Friday, May 14, 2010
Synopsis for THE ANT MEN by Eric North
"There's a feeling about this desert which frankly suggests...impossible things. That's the only way I can put it."
The feeling that Professor Silas Orcutt, an American geologist, refers to early in this story, is one that every reader of this rugged and thrilling science fiction novel will share with him after the very first page. The professor, head of a party of five studying geological formations in the Central Australian desert, thought back on the nightmare of shifting sand and crackling electrical charges that had wrecked the truck in which his party was traveling. He thought, too, of the skeleton of a freshly killed crocodile - found hundreds of miles from the nearest river - and the stench of formic acid that remained around its picked-clean bones.
The professor's intrepid little group was prepared to find fossils in the Australian rock strata - but not the living kind that shocked them into believing the impossible of the burnt-out lands of the continent down under. Trapped in a desert valley under the pitiless sun, the five found themselves face to face with six-foot-tall ants and deadly giant mantises: survivors from before the dawn of history. Locked in a harrowing war for survival, these deadly creatures had little use for the puny men who found themselves in the midst of an insect war!
How Professor Orcutt was captured by ants with curiously manlike characteristics; how the members of his party found him and investigated the huge underground ant city; how they helped defend the ant men's ghostly underground caverns make this a completely gripping novel capped with a taut and electrifying climax sure to please readers of every age.
The feeling that Professor Silas Orcutt, an American geologist, refers to early in this story, is one that every reader of this rugged and thrilling science fiction novel will share with him after the very first page. The professor, head of a party of five studying geological formations in the Central Australian desert, thought back on the nightmare of shifting sand and crackling electrical charges that had wrecked the truck in which his party was traveling. He thought, too, of the skeleton of a freshly killed crocodile - found hundreds of miles from the nearest river - and the stench of formic acid that remained around its picked-clean bones.
The professor's intrepid little group was prepared to find fossils in the Australian rock strata - but not the living kind that shocked them into believing the impossible of the burnt-out lands of the continent down under. Trapped in a desert valley under the pitiless sun, the five found themselves face to face with six-foot-tall ants and deadly giant mantises: survivors from before the dawn of history. Locked in a harrowing war for survival, these deadly creatures had little use for the puny men who found themselves in the midst of an insect war!
How Professor Orcutt was captured by ants with curiously manlike characteristics; how the members of his party found him and investigated the huge underground ant city; how they helped defend the ant men's ghostly underground caverns make this a completely gripping novel capped with a taut and electrifying climax sure to please readers of every age.
Synopsis for ATTACK FROM ATLANTIS by Lester Del Rey
Teen-aged Don Miller felt lucky to be one of the few aboard the atomic-powered submarine, the TRITON, on its first official depth test run. Even when the ship began to falter and the diving planes jammed, neither he nor the rest of the crew realized they were fighting a losing battle against an unknown enemy. Quick repairs and a frantic attempt to surface brought renewed hope to the crew until they spotted strange-looking "bubble men" lashing through the water on creatures supposed to have been extinct millions of years before. All efforts to fight off the sea men failed, and the crew of the crippled TRITON had no alternative but to let their captives drag them toward the giant "bubble city" resting on the ocean floor.
Lester del Rey has written here an intriguing tale of an outcast race that had migrated into the sea with a secret power that shut out the sea waters. As prisoners of a superstitious and frightened people, Don and the others frantically plotted their escape from "a city of no return." How Don finally turns the Atlanteans' weakness into a weapon and nearly wrecks the city with fear fills this story with breathless suspense.
Besides providing thrill-packed reading for teen-agers, ATTACK FROM ATLANTIS suggests fascinating answers to legends that cannot die until men conquer the last barrier of this planet and find out for themselves what lies hidden beneath the mysterious sea.
Lester del Rey has written here an intriguing tale of an outcast race that had migrated into the sea with a secret power that shut out the sea waters. As prisoners of a superstitious and frightened people, Don and the others frantically plotted their escape from "a city of no return." How Don finally turns the Atlanteans' weakness into a weapon and nearly wrecks the city with fear fills this story with breathless suspense.
Besides providing thrill-packed reading for teen-agers, ATTACK FROM ATLANTIS suggests fascinating answers to legends that cannot die until men conquer the last barrier of this planet and find out for themselves what lies hidden beneath the mysterious sea.
Synopsis for EARTHBOUND by Milton Lesser
"We'll thunder off to Io,
Out in the Jovian Moons.
We'll feast our eyes and seek the skies
And plunder Martian ruins!"
The "Spaceman's Chant" turned from a spirited to a heartbreaking refrain when Cadet Peter Hodges learned that he would never be allowed to "thunder off to Io."
