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The Mysterious Planet

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One has to be careful with reviewing this novel. Published in 1953, this was right about the time of the Korean War, and right smack during the Cold War. The book initially appears to be about this mysterious 10th planet, Planet X, and the inhabitants thereof, but in the end it's mostly an anti-war novel. Which is great; in it there are several passages about how can civilized men still have war. True enough. But I think that's obvious enough. Sure reading about, or watching a movie about, or playing a video game about war may be interesting, but for those considering the horrors of true war, who would want that. At some point in past history, warfare was common through much of the `civilized' world, but then it was also thought that the world was flat. Anybody still think the world is flat? Because of the politics of the world of 1953, it's difficult to know if the author was alluding to the Soviets as the enemy, and heck, they're civilized and just *great* guys once you get to know them, and it's all just a big misunderstanding, and only a `sacrifice' is needed to show them how sincere we are for peace. What, was not their occupation of Berlin sufficient, their occupation of central and eastern Europe, their subsequent refusal to leave these countries, and then their formation of puppet governments in those countries. Oh yeah, and then there's the blood of the 20 million butchered by the Soviets on their hands. The author writes: "I think you'll find in a war where there is no greed or hate, but only fear, that one side can manage peace, if it wants to." That's a great thing to say, but one has to be careful in it's interpretation. One can say that if Hitler didn't kill 13 million people, that Nazism would have been OK. But Hitler did butcher 13 million people. And Stalin murdered 20 million people.

Outside of the above-mentioned, the book is a good data point on the state of SF in 1953. It appears written more for young adults; it's similar to Heinlein's juvenile series. There is some hard sci-fi about changing the inertia of bodies in order to have high velocities for spacecraft, or even planets, without the use of propellants. And since there's the threat of war, there are a number of references to spying, some of which come from WWII. The mock up of a space craft is similar to the aircraft mock ups the Allied's used in England for overflying German aircraft to delude them of the location of the launch of D-Day, the placement of spies, and the use of bugs and florescent inks to locate tamperage. The mentioned Solar Federation outpost on Neptune comes during the launch by NASA of our planets first launch of a satellite to Pluto and the outer reaches of our solar system.

As much as I love Heinlein's early work, I would have to say that this novel by Lester Del Ray is probably the best single example of the post-war space opera. It has everything: the Federation, the idealism and tradition, the Cadet corps, the hard science details, the sense of optimism about the future.... It is just a good read.
This is an idealistic book. It is not some simple minded "kill all the bugs" combat story. The members of the fleet are shown to be thinking men that hate the thought of war as much, or more, than anyone. And the aliens are simularly portrayed with depth, and yes, humanity. Here, sane and civilised men go out of their way to try to avoid the horror of total war, while never for a moment hesitating to fight that war to win it, should it be truly unavoidable. There is a line towards the end of the last chapter, "There had never been hatred, Bob knew, because cultures sufficiently advanced do not have to hate other cultures through lack of understanding." This may be a "kid's book", but this is not "kid's stuff"....

In 1953 Holt, Rienhart and Winston published this title as part of their hardbound science fiction line geared towards young readers. Lester del Rey writing as Kenneth Wright was the author. I recall reading several of these Holt science-fiction juveniles in the 1950's and they inspired my lifelong interest in astronomy and space exploration. I wish I could recommend this title to new readers but what were once novel speculations of possible future events and discoveries reads today like so much hocus-pocus and outright nonsense. The passage of 50 years has not treated this book kindly. One saving grace is a subplot concerning the ageless question of either war or peace with the Aliens From Outer Space. For the dedicated fan of speculative fiction this is a classic example of 1950's science fiction with the emphasis on fiction.