Greetings, Would You LIke To Talk ABout Null-A?

There was a festival in town this weekend, the library got into it with a book sale, the books were cheap, and so I went. Amusingly two of the books I bought from a different library and reviewed last year (Testing the Current and A Maggot) were up for sale. I guess nobody here wanted to read them either, and having read both books, I don't blame them.

First book up to the reviewing plate is The Players of Null-A, by A.E. van Vogt. At the least this is the second book in a series, so it took me awhile to get the hang of everything. Earth and Venus both have humans living on them. There is a League out in space, of various other inhabited worlds, which is under siege by the leader of the 'Greatest Empire', Enro the Red. The central figure is Gilbert Gosseyn, a Venusian with an extra brain. As in, he actually has a second brain, and an enlarged head to accommodate it. I believe it's something a scientist attached, but I'm not certain. Gosseyn has certain powers. If he memorizes a location, he can "similarize" to it, but only within 26 hours. After that, he has to memorize the location all over again. He also has some ability to draw on energy sources around him, so when entering a room, he makes a habit of searching for electrical outlets he could draw from.

I believe these are powers resulting from the extra brain, but he also describes how, if he's killed, he'll be reborn in another Gosseyn body, which sounds as if it's happened before. Why that happens, where the extra bodies come from, how many there are, these things aren't covered, which isn't the worst thing. It lends an air of intrigue to the whole thing, and helps draw me in. During the book, Gilbert frequently feels there is someone out there manipulating him,using him for a purpose he can't understand, which may or may not go along with his own plans.

Gosseyn first and foremost wishes to protect Earth and Venus from Enro's forces and rule. His secondary goal seems to be introducing more practitioners of the style of thinking called "null-A" into the universe. Null-A is supposed to represent "non-Aristotelian", which is an actual system of logic developed in the early 20th century by Nicolai A Vasiliev and Jan Lukasiewicz. Vogt doesn't use it quite the way they thought of it, preferring to describe it as a state of mind where the cortical part of the brain works equally with the thalamic portion. Characters without Null-A training are dominated by emotional responses from their thalamic thinking, and Gosseyn frequently uses his Null-A capabilities to read their personalities and determine their threat level or the best method to approach them for something. It's not telepathy so much as a Holmesian ability to read people by their body language and words.

Gosseyn's not the only being with powers, as there's a race of Predictors, including one in particular called the Follower with other abilities, and Enro has powers of his own. All the abilities exhibited seem related to simply using their brains to a greater extent, and so Gosseyn starts trying to develop these other abilities himself. One thing I don't understand at all is why Predictors have a hard time following Gilbert's movements. Frequently they say they can only see down his timeline a certain point, and then there's a blur. Is this related to his powers, or his Null-A training? I don't know.

As I read the story, I wasn't sure I wanted to root for Gilbert. Enro is a bit mad, no doubt. He orders resisting worlds bombed until the planet itself starts to fall apart, and he sees this as a religious crusade, or at least cloaks his actions in those terms. Still, some of Gilbert's actions remind me of Asimov's Second Foundation, making decisions concerning people's lives, without bothering to consult them. Early on, Gosseyn abruptly finds his mind inside the body of a young prince Enro captured years ago, who is now to be Enro's gopher. Gosseyn immediately starts planning how he might use this young man to kill Enro, even though it'll certainly get the boy killed. It's no big deal for Gilbert; either his mind will bounce back to his body, or it'll be shunted to one of those other bodies he's so certain are around, but the kid will be dead. Gilbert also sets about a rudimentary training in Null-A to strengthen the boy a bit, and speaks through him at times. It helps the boy regain some backbone, but it also has the boy behaving in a manner out of character with what the people around him expect, which arouses suspicion in those people, potentially endangering the kid's life.

Plus, there's the whole bit where he's eager to get members of his world out amongst because once Null-A thinking is out there and gains adherents, it won't be long before the Null-A folks are running the show. He figures only 3% of the population need be Null-Aers for them to be in charge. I assume he expects them to either be elected, or to be chosen based on their superior qualifications, because they can easily suppress emotional reactions to things, but it reads a bit sinister to me. Perhaps it isn't all bad, as Venus is described as having free food and housing for everyone (maybe Earth has that too, but I don't think so). However, Gilbert seems so determined for it to happen (much as Enro and the Follower are determined for their schemes to succeed), and his amusement when the League accepts the help of the Null-As, not realizing those same Null-As helping them to fend off the Greatest Empire will soon be in the positions of power, I'm suspicious of his intentions.