The practice of creating philosophical tales that are meant to teach readers is an ancient one, dating back to the remote past of both East and West. In its point of view, The World of Null-A resembles Francis Bacon's Latin tale New Atlantis (1627), which depicts a secret civilization that through superior reasoning has outpaced the rest of the world in its social structure and technology, including the development of submarines and airships. Van Vogt's Null-A society on Venus promises social and technological advantages for modern humanity, including the development of antigravity because Null-A thinkers are not bound by the absolute laws of Newtonian and Einsteinian physics. In its narrative, The World of Null-A resembles John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678; 1684), which depicts the growth of the spirit of its main character through the stresses of his pilgrimage to the Celestial City.

Gosseyn is on a pilgrimage to an...