Bitter disappointment, to a youth whose father had been one of the first space captains, motivates this gripping tale of the future. Studded with detail of the spaceports, ships and men that handle interplanetary flight, Earthbound is the very human drama of a disillusioned cadet forced by circumstances to help plunder the very space liners he was trained to protect.
How Pete Hodges became involved with interplanetary racketeers, his dramatic escape, his flight to the asteroids on a mission the authorities knew could not succed, is a finely wrought drama that only an author of Milton Lesser's stature could write. Fired with suspense and action, this story of one young man's determination to face the speckled blackness of outer space is science fiction at its best!
Out in the Jovian Moons.
We'll feast our eyes and seek the skies
And plunder Martian ruins!"
The "Spaceman's Chant" turned from a spirited to a heartbreaking refrain when Cadet Peter Hodges learned that he would never be allowed to "thunder off to Io."
Bitter disappointment, to a youth whose father had been one of the first space captains, motivates this gripping tale of the future. Studded with detail of the spaceports, ships and men that handle interplanetary flight, Earthbound is the very human drama of a disillusioned cadet forced by circumstances to help plunder the very space liners he was trained to protect.
How Pete Hodges became involved with interplanetary racketeers, his dramatic escape, his flight to the asteroids on a mission the authorities knew could not succed, is a finely wrought drama that only an author of Milton Lesser's stature could write. Fired with suspense and action, this story of one young man's determination to face the speckled blackness of outer space is science fiction at its best!
Synopsis for FIND THE FEATHERED SERPENT by Evan Hunter
When the strange hourglass-shaped time machine crashed out of the twentieth century and into the Caribbean Sea of fourteen hundred years ago, Neil Falsen realized how unprepared he was to head the expedition that his father had organized back through time. Of the four men who had flown through centuries to solve the mystery of an ancient Mayan god, two had died in the shattering crash. Only Neil and ship's pilot Dave remained to cope with the language and customs of a people who had disappeared into the darkness of history.
It was confusing enough not to know which century the machine had fallen into. But Neil was sure his eyes were playing tricks when he spotted a Norse ship cutting proudly through southern seas. How ancient Vikings, Mayas and two twentieth-century Americans met - and fought - amid the splendors of a civilization that today dots the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico with its ruins, makes a tale as unique in telling as it is in content.
In scenes that throb with drama and thunder with excitement, Dave and Neil found frightening evidence of the approaching Mayan collapse. With a common modern device, Neil stepped into a tense religious ceremony to prevent human sacrifice. Without realizing it, he discovered the secret of the white god among the Mayan Indian dieties.
One of history's most intriguing suppositions forms the basis for this tale of the secret behind the legend of a lost civilization.
It was confusing enough not to know which century the machine had fallen into. But Neil was sure his eyes were playing tricks when he spotted a Norse ship cutting proudly through southern seas. How ancient Vikings, Mayas and two twentieth-century Americans met - and fought - amid the splendors of a civilization that today dots the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico with its ruins, makes a tale as unique in telling as it is in content.
In scenes that throb with drama and thunder with excitement, Dave and Neil found frightening evidence of the approaching Mayan collapse. With a common modern device, Neil stepped into a tense religious ceremony to prevent human sacrifice. Without realizing it, he discovered the secret of the white god among the Mayan Indian dieties.
One of history's most intriguing suppositions forms the basis for this tale of the secret behind the legend of a lost civilization.
Synopsis for FIVE AGAINST VENUS by Philip Latham
When Bruce Robinson's father decided to take the job offered him on the Moon, his space-loving son saw an end to his drab life as an earthbound high-school student. What neither Bruce nor the other three members of the Robinson family could foresee was that within two weeks they'd be the world's leading experts on life upon the planet Venus.
To more experienced interplanetary travelers than the Robinsons, the actions of the crew of the gleaming Moon-bound space ship, AURORA, would have seemed suspicious. But the crew's interest in the mysterious government cargo, stowed in the ship's hold, did not cause the unsuspecting family any serious concern. Not until the captain and his mate abandoned the crippled AURORA, as she lurched through the Venusian mists to a certain crash landing, did the Robinsons awake to their peril.
Philip Latham has written a vivid and detailed novel charged with mystery and suspense about an average American family stranded on the weird and unexplored planet of Venus. Unsure of the planet's oxygen supply, tortured by ultra-sonic waves emitted by man-size batlike creatures, faced by carnivorous plants, the Robinsons are the focal point of a novel unsurpassed in the science fiction field for its frightening and powerful reality.
In an electrifying climax, solutions to strange and forbidding paradoxes top a tale of courage and unassuming bravery.
