191:, 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
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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
232:
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.
289:, "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
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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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154:"Black Destroyer" was combined with several other short stories to form the novel
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Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other
Science Fictions
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278:'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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266:", while the next issue included the first story by
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470:"Vacation in the Golden Age, Episode 1: July 1939"
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160:. It was claimed as an inspiration for the movie
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457:. Garden City NY: Doubleday. pp. 79–82.
454:The Early Asimov; or, Eleven Years of Trying
207:Van Vogt got his start as an author writing
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262:'s first story to appear in the magazine, "
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483:Asimov, Isaac; Greenberg, Martin (2012).
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614:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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563:Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy
224:, Van Vogt's first and most famous
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486:The Mammoth Book of Golden Age SF
399:. New York: Simon & Schuster.
468:Rubin, Jamie (21 January 2011).
293:also praises it, but notes that
1081:Short stories by A. E. van Vogt
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410:van Vogt, A E (December 1939).
237:so closely matched the plot of
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689:The Voyage of the Space Beagle
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396:The Voyage of the Space Beagle
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221:The Voyage of the Space Beagle
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157:The Voyage of the Space Beagle
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1076:Science fiction short stories
745:The Man with a Thousand Names
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280:Golden Age of Science Fiction
149:Golden Age of Science Fiction
567:. Indiana University Press.
489:. Little Brown. p. 10.
435:. Riverdale, NY: Baen Books.
432:The World Turned Upside Down
254:The same July 1939 issue of
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137:by Canadian-American writer
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682:The House That Stood Still
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510:Jameson, Fredric (2005).
209:"true confession" stories
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893:The War Against the Rull
821:(with Kevin J. Anderson)
559:Ketterer, David (1992).
55:Cover story painting by
393:van Vogt, A.E. (1950).
929:Destination: Universe!
516:. Verso. p. 314.
451:Asimov, Isaac (1972).
612:title listing at the
585:Yesterday's Tomorrows
540:Decker, Mark (2016).
141:, first published in
950:More Than Superhuman
738:Children of Tomorrow
731:Quest for the Future
412:"Discord in Scarlet"
786:The Pawns of Null-A
779:The World of Null-A
1071:1939 short stories
968:Vault of the Beast
915:Out of the Unknown
873:The Wizard of Linn
866:Empire of the Atom
703:The Universe Maker
268:Robert A. Heinlein
111:Street & Smith
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1040:Enchanted Village
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839:The Weapon Makers
675:The Book of Ptath
623:Baen Free Library
619:"Black Destroyer"
610:"Black Destroyer"
276:Theodore Sturgeon
274:", and the next,
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16:(Redirected from
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95:Published in
1024:The Monster
907:Collections
819:Slan Hunter
381:mcgrew 2011
345:Decker 2016
287:David Drake
203:Publication
135:short story
90:Publication
39:Short story
1065:Categories
1016:The Rulers
992:The Search
724:The Silkie
717:Rogue Ship
416:Astounding
301:References
295:Terry Carr
291:Eric Flint
256:Astounding
213:Astounding
189:phosphorus
1048:The Sound
752:Supermind
658:Works by
272:Life-Line
250:Reception
120:July 1939
107:Publisher
936:Monsters
80:Genre(s)
72:Language
960:Stories
621:on the
534:Sources
130:" is a
75:English
64:Country
1051:(1950)
1043:(1950)
1035:(1949)
1027:(1948)
1019:(1946)
1011:(1944)
1003:(1944)
995:(1943)
987:(1942)
979:(1939)
971:(1938)
770:Null-A
762:Series
667:Novels
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264:Trends
226:fix-up
67:Canada
18:Coeurl
857:Clane
240:Alien
181:radio
163:Alien
884:Rull
813:Slan
804:Slan
590:ISBN
569:ISBN
546:ISBN
518:ISBN
491:ISBN
270:, "
41:by
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20:)
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