The House That Stood Still

A medium sized group of immortal people live on the planet Earth. Only a few people outside the group know of it due to some of the members of the group who brought it out into the open. The group is unaware of the plans of the members who exposed the group. These plans were to take over The House and lead the group. The House has been around since the group was first created. The house keeps the people immortal. Allison Stephens, a lawyer and agent of the Tannahill estate, is one of the people who found out about the group. He is a mortal. He investigates the group and starts to learn more and more about the history of the group and who they really are. Many of the members in the group become irritated with Stephens learning more about them and so they paid him a few very unfriendly visits. Mistra Lanett, an immortal and sexual partner of Stephens, is very important to the story. She meets up with Stephens many times in the story and gives him a lot of information on the group. I would recommend this book to science fiction lovers only! The book is a classic science fiction book. The neat thing about this book is that it was written in 1950 and you can get a feel of what people back then thought the future would be like. The book does have its slow parts, and even sometimes makes no sense, but with a killer surprise ending, this book is a must read for science fiction lovers.

A house ,built in the unknown past ,is making people immortal. That is the idea ,but as always with Van Vogt ,the idea is merely an excuse to throw at the reader his captivating charecters and plot.This book is built much like regular detective-like ,mystery books ,and delivers a satisfyings read. Not one of the masterpieces ,but a fine one ,with the known plot-twists a little turned down ,yet somehow he keeps surprising you.

I should state from the begining I am a Van Vogt fan. In saying this I also acknowledge that some of his works are complete trash, but when he's good he's hot! As far as his later works go if you liked Tyranopolis, Cosmic Encounter and Quest for the Future then you will like this. This novel combines an excellent mixture of SF, detective, mystery and whodunnit. You follow Alison Stephens as he deals with cults, murders, people from the past and one strange would-be-girl friend, (he hopes). As is usual in most Van Vogt novels there are numerous twists and turns throughout the plot to keep you interested and on your toes. Do yourself a favour - Get it!