To more experienced interplanetary travelers than the Robinsons, the actions of the crew of the gleaming Moon-bound space ship, AURORA, would have seemed suspicious. But the crew's interest in the mysterious government cargo, stowed in the ship's hold, did not cause the unsuspecting family any serious concern. Not until the captain and his mate abandoned the crippled AURORA, as she lurched through the Venusian mists to a certain crash landing, did the Robinsons awake to their peril.
Philip Latham has written a vivid and detailed novel charged with mystery and suspense about an average American family stranded on the weird and unexplored planet of Venus. Unsure of the planet's oxygen supply, tortured by ultra-sonic waves emitted by man-size batlike creatures, faced by carnivorous plants, the Robinsons are the focal point of a novel unsurpassed in the science fiction field for its frightening and powerful reality.
In an electrifying climax, solutions to strange and forbidding paradoxes top a tale of courage and unassuming bravery.
Synopsis for ISLANDS IN THE SKY by Arthur C. Clarke
When young Roy Malcolm won the Aviation Quiz Contest, the sponsor, World Airways, never dreamed he could legally claim a trip to the Inner Space Station as his prize. Set in the middle of the twenty-first century, this is an amazing yarn about a teen-ager's adventures and conflicts five hundred miles up on a strange, artificial outpost that circles our planet.
What promised to be merely a sightseeing jaunt into space soon shaped up into the most thrilling weeks in Roy's life. For shortly after his arrival at the outpost a mysterious and untalkative spaceship "anchored" ten miles off the station - and its suspicious behavior fitted in perfectly with the space crew's ideas on interplanetary crime. The surprising outcome of this uninvited visit, a race-for-life mission aboard a long-abandoned ship, a weird mishap that necessitates a trip around the moon spark this story with thrills and suspense.
Bristling with excitement, this is a tale that can't be matched in science fiction, for the author, Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society, knows how to translate his vast knowledge of the universe into an ingenious novel. Told by an acclaimed expert in the field, ISLANDS IN THE SKY is unique not only as entertainment but as the most lucid, most accurate picture of man's proposed conquest of space.
What promised to be merely a sightseeing jaunt into space soon shaped up into the most thrilling weeks in Roy's life. For shortly after his arrival at the outpost a mysterious and untalkative spaceship "anchored" ten miles off the station - and its suspicious behavior fitted in perfectly with the space crew's ideas on interplanetary crime. The surprising outcome of this uninvited visit, a race-for-life mission aboard a long-abandoned ship, a weird mishap that necessitates a trip around the moon spark this story with thrills and suspense.
Bristling with excitement, this is a tale that can't be matched in science fiction, for the author, Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society, knows how to translate his vast knowledge of the universe into an ingenious novel. Told by an acclaimed expert in the field, ISLANDS IN THE SKY is unique not only as entertainment but as the most lucid, most accurate picture of man's proposed conquest of space.
Synopsis for THE LOST PLANET by Paul Dallas
With a shout of "Rockets a-a-away!" three young Earthmen send the untested XL-35 rocket ship screaming into space toward the lost planet of Poseida. Space doctor Bill Hudson and two friends have courageously taken off on a forbidden flight in their eagerness to help prevent a catastrophic war between Earth and Poseida.
On an earlier visit to the lost planet to do medical research, Dr. Hudson had learned to respect the intelligent but octopus-like Poseidans and had developed a lasting friendship with Kutt, the Leader's son.
When the bond of good will between the two worlds reaches the breaking point, Bill devises a startling plan to outwit the small group of unscrupulous men from both planets who are behind the monstrous scheme to wreck peaceful relations. In carrying out his counterplot aided by Lt. Eddie Watkins and Courier Griff Hughes of Planet Earth Forces, Bill rights the universe in a truly dramatic manner.
Here is a tale full of intrigue, suspense and deeds of daring spacemen. It explores the realms of medicine and science in outer space and reveals some fascinating probabilities. More than this, however, the story conveys to the reader an underlying theme intended to promote wisdom, fellowship and friendship among worlds and their peoples.
On an earlier visit to the lost planet to do medical research, Dr. Hudson had learned to respect the intelligent but octopus-like Poseidans and had developed a lasting friendship with Kutt, the Leader's son.
When the bond of good will between the two worlds reaches the breaking point, Bill devises a startling plan to outwit the small group of unscrupulous men from both planets who are behind the monstrous scheme to wreck peaceful relations. In carrying out his counterplot aided by Lt. Eddie Watkins and Courier Griff Hughes of Planet Earth Forces, Bill rights the universe in a truly dramatic manner.
