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Slan

83 statements
15 feature instances
9 referencing feature instances

Slan	type	TVTItem
Slan	label	Slan
Slan	page	Slan
Slan	comment	A 1940 Science Fiction Patchwork Story by A.E. van Vogt about a boy from a race of telepathic mutants who must survive human hatred long enough to save his people.Jommy Cross is a Slan, (condensed from Samuel Lann, the discoverer or creator of the subspecies), a mutant gifted with golden tendrils that give him telepathic abilities, stronger, smarter and faster than normal humans, and blessed with remarkable recuperative abilities. Which sounds really cool, but Jommy has a couple of handicaps. One, he's only nine years old, and thus only superhuman in proportion to normal nine-year-olds. And it just so happens that the normal humans hate all Slan and are determined to wipe them out.In the first chapter, Jommy's mother sacrifices herself to give Jommy the chance to escape. Jommy is then taken in by the loathsome but calculating "Granny", who plans to have the boy steal for her with his inhuman abilities. Shortly after this, Jommy runs into people who detect to his psychic abilities as Slan—but have no tendrils or telepathic abilities of their own. Making contact turns out to be a mistake, as the Tendrilless hate both humans and the True Slan.Now hunted by both the humans and the Tendrilless, Jommy must hide for years until he can come into his full powers and claim the scientific wonders that are the legacy of his father.Meanwhile, Kathleen Layton, who is as far as she knows the last Slan living in captivity, is being raised in the palace of Kier Gray, the President of Earth. Supposedly, he's only keeping her alive for scientific study, and treats her coldly, but he also intervenes each time Kathleen is about to be sentenced to death. Very puzzling.Eventually, Jommy and Kathleen do meet, but don't stay together very long before disaster strikes. Jommy goes on to more adventures before finally being captured by the Tendrilless on their secret Mars base. Escaping, Jommy then speeds to Earth for a final confrontation with Kier Gray, and a series of startling revelations that change everything!While Slan was not van Vogt's best work, it was exciting, full of intriguing ideas, and caught the imagination of science fiction fans of the day. Mocked and persecuted for their choice of reading matter, SF fans identified with the highly intelligent Slan. "Fans are Slans" became a rallying cry for a certain segment of fandom.Influences from Slan can be seen in works ranging from the X-Men continuities to Toward the Terra.In 1984, A.E. van Vogh started a sequel to Slan, but was unable to complete more than an outline and partial draft before he was struck by Alzheimer's disease. After his death in 2000, his wife Lydia and Kevin J. Anderson finished the book and it was realeased in 2007 as Slan Hunter.Slan Hunter begins only twenty-four hours after the end of the previous novel, when disaster after disaster strikes before Jommy and his allies can use their newfound knowledge to prevent it. Most of the major characters return, along with a new viewpoint character, Anthea Stewart, a seemingly ordinary woman who has just given birth to a Slan baby, marking her and the child for death.The story continues the breathless pace of its predecessor (with perhaps a bit more lull to explain some of the backstory) and while it ties up most of the loose ends, ends with a Cliffhanger that was obviously meant to be a Sequel Hook.
Slan	fetched	2024-02-07T11:15:26Z
Slan	parsed	2024-02-07T11:15:26Z
Slan	isPartOf	DBTropes
Slan / int_116a941b	type	Applied Phlebotinum
Slan / int_116a941b	comment	Applied Phlebotinum: The super-science of the Slan, so advanced that normal humans are unable to reverse-engineer it.
Slan / int_116a941b	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_116a941b	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_116a941b
Slan / int_126ce03c	type	I Was Quite a Looker
Slan / int_126ce03c	comment	I Was Quite a Looker: Granny used to be a famous and beautiful actress, but aged very badly, being reduced to a rag-and-bone woman.
Slan / int_126ce03c	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_126ce03c	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_126ce03c
Slan / int_197b546a	type	Scarpia Ultimatum
Slan / int_197b546a	comment	Scarpia Ultimatum: Jem Lorry offers to help Kathleen not die—if she'll bear his children. The sequel reveals his actual motivation for the offer.
Slan / int_197b546a	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_197b546a	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_197b546a
Slan / int_297ab1b9	type	Parental Abandonment
