Wish I had abandoned this one, but I kept waiting for it to turn around. The whole story is predicated on a series of inventions of incredible power that somehow haven't affected any other part of society. Guns with AI so sophisticated that they only fire in self-defense, but somehow there are still office buildings full of clerks? A machine that unerringly identifies morally upstanding people but the world government is run by a hereditary monarchy? It's entirely too ludicrous. ( )

Great book ( )

What starts off as a Second Amendment thought experiment veers off into speculation on time travel and political corruption.

Thousands of years in the future, an empire declares war on an underground society that supplies defensive weaponry to honest individuals. The outcome is to be decided by two people: your standard Immortal With Advanced Technology, and a typical Chosen One who is out seeking his fortune.

Van Vogt is a clumsy wordsmith, making for a tedious (though occasionally amusing) read.
"He watched the slender woman-shape move off into the shadows." "Green lights directly in front of him flashed unscintillatingly into red.". Stuff like that.

What does work is the sheer cynicism of the world that he has imagined. The Akira moment of the epilogue is a nice finish, but hardly a surprise. ( )

Superb science fiction. This is the good stuff. ( )

A great deal of fun. the people with the weapons are not the kind of gun owners we seem to find in American right wing politics, but quite civilized people intent on helping all to a happier life. I wish it had worked out so well as van Vogt visualized it. ( )