The World of Null-A

[Pierre Equey]

When I was a kid I used to hate School... and the School-system didn’t like me much as well. Once, I was in a supervised study room and was reading the Ace Edition of van Vogt's World of Null-A… Although the book was very interesting for me, it was far away from the then-scheduled school syllabus. The hall-monitor was almighty. He seized the book.

I've got no idea what the hall-monitor, and the government he worked for, carried out with my book; they probably burnt it or throw away.

But alas, that book was a kind of unicum. I've had a very sad-and-hard time to find a second exemplar; in fact, 35 years passed away before I could find one again: Last week, I was in London and came across a copy in a bookstore. Now, I know the end of the story ...


The World of Null-A

The story begins in the year 2650, in a society in which hall monitors are almighty. People hare ruled by Aristotelian logic, training themselves through years of study and discipline to become Null-A.

The main figure is Gilbert Gosseyn (pronounced "Go-Sane"). He lives in a blissful society in which trained people with huge power and highest awareness rule the world. Once, Gosseyn want to pass some exams held by the Game Machine, a kind of biological computer that enshrines the social hierarchy. And he unravels the hidden face of his world: He was a pawn in a big interstellar game; but the gamerules were biased and the Game Machine was corrupted…