Slan / int_297ab1b9	comment	Parental Abandonment: Jommy's father was killed before Slan begins, and his mother is slain in the first chapter. Kathleen has been led to believe that her parents were both murdered by the Slan Hunters, but Kier Gray is actually her father.
Slan / int_297ab1b9	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_297ab1b9	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_297ab1b9
Slan / int_3012325a	type	Exotic Extended Marriage
Slan / int_3012325a	comment	Exotic Extended Marriage: Slan have a tradition of multiple partners.
Slan / int_3012325a	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_3012325a	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_3012325a
Slan / int_393ec3f9	type	Zeerust
Slan / int_393ec3f9	comment	Zeerust: The future looks suspiciously like Depression-Era New York (to the point that in the 1940 edition, one of the bad guys drove a Studebaker.) In both versions of the story the villains inexplicably carry revolvers, despite more advanced weapons existing even when the book was written in the 1940s.
Slan / int_393ec3f9	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_393ec3f9	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_393ec3f9
Slan / int_41d9aaef	type	Brainwashed
Slan / int_41d9aaef	comment	Brainwashed: Jommy learns how to use his powers to hypnotize humans and Tendrilless, and even induce long-term personality changes. He uses this to turn Granny from a greedy, evil alcoholic into a sweet but doddering old lady, and it's suggested that this might be a solution to the hatred of the humans if it can be done to the masses. In the sequel, Granny turns out to be not quite so brainwashed after all, reverting to her greedy, cantankerous personality but retaining basic humaneness.
Slan / int_41d9aaef	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_41d9aaef	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_41d9aaef
Slan / int_57b80b45	type	Fantastic Racism
Slan / int_57b80b45	comment	Fantastic Racism: Humans towards the Slan, and the Tendrilless towards both humans and True Slan. (They call the latter "snakes.")
Slan / int_57b80b45	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_57b80b45	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_57b80b45
Slan / int_780a078e	type	Self-Made Orphan
Slan / int_780a078e	comment	Self-Made Orphan: Jem Lorry, once he learns the truth about his heritage.
Slan / int_780a078e	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_780a078e	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_780a078e
Slan / int_874176be	type	Psychic Powers
Slan / int_874176be	comment	Psychic Powers: Slan are telepathic, and can use hypnotism or illusions to influence weaker minds.
Slan / int_874176be	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_874176be	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_874176be
Slan / int_892552b	type	Kung Fu-Proof Mook
Slan / int_892552b	comment	Kung Fu-Proof Mook: Some of the human Slan Hunters have learned to shield their minds, making telepathy nigh-useless against them.
Slan / int_892552b	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_892552b	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_892552b
Slan / int_d0f0a80d	type	One-Word Title
Slan / int_d0f0a80d	comment	One-Word Title
Slan / int_d0f0a80d	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_d0f0a80d	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_d0f0a80d
Slan / int_d1152b75	type	Planet Baron
Slan / int_d1152b75	comment	Planet Baron: Kier Grey is described as this, and proves it by murdering his entire advisory council in the first thirty pages.
Slan / int_d1152b75	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_d1152b75	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_d1152b75
Slan / int_e70127	type	The Mole
Slan / int_e70127	comment	The Mole: The Tendrilless have these all over the place.
Slan / int_e70127	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_e70127	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_e70127
Slan / int_name	type	ItemName
Slan / int_name	comment
Slan / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
Slan / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
Slan	hasFeature	Slan / int_name
Slan / int_name	itemName	Slan

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Slan	hasFeature	Goal-Oriented Evolution / int_1365efd3
Slan	hasFeature	Immediate Sequel / int_1365efd3
Slan	hasFeature	Mutant Media / int_1365efd3
Slan	hasFeature	On the Next / int_1365efd3
Slan	hasFeature	Outside Ride / int_1365efd3
Slan	hasFeature	Planet Baron / int_1365efd3
Slan	hasFeature	Psychic Stories / int_1365efd3
Slan	hasFeature	Tagline / int_1365efd3
Slan	hasFeature	To Be Continued / int_1365efd3

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