- Global war smashed civilization — or so the legends told — but
not all of its machines. A caste of scientists arose who knew how to repair and
operate the ancient machines — but not how they worked — and
worshipped at the altars of the atomic gods who were said to make the machines
run. Society was a strange mix of the modern and the medieval, with armies
riding on horseback into huge spaceships, then flying to human colonies on other
planets to wage war with swords and arrows. Then came the mutant Clane, who
would have been put to death for his deformities had he not been born into the
ruling family. Though his body was twisted, his mind was brilliant, and he not
only recovered the lost science behind the ancient machines, but found the truth
behind the legends of civilization's downfall. Alien invaders, not human war,
had reduced humanity to barbarism as a prelude for a later return in force to
colonize the Solar System. And that return would happen soon, unless Clane could
find a way to stop it!- For the first time, the entire Clane saga, told in the two novels
Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn, complete in one volume.
Also included is Van Vogt's sweeping novel of interstellar adventure, Mission
to the Stars, along with the two short novels in the Ezwal
series.
- ISBN10 1451638922
- ISBN13 9781451638929
- Publish Date 27 May 2013 (first published 14 October 2006)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 11 March 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Baen Books
- Format Paperback
- Pages 320
- Language English