The Secret of the Ninth Planet - Donald Wollheim

Published by LibriVox. Originally published 1959.
Audiobook released 24-06-2012 by LibriVox. Narrated by Richard Kilmer.

Donald Wollheim is not an author I had ever heard of, but the book jumped out when I was looking for another audiobook option. The Secret of the Ninth Planet is a fairly straight-forward old-school science fiction novel, with Burl Denning, our young protagonist, getting caught up in a race to destroy a number of "sun-tappers" that have been placed on various planets and moons throughout our solar system by an as-yet unidentified extraterrestrial enemy. Denning was exposed to an 'electric charge' when he and his father were delegated the responsibility of destroying the first discovered sun-tapper (the Earth one), and as such he may be the only person who can turn off the remaining sun-tappers.

The story is partially an excuse to talk about each planet in the solar system and its make-up (at least as believed to be the case in 1959), and includes extraterrestrial life on Venus, Mars, Callisto, Pluto, Neptune and Triton. Other inaccuracies include the number of moons belonging to various planets, and the mistaken assumption that Pluto is about the size of Earth. Another plot element that seems a little 'dated' is the way that the Earthlings are willing to risk completely wiping out another species for their own survival rather than communicate with them at all. This does still occasionally find its way into science-fiction, but in the context of this book it seems quite 'colonial' and antiquated.

Yet despite these elements, the book also includes some fun and creative science-fiction, including an anti-gravity drive system that uses the gravity of other heavenly bodies to pull the ship towards a destination while cancelling the gravity of the place of departure. A finale involving a number of species all banding together to fight a common enemy is also a fun aspect.

As for the audiobook version, Richard Kilmer is a quite robotic voice, taking pauses in odd places and requiring a little extra concentration to follow the flow. So, not the best version to listen to (I now notice that LibriVox has uploaded a second version of this book, presumably with a different voice), but a fun story nonetheless.

Completed 22 July 2021.


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