Here is a tale full of intrigue, suspense and deeds of daring spacemen. It explores the realms of medicine and science in outer space and reveals some fascinating probabilities. More than this, however, the story conveys to the reader an underlying theme intended to promote wisdom, fellowship and friendship among worlds and their peoples.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Synopsis for MAROONED ON MARS by Lester Del Rey
Chuck Svenson was a citizen of the Moon - and proud of it! To him, Earth, with its heavy atmosphere, even though it was the "mother" planet, was not the best place in the universe to live. As he rocketed back home from a blast off a point high in the Andes, he anxiously looked forward to the reception he'd receive at Moon City. For he was the only citizen from Earth's satellite to be selected by the United Nations' interplanetary commission as a crew member for the first ship to attempt a flight from Moon to Mars.
How Chuck learned that his orders had been changed, that he was to be replaced by an earthling, started a chain of dramatic and thrilling events that ended in the weird and torturous catacombs of Mars. For the spunky teen-ager would not be cheated of the universe's greatest adventure! When the Mars-bound ship rose on a pillar of flame above the desolate lunar landscape, it carried a stowaway in its hold. What Chuck's extra weight meant to the carefully figured fuel supply, the ship's crash landing on a "lifeless" planet, the disappearance of vitally needed tools from the vicinity of the stricken ship - fill these pages with suspense and mystery.
A story of bizarre adventure, MAROONED ON MARS is also the tense personal drama of a young man who shoulders the responsibility for stranding his shipmates. In a breath-taking climax, near the ruins of a long-lost civilization that suddenly comes alive with rodent-like Martians, Chuck proves the courage and bravery of one young "citizen of the Moon!"
How Chuck learned that his orders had been changed, that he was to be replaced by an earthling, started a chain of dramatic and thrilling events that ended in the weird and torturous catacombs of Mars. For the spunky teen-ager would not be cheated of the universe's greatest adventure! When the Mars-bound ship rose on a pillar of flame above the desolate lunar landscape, it carried a stowaway in its hold. What Chuck's extra weight meant to the carefully figured fuel supply, the ship's crash landing on a "lifeless" planet, the disappearance of vitally needed tools from the vicinity of the stricken ship - fill these pages with suspense and mystery.
A story of bizarre adventure, MAROONED ON MARS is also the tense personal drama of a young man who shoulders the responsibility for stranding his shipmates. In a breath-taking climax, near the ruins of a long-lost civilization that suddenly comes alive with rodent-like Martians, Chuck proves the courage and bravery of one young "citizen of the Moon!"
Synopsis for MISSING MEN OF SATURN by Philip Latham
"We Go Anywhere" was the legend scrawled on the battered hull of the ALBATROSS, one of the worst old tubs in space. To Dale Sutton, the biggest man on campus at the Space Academy, it was a slap in the face to be ordered to such a crate. But his biggest shock came when orders set the ALBATROSS and its two companion ships on a course that let straight to the dreaded planet Saturn. No one had ever come back from Saturn, yet everyone knew the story of Captain Dearborn who had led the first and only expedition to the ringed planet a century earlier. His diary was the record of a steadily losing battle against the unknown as one by one, the little party had vanished.
Now, a hundred years later, the superstitious crew of the ALBATROSS found it impossible to rid themselves of the feeling that the same catastrophe that had wiped out the previous expedition would strike again. They had hardly been settled a day in Dearborn's old underground quarters on Titan, Saturn's largest satellite, when their gnawing fears began to materialize. First, the loss of all their guns when the lights suddenly and inexplicably faded, then the disappearance of the first man! But greater and more deadly horrors were yet to come: panicky moments of groping though ghastly underground caves, the appearance of a face bearing the same twisted features of the illustrious Captain Dearborn, a collision that sends Titan up in a blaze of destruction, and the final landing on Saturn, a planet heaving with volcanos and covered with streams of molten lava.
Philip Latham's portrayal of life on a planet about whose conditions few have ventured a guess is a tale guaranteed to make the reader as numb with terror as the men the author writes about.
Now, a hundred years later, the superstitious crew of the ALBATROSS found it impossible to rid themselves of the feeling that the same catastrophe that had wiped out the previous expedition would strike again. They had hardly been settled a day in Dearborn's old underground quarters on Titan, Saturn's largest satellite, when their gnawing fears began to materialize. First, the loss of all their guns when the lights suddenly and inexplicably faded, then the disappearance of the first man! But greater and more deadly horrors were yet to come: panicky moments of groping though ghastly underground caves, the appearance of a face bearing the same twisted features of the illustrious Captain Dearborn, a collision that sends Titan up in a blaze of destruction, and the final landing on Saturn, a planet heaving with volcanos and covered with streams of molten lava.
