Golden Age pulp science fiction author A.E. Van Vogt, who
died about a week and a half ago, wrote one western story in
his entire career and not unsurprisingly, it's a hard-boiled
one.
You can read the story, "Ride in, Killer," scanned from its
sole publication in the February 1951 FAMOUS WESTERN, at
Magnus Axelsson's excellent Van Vogt site at http://www.mmedia.is/vanvogt/western.htm.
(Scroll down below the cover picture to the page
links.)
The illustrations and ads lend charm to this curious story
which is told from the viewpoint of one of Van Vogt's
supermen, here a villain rather than a hero, who joins a
cattle drive in order to kill the crew and steal the herd.
Due to the viewpoint and the character's competence and
self-confidence, we're actually rooting for him to succeed.
The writing is unique and inconsistent, showcasing both Van
Vogt's strengths and weaknesses. The strengths are superior
moments of psychological description and slow-motion
hyper-action. Well-worth checking out.
________________
Kent Johnson San Francisco
kjohnson@slip.net
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