhuman
727:Children of Tomorrow
720:Quest for the Future
401:"Discord in Scarlet"
775:The Pawns of Null-A
768:The World of Null-A
1060:1939 short stories
957:Vault of the Beast
904:Out of the Unknown
862:The Wizard of Linn
855:Empire of the Atom
692:The Universe Maker
257:Robert A. Heinlein
100:Street & Smith
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1029:Enchanted Village
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828:The Weapon Makers
664:The Book of Ptath
612:Baen Free Library
608:"Black Destroyer"
599:"Black Destroyer"
265:Theodore Sturgeon
263:", and the next,
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163:Plot summary
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84:Published in
1013:The Monster
896:Collections
808:Slan Hunter
370:mcgrew 2011
334:Decker 2016
276:David Drake
192:Publication
124:short story
79:Publication
28:Short story
1054:Categories
1005:The Rulers
981:The Search
713:The Silkie
706:Rogue Ship
405:Astounding
290:References
284:Terry Carr
280:Eric Flint
245:Astounding
202:Astounding
178:phosphorus
1037:The Sound
741:Supermind
647:Works by
261:Life-Line
239:Reception
109:July 1939
96:Publisher
925:Monsters
69:Genre(s)
61:Language
949:Stories
610:on the
523:Sources
119:" is a
64:English
53:Country
1040:(1950)
1032:(1950)
1024:(1949)
1016:(1948)
1008:(1946)
1000:(1944)
992:(1944)
984:(1943)
976:(1942)
968:(1939)
960:(1938)
759:Null-A
751:Series
656:Novels
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253:Trends
215:fix-up
56:Canada
846:Clane
229:Alien
170:radio
152:Alien
873:Rull
802:Slan
793:Slan
579:ISBN
558:ISBN
535:ISBN
507:ISBN
480:ISBN
259:, "
30:by
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