Philip Latham's portrayal of life on a planet about whose conditions few have ventured a guess is a tale guaranteed to make the reader as numb with terror as the men the author writes about.
Synopsis for MISSION TO THE MOON by Lester Del Rey
Jim Stanley, who had helped to build the first space station, was thrilled to return to it as a member of the crew selected to erect the ships which would fulfil Man's age-long dream to reach the Moon. A total effort was being made to surpass the progress achieved in outer space by an enemy Combine. It was believed that if this foreign group scored the initial landing and gained control of the cold planet, the world would be threatened.
The desperate effort to forge ahead of the Combine suddenly turns into a race against death when a young, space-happy boy takes off alone for the Moon in an adequate ship. Although hampered by accidents, false rumors, and conflicts on Earth below, the crew works with frantic haste and grim determination to get the ships underway and to the boy in time. Jim Stanley, as mechanic and pilot, contributes a major share in the task of construction and on the tense rescue journey.
Here is a gripping account of pioneers in space by one of science fiction's best known and most skilful writers. Jim Stanley's adventures on the first flight to the Moon make a lusty and exciting tale for all who love to envision Man's ultimate conquest of space.
The desperate effort to forge ahead of the Combine suddenly turns into a race against death when a young, space-happy boy takes off alone for the Moon in an adequate ship. Although hampered by accidents, false rumors, and conflicts on Earth below, the crew works with frantic haste and grim determination to get the ships underway and to the boy in time. Jim Stanley, as mechanic and pilot, contributes a major share in the task of construction and on the tense rescue journey.
Here is a gripping account of pioneers in space by one of science fiction's best known and most skilful writers. Jim Stanley's adventures on the first flight to the Moon make a lusty and exciting tale for all who love to envision Man's ultimate conquest of space.
Synopsis for MISTS OF DAWN by Chad Oliver
"It would be sheer and utter folly to attempt to journey into a time that we knew nothing about." These were Mark's uncle's words a few minutes before the explosion that threw Mark against the controls of a space-time machine - hurling him back to 50,000 B.C. Victim of this twist of events, Mark is trapped in the terrifying days of the dawn of man, destined to play out the deadly game of fight for survival across the plains of the Ice Age.
Stepping out into a world old beyond comprehension, Mark suddenly finds himself stalked by monstrous half-men - the hideous Neanderthals - in a desperate chase that mounts to nightmare proportions. Hopelessly cut off from his only means of escape, Mark stumbles upon one of the most remarkable cultures in all the fantastic history of mankind - the Cro-Magnon. Here among giant warriors, in this faraway corner of history, he finds refuge and friendship - and a glimmer of hope for return to a home that is fifty-two thousand years away!
Brimming with details of thunderous wars between man and mammoth, crammed with vivid descriptions of the Neanderthals who prowled the plains in wicked packs, this tale charges toward a spectacular climax. Unforgettable in its evocation of an incredible world, MISTS OF DAWN is told with the force and reality that only a writer of remarkable skill and an anthropologist of rare wisdom, such as Chad Oliver, could give it.
Stepping out into a world old beyond comprehension, Mark suddenly finds himself stalked by monstrous half-men - the hideous Neanderthals - in a desperate chase that mounts to nightmare proportions. Hopelessly cut off from his only means of escape, Mark stumbles upon one of the most remarkable cultures in all the fantastic history of mankind - the Cro-Magnon. Here among giant warriors, in this faraway corner of history, he finds refuge and friendship - and a glimmer of hope for return to a home that is fifty-two thousand years away!
Brimming with details of thunderous wars between man and mammoth, crammed with vivid descriptions of the Neanderthals who prowled the plains in wicked packs, this tale charges toward a spectacular climax. Unforgettable in its evocation of an incredible world, MISTS OF DAWN is told with the force and reality that only a writer of remarkable skill and an anthropologist of rare wisdom, such as Chad Oliver, could give it.
Synopsis for THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET by Kenneth Wright
When a planet, moving faster than Earth, entered the Solar System out beyond Pluto, the reporters, for want of a better name, termed it "Planet X." "Planet X, that astronomical curiosity," became, in a few short weeks, an object of stark terror to the billions of men scattered on the planets around our Sun, from blazing Mercury to frigid Pluto.
To Bob Griffith's father, Commander of the Ninth Wing of the Solar Federation's Space Navy, fell the task of investigating the strange visitor whose black ships moved through space without rocket exhaust, and whose weapons literally melted spaceships out of the heavens.
As his father's aid, aboard the gleaming LANCE OF DEIMOS that led the reconnaissance fleet, Bob watched in horror the first incident that would start a war which the Solar Federation "could not win."
