Null-A Continuum (57 page)

… the version of himself that paused, a month before that, before going to sleep in the hotel room, a sleep of less than a minute, but enough to trigger the final amnesia. Even as his eyes closed in sleep, that version could hear the floor loudspeaker already beginning to sound: “
The occupants of each floor of the hotel must as usual during the games form their own protective groups.
…”

No matter where they were in time-space, it was still his brain, identical with him. Lavoisseur and X and Gosseyn
had sufficient similarity that the memories could be reintegrated: And, in an illusion universe, no signal, no memory, could ever really be lost.

It took only an effort of will to force the similarity.

And then … oneness.

He opened his eyes and saw her staring at him.

Her eyes shined with impish good humor. “Do you remember who I am, now?”

“Patricia Hardie.”

“Patricia Lavoisseur.
Mrs.
Patricia Lavoisseur. Your wife.”

He kissed her. It seemed the sane thing to do.

 

Praise for
Null-A Continuum

“John Wright is a marvelous craftsman…. [
Null-A Continuum
] is not the first sequel to a van Vogt novel, but it is the only one worth reading.”

—
The New York Review of Science Fiction

“Anyone curious about the grand old days of gosh-wow, whiz-bang, golden age SF need look no further than this homage to A. E. van Vogt. Packed with intergalactic adventures, the cliff-hangers and plot twists of the pulp era—and space princesses!—this is a rollercoaster ride.”

—
Michael Flynn, author of
Eifelheim

“[The book is] no slavish copy…. In Wright's hands the pulp original turns into a pulp-meets-hard-SF meditation of cosmological evolution…. Wright is a born novelist. And
Null-A Continuum
is a novelist's novel, bristling with ideas and characters that demand novel-length treatment…. Wright's book is an erudite homage to the pulp tradition by a twenty-first-century master.”

—
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

“For continuing the adventures of van Vogt's superhuman, double-brained protagonist, Gilbert Gosseyn, no one is better qualified than rising star Wright…. Wright faithfully emulates van Vogt's labyrinthine plot twists and energetic prose while answering questions
about Gosseyn's origins that have burned in fans' minds for decades.”

—Booklist

“A novel made of love.”

—George Zebrowski, award-winning author of
Brute Orbits

“Wright attempts to flesh out and make sense of van Vogt's world while retaining a respectful distance from the original story…. The characters' individual voices are sound…. inventive.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Wright out–van Vogts van Vogt….
Null-A Continuum
is an impressive achievement in both style and storytelling. Wright settles for nothing less than telling a van Vogt tale the way the late, great ‘Van' would have told it himself.”

—SciFiDimensions.com

“John Wright has revived and extended the magically brilliant work of A. E. van Vogt. I cannot think of any writer better suited to this task.”

—
Charles Platt, author of
The Silicon Man

Tor Books by
John C. Wright

The Golden Age

Phoenix Exultant

The Golden Transcendence

The Last Guardian of Everness

Mists of Everness

Orphans of Chaos

Fugitives of Chaos

Titans of Chaos

Null-A Continuum

JOHN C. WRIGHT
is an attorney turned SF and fantasy writer. He has published short fiction in
Asimov's SF
and elsewhere, and wrote the Chronicles of Chaos, The Golden Age, and The War of Dreaming series. His novel
Orphans of Chaos
was a finalist for the Nebula Award in 2005. You can sign up for author updates
here
.

 

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Title page

Copyright Notice

Author's Note: What has Gone Before

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Praise for Null-A Continuum

Tor Books by John C. Wright

About the Author

Copyright