Weapon Shop

by A. E. van Vogt

Release: July 1941
Format: Short Story
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

Time travel plays only a small role in Van Vogt’s three stories and a serial. The stories follow the immortal founder of The Weapon Shops, an organization that puts science to work to ensure that the common man is never dominated by government or corporations. Along the way, a 20th century man becomes a time-travel pawn, a young man seven millennia in the future takes advantage of a much shorter time-travel escapade, and you’ll spot at least one other time-travel moment.

All the stories were fixed up into two books, The Weapon Shops of Isher and The Weapon Makers, and the SFBC gathered both those into The Empire of Isher.

What did happen to McAllister from the instant that he found the door of the gunshop unlocked?

DEBUT

“Weapon Shop,” Astounding, July 1941.

VARIANTS

1 English variant

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Groupings

Trips in Time (anthology)

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY: We haven’t yet mapped out the time travel itinerary.