This gripping tale that rockets from Neptune's tiny moon of Outpost, base of the Federation's Navy, to the orbit of an Earth threatened with destruction, features a young space cadet and his father, who, while preparing for war, desperately search for peace. How Bob Griffith finds himself a captive on the mysterious planet, Thule; details of life on a world that has learned how to overcome the forces of gravity and momentum; the discussions that rage over the acceptance of a "wandering planet" into the Solar alliance come alive in a book that vividly creates a troubled era in a fascinating universe of the future!
To Bob Griffith's father, Commander of the Ninth Wing of the Solar Federation's Space Navy, fell the task of investigating the strange visitor whose black ships moved through space without rocket exhaust, and whose weapons literally melted spaceships out of the heavens.
As his father's aid, aboard the gleaming LANCE OF DEIMOS that led the reconnaissance fleet, Bob watched in horror the first incident that would start a war which the Solar Federation "could not win."
This gripping tale that rockets from Neptune's tiny moon of Outpost, base of the Federation's Navy, to the orbit of an Earth threatened with destruction, features a young space cadet and his father, who, while preparing for war, desperately search for peace. How Bob Griffith finds himself a captive on the mysterious planet, Thule; details of life on a world that has learned how to overcome the forces of gravity and momentum; the discussions that rage over the acceptance of a "wandering planet" into the Solar alliance come alive in a book that vividly creates a troubled era in a fascinating universe of the future!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Synopsis for MYSTERY OF THE THIRD MINE by Robert W. Lowndes
One of the most fascinating areas in the solar system - the Asteroid Belt - gives this tale of mystery, intrigue and excitement a unique background. In this "orbit of danger," where rugged space frontiersmen risked their necks in a sea of swirling rock, teen-age Peter Clay and his father were faced with the possibility of having their small claim to Asteroid mining rights wiped out.
In the shaky system of justice that had grown up between Mars and Jupiter to protect the individual miner, the Ama (Asteroid Miners' Association) played an important part. It policed the Belt, spotted claim jumpers and was expectied to aid any individual unlucky enough to get lost or disabled. When events led the Clays to suspect the Ama of invalidating claims for criminal purposes, they could only look to themselves and the sketchy Martian-sponsored government for help.
From the moment the Clays heard a miner signaling for help from a tiny asteroid until they, with a group of honest men, band together to protect their claim from the Ama's marauding ships, action and suspense color every page of this unusual story. How Peter Clay unraveled a maze of false clues; his narrow brush with desperate men who had a mining empire within their grasp; the details of life on the Asteroid frontier create, in MYSTERY OF THE THIRD MINE, a vivid world of drama and danger unique in the annals of science fiction.
In the shaky system of justice that had grown up between Mars and Jupiter to protect the individual miner, the Ama (Asteroid Miners' Association) played an important part. It policed the Belt, spotted claim jumpers and was expectied to aid any individual unlucky enough to get lost or disabled. When events led the Clays to suspect the Ama of invalidating claims for criminal purposes, they could only look to themselves and the sketchy Martian-sponsored government for help.
From the moment the Clays heard a miner signaling for help from a tiny asteroid until they, with a group of honest men, band together to protect their claim from the Ama's marauding ships, action and suspense color every page of this unusual story. How Peter Clay unraveled a maze of false clues; his narrow brush with desperate men who had a mining empire within their grasp; the details of life on the Asteroid frontier create, in MYSTERY OF THE THIRD MINE, a vivid world of drama and danger unique in the annals of science fiction.
Synopsis for PLANET OF LIGHT by Raymond F. Jones
Ron Barron never expectied to see Clonar again. Clonar, the boy who alone had survived the crash of an interstllar saucer-ship near Ron's home, had been rescued by his people and returned to Rorla, a planet in the Great Galaxy of Andromeda, almost a million light-years from Earth. When he left, he assured Ron that communication between Rorla and Earth would be impossible. Yet only a year later, Ron listened with growing excitement to Clonar's voice coming over the interstellar communication system, inviting Ron and his family to journey to Rorla to attend a conference of the Galactic Federation.
None of the Barrons could have known that Clonar's invitation was violently opposed by the Rorlans, nor that on Rorla was an unknown enemy who resented their coming - a man who saw Earth's destruction as a necessity. And it was a bitter coincidence that that man should be in charge of the colony of delegates. As representatives of a planet whose civilization was considered dangerous and too inferior for membership in the Federation, the Barrons found themselves at the mercy of suspicious and hostile strangers bent on proving Earth's civilization unsalvageable. Not until Ron's father becomes an innocent party to an assassination plot, do they fully realize to what extent the Rorlans will carry their deception.
