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Summary of Changes Made Dec 8 Database 2.2 Nov 15 Van's Null-A synopses removed Nov 14 Database 2.1.1, 5 synopses added Nov 5 Database 2.1, Van's Null-A synopses added Oct 21 Database 2.0, various tinkerings Oct 2 Database 1.2 Sep 30 Database 1.1 Sep 19 Icshi website launched, Database 1.0 posted
December 8th, 2001 Database Version 2.2 A handful of corrections and additions have been made to recent editions (since 1990); thanks to Dan Hooker for providing this helpful information. I also added the chapter divisions in the original serialization of The Players of Â. However, I won't have any new synopses up for a few weeks - I'm taking a break for the holidays; you wouldn't believe how hard it is to summarize Van's stuff...
November 15th, 2001 Van Vogt's summaries for the first two Null-A books (taken from his introduction to Null-A Three) have been removed by request of the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency which represents his estate. The PDF-Summaries.zip file has been altered accordingly. [As of February 12th, 2006, all summaries are available only as online HTML documents.]
The Database will be updated in a couple of weeks to include information on recent editions, kindly provided by Dan Hooker. (I'll be on vacation for Thanksgiving, so I'll do that when I get back. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Don't eat too much turkey!) I also hope to have synopses for "Death Talk," Computerworld, "Identity," "Chevrolet, I Love You," and "Enchanted Village" up by the end of November.
November 14th, 2001 Database Version 2.1.1
I corrected a few errors, added an exact word-count for "Enchanted Village," (thanks to Phillipe Raimond for providing me with a scanned text!), added an alternate title for the UK omnibus The Universe Maker and The Proxy Intelligence, and updated all links to Raimond's French site, which has just moved to a new server.
I also have decided to post the Database as a ZIP-compressed PDF file. The size of the file has resulted in it being virtually impossible to view it through your browser so it is now available only for offline viewing.
As far as the Plot Summaries page goes, I added five new plot summaries and a ZIP file containing all nine summaries for easier download.
On a more humorous note, I've hunted down and eliminated all the pesky badly-done HTML tags (namely the tags for double quotation marks) that were cluttering up many of my pages. Internet Explorer (which is what I use almost exclusively) interpreted these as normal quotation marks and no problems were evident. Netscape, however, paraded my mistakes and ineptitude for all to see.
November 5th, 2001 Database Version 2.1
New to 2.1 is the Magazine and Publisher Index (Appendix C), which I hope proves to be helpful. I also added word-counts for the stories in Pendulum, which I somehow failed to include in earlier versions. I also added a few exact word counts (such as "Identity" and "Chevrolet, I Love You").
Also, I'm afraid that yet again the Foreign-Language Database has to be postponed. Maybe by Christmas. Maybe.
I'm also working on a synopsis for Computerworld, which is proving rather difficult as it is a complex book. I've practically given up on writing one of The Darkness on Diamondia; even though I've read it twice I'm still none too clear on what exactly was going on. Next time I read it, I'll take copious notes as I go along.
October 21st, 2001 Database Version 2.0
The additions and changes made to create 2.0 are truly too numerous to individually mention. Suffice to say I've thoroughly updated all the entries in light of newly obtained bibliographic information (namely Stephensen-Payne's bibliography, as well as "from the horse's mouth" information obtained from many anthologies and magazines I've recently acquired) and streamlined the entry format to make it easier to read and understand, and have added color and various fonts to the preface sections and appendices to facilitate reading.
Thanks again to George Gilbert for posting information on the Yahoo Van Vogt Group about the 1948 revision of The World of Â.
I have decided to list foreign-language translations in a separate file, so the French collections previously listed in the Database will now appear in the Foreign-Language Database (which has yet to be finished).
October 2nd, 2001 Database Version 1.2
Version history file added
Information for Abika.com link revised, and one link added.
Original title for "The First Martian" (1966) added ("This Joe" 1951)
More information for "Fulfillment," "The Human Operators" and "The Rat and the Snake" added.
Publishing information for "The Dream of the Sorceress" found and added.
Added "Dreaming and Writing" (1981); thanks to George Gilbert.
Added the 1951 cut edition of The House That Stood Still in Detective Book Magazine
Numerous other corrections made.
Thanks to Endre Zsoldos for the links to German, Italian, and Hungarian language bibliographies, and for his suggestion to include foreign language titles. I am considering adding a second list some day, to list foreign translations. This will be a while before materializing, however, since my primary objective right now is to get the Database as accurate and complete as possible. I am also considering removing all of the French collections and omnibuses for consistency/simplicity reasons.
September 30th, 2001 Database Version 1.1
Many formating inconsistencies and listing errors in 1.0 have been corrected, and other bits have been changed.
Thanks to George Gilbert for the information on "My Life Was My Best SF Story."
September 19th, 2001 Database Version 1.0
Website launched with local internet service provider, Ridgenet. (As of February 2004, the site is now on Earthlink.)