''The Book of Ptath'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by Canadian-American writer

A. E. van Vogt Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...

. It was first published in book form in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

Fantasy Press Fantasy Press was an American publishing house specialising in fantasy and science fiction titles. Established in 1946 by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was most notable for publishing the works of authors such as Robert A. Hei ...

in an edition of 3,021 copies. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine ''

Unknown Unknown or The Unknown may refer to: Film * The Unknown (1915 comedy film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), a silent boxing film * The Unknown (1915 drama film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film) * The Unknown (1927 film), ''The Unknown'' (1 ...

'' in October 1943. The book has also appeared under the titles ''Two Hundred Million A.D.'' and ''Ptath''.

Plot summary

Ptath is a god from Earth's far future when the landmasses have rejoined to form a single super-continent, now called Gonwonlane. Ptath ruled this planetary nation with his two goddess-wives; all of them having divine powers, his fueled by the prayers of women, the goddesses's from Ptath himself. Before the start of the novel, Ptath had chosen to journey back in time and incarnate as a series of mortals from Earth's history. While he is absent, one of his goddess-wives tries to usurp his power by imprisoning the other goddess-wife and forbidding women from praying, thus removing Ptath from his power source while keeping her own. She contrives to bring Ptath back to Gonwonlane before the completion of his journey, without his powers, and kill him. But he returns to Gonwonlane in his immortal body but with the mind of his most recent incarnation - a just deceased 20th century tank commander. From Ptath's point of view, he was killed in his tank and then immediately woke up (naked, walking down a road) in the far future. The story follows Ptath as he rescues his other wife, learns about his immortal body, mental powers, and makes war against his evil wife.

Reception

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...

ranked ''The Book of Ptath'' as van Vogt's "single best novel" and tried to convince him to write a sequel. R. D. Mullen, however, dismissed the novel, saying he saw no reason to include it in an SF library."Reviews: November 1975"
'' Science Fiction Studies, November 1975

References

Sources

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External links

* 1943 American novels 1943 science fiction novels Novels by A. E. van Vogt Works originally published in Unknown (magazine) Novels first published in serial form Fantasy Press books {{US-novel-stub