Climaxed by a shocking courtroom scene in which Ron stands trial for Earth, this sequel to Raymond Jones's SON OF THE STARS is an intricately plotted tale of what could happen if earth were to come face to face with long-established civilizations of Outer Space.
None of the Barrons could have known that Clonar's invitation was violently opposed by the Rorlans, nor that on Rorla was an unknown enemy who resented their coming - a man who saw Earth's destruction as a necessity. And it was a bitter coincidence that that man should be in charge of the colony of delegates. As representatives of a planet whose civilization was considered dangerous and too inferior for membership in the Federation, the Barrons found themselves at the mercy of suspicious and hostile strangers bent on proving Earth's civilization unsalvageable. Not until Ron's father becomes an innocent party to an assassination plot, do they fully realize to what extent the Rorlans will carry their deception.
Climaxed by a shocking courtroom scene in which Ron stands trial for Earth, this sequel to Raymond Jones's SON OF THE STARS is an intricately plotted tale of what could happen if earth were to come face to face with long-established civilizations of Outer Space.
Synopsis for ROCKET TO LUNA by Richard Marsten
When the first moon-bound rocket blasted off from the Earth's space station in 1983, it was as ready for every eventuality as scientists and engineers could make it. But neither the crew nor the authorities were prepared for the last-minute switch in the ship's complement that upset carefully planned replacement schedules. Instead of a highly trained Air Force Academy graduate as the fifth man in the pioneering crew, the inaugural rocket headed into space with teen-age Ted Baker, an Academy senior.
Around a tragic misunderstanding, Richard Marsten has traced a tale of high excitement from the Earth's gleaming satellite space station to the ragged surface of a hostile Moon. His story of how a teen-ager crash lands a crippled ship on the Moon, far from its base of supplies, is not only an unexcelled description of space flight but a tense personal drama of a young man who proves his worth to a hostile crew.
A thousand-mile trek on foot across the face of the Moon, the discovery of organic matter on the planet's airless surface, the slow depletion of irreplaceable supplies, the effect of the Sun on a planet that lacks atmosphere, stud this story of a strained relationship between stranded crew members with fascinating detail. Climaxed with a rocket blastoff that vindicates the judgment of one young earthling, ROCKET TO LUNA is as gripping a flight into space and the future as any contemporary author has written.
Around a tragic misunderstanding, Richard Marsten has traced a tale of high excitement from the Earth's gleaming satellite space station to the ragged surface of a hostile Moon. His story of how a teen-ager crash lands a crippled ship on the Moon, far from its base of supplies, is not only an unexcelled description of space flight but a tense personal drama of a young man who proves his worth to a hostile crew.
A thousand-mile trek on foot across the face of the Moon, the discovery of organic matter on the planet's airless surface, the slow depletion of irreplaceable supplies, the effect of the Sun on a planet that lacks atmosphere, stud this story of a strained relationship between stranded crew members with fascinating detail. Climaxed with a rocket blastoff that vindicates the judgment of one young earthling, ROCKET TO LUNA is as gripping a flight into space and the future as any contemporary author has written.
Synopsis for THE SECRET OF THE MARTIAN MOONS by Donald A. Wollheim
Back to Mars! At long last - after four years of interplanetary study on Earth - Nelson Parr stepped aboard the Mars-bound space liner that was to carry him to his home planet. By the year 2120, Earth had established a colony on Mars and had explored the land - originally inhabited by Martians, a weird yet intelligent people...a vanished race. But when Nelse discovered the trhee-fingered handprint in his cabin, he couldn't help but wonder whether the intruder might have been Martian. Could it be that the Martians still lived?
The teen-ager reached Mars to hear disheartening news - the inhabitants of the red planet were ordered to return to Earth. But Nelse, his father and four other scientists disobeyed. They rocketed to Phobos, a satellite of Mars, where they set up their equipment to observe phenomena of the red planet...unaware that they, too, were being observed! When, through the telescope, they sighted strange events, it was decided that Nelse and a companion should take up a post on the other satellite, Deimos.
"Crash-landing" into a realm of space-tense adventure, Nelse - his companion murdered by outer-world beings - came to grips with the mysterious forces of space, alone. Capture, escape and capture follow one another in a dizzying spiral of desperate events to this book's hair-raising climax.
The teen-ager reached Mars to hear disheartening news - the inhabitants of the red planet were ordered to return to Earth. But Nelse, his father and four other scientists disobeyed. They rocketed to Phobos, a satellite of Mars, where they set up their equipment to observe phenomena of the red planet...unaware that they, too, were being observed! When, through the telescope, they sighted strange events, it was decided that Nelse and a companion should take up a post on the other satellite, Deimos.
