Born April 26, 1912,
the popular and influential writer A. E. van Vogt began his long and
illustrious career writing for “true confession” style pulps.
Shortly after, he decided to pursue a career as a science fiction
writer. Van Vogt’s first sci fi short “The Black Destroyer”
appeared in the July 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.
The story remained one of his most popular stories, often cited as a
source for the film Alien.

Cover by Robert Hubbell

In a career that
spanned five decades, van Vogt produced numerous legendary and
acclaimed novels including Slan, The Weapon Makers, The
World of Null-A, The Voyage of the
Space Beagle, and The Weapon Shops of Isher.
The first of his many short story collections, Out of
the Universe was published in 1948.

Tachyon was honored to publish FUTURES PAST, the last of his books to see print before the author’s death in 2000.

For more info about FUTURES PAST, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Michael Dashow