Slan (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: A. E. Van Vogt
- First Published: 1940
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—extrasensory powers
- Time of Work: An indeterminate time in the future
- Setting: Earth and Mars
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: Extrasensory perception or powers, Future, Earth, Christ figures or saviors, Mars, Mutations or mutants
- Locales: Earth, Mars
The Plot
Slan opens with nine-year-old Jommy Cross and his mother being hunted by government forces with orders to systematically kill slans, a mutant race identified by tendrils growing in their hair. Slans are telepathic and possess strength and intelligence superior to most humans. Their genetic advantages, compounded with long life spans, give them claim to being the new dominant life-form on Earth and have led to the human policy of genocide against the mutants. Jommy’s mother is killed, but he escapes the mob and is taken into hiding by a drunken old woman,...
[The entire page is 1004 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