"Crash-landing" into a realm of space-tense adventure, Nelse - his companion murdered by outer-world beings - came to grips with the mysterious forces of space, alone. Capture, escape and capture follow one another in a dizzying spiral of desperate events to this book's hair-raising climax.
Synopsis for SECRET OF THE NINTH PLANET by Donald A. Wollheim
On the day that the theft of the solar system's light begins, Burl Denning is with an archaeological expedition in the Andes, only a few miles from the source of the "disturbance." Within hours the United States Air Force has ordered the expedition to investigate the strange phenomenon that is causing a dimness and a drop in temperature throughout the world.
This is the start of a fantastic adventure that eventually takes Burl, a high-school senior, on the first circumnavigation of the solar system. On planet after planet, he and the crew of the Magellan, a gleaming, powerful, and virtually untested spaceship, discover the weird trappings of a brilliantly-designed Sun-tap station. Each planetfall brings unexpected hazards, as the ship draws closer and closer to solving the mystery of the theft.
The author has based his story on science fact. Researchers are actually at work on the possibilities of just such a circumnavigation, and on another surprising theory brought out in this book.
Donald Wollheim, an established science fiction writer, is the author of THE SECRET OF SATURN'S RINGS and THE SECRET OF THE MARTIAN MOONS.
This is the start of a fantastic adventure that eventually takes Burl, a high-school senior, on the first circumnavigation of the solar system. On planet after planet, he and the crew of the Magellan, a gleaming, powerful, and virtually untested spaceship, discover the weird trappings of a brilliantly-designed Sun-tap station. Each planetfall brings unexpected hazards, as the ship draws closer and closer to solving the mystery of the theft.
The author has based his story on science fact. Researchers are actually at work on the possibilities of just such a circumnavigation, and on another surprising theory brought out in this book.
Donald Wollheim, an established science fiction writer, is the author of THE SECRET OF SATURN'S RINGS and THE SECRET OF THE MARTIAN MOONS.
Synopsis for SON OF THE STARS by Raymond F. Jones
Taken from the cover flap of the novel SON OF THE STARS by Raymond F. Jones:
"This person is not even human. It's impossible for me to diagnose the injury or illness of such a structure as his!" With these words and a worried frown, Doc Smithers sums up the case of the strange creature that lay on Ron Barron's bed. For the boy, Clonar, is like nothing earth's medical books have ever cataloged. And the day Ron Barron found him, staggering away from the wrecked metal disk that lay hidden near Longview, is one that put earth's existence in jeopardy!
In SON OF THE STARS, Raymond Jones has written of a forthright friendship between a young castaway from space and his earthly counterpart. How a cold and suspicious military, recognizing Clonar only as an alien from an astonishingly advanced civilization, turns friendship into treachery that threatens earth's existence, makes this an electrifying story with a thought-provoking theme. In scenes uncomfortably vivid, you'll meet soldiers and citizens of a typical American city; people like calculating General Gillispie and frightened Mrs. Barron, whose reactions to an "interplanetary" situation bring the world to the brink of destruction.
Clonar's words, "They're coming to destroy your world!" refer to a planet whose wars and strife might shortly spread to other worlds. Climaxed with a scene of power and drama unmatched in science fiction, SON OF THE STARS is a breath-taking book you won't put down until the very last page - and won't be able to forget until men reach the stars and learn for themselves!
"This person is not even human. It's impossible for me to diagnose the injury or illness of such a structure as his!" With these words and a worried frown, Doc Smithers sums up the case of the strange creature that lay on Ron Barron's bed. For the boy, Clonar, is like nothing earth's medical books have ever cataloged. And the day Ron Barron found him, staggering away from the wrecked metal disk that lay hidden near Longview, is one that put earth's existence in jeopardy!
In SON OF THE STARS, Raymond Jones has written of a forthright friendship between a young castaway from space and his earthly counterpart. How a cold and suspicious military, recognizing Clonar only as an alien from an astonishingly advanced civilization, turns friendship into treachery that threatens earth's existence, makes this an electrifying story with a thought-provoking theme. In scenes uncomfortably vivid, you'll meet soldiers and citizens of a typical American city; people like calculating General Gillispie and frightened Mrs. Barron, whose reactions to an "interplanetary" situation bring the world to the brink of destruction.
Clonar's words, "They're coming to destroy your world!" refer to a planet whose wars and strife might shortly spread to other worlds. Climaxed with a scene of power and drama unmatched in science fiction, SON OF THE STARS is a breath-taking book you won't put down until the very last page - and won't be able to forget until men reach the stars and learn for themselves!
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