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.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Various Picture Books

Image
As I said in my review of Peter Rabbit's Storytime Collection , I am wanting to find a way to acknowledge the books I read to Ezekiel without adding individual picture books to my reading list - I feel that would dilute it a bit much. So in this post, I've decided to look at a group of picture books all together. I've picked five picture books that I like (with a notable and noteworthy exception), and also asked Elise for five picture books she is  enjoying reading to Ezekiel. It's interesting (and helpful for this list) that our lists haven't overlapped at all this time around. So, here are ten picture books (plus one bonus 'book') that Ezekiel has been exposed to in the first 7ish months of his life: Karl's List Bunnies on the Bus - Philip Ardagh and (illustrator) Ben Mantle. Published by Walker Books Ltd: London, 2020 (2019). This is one of my favourites among our current picture books. A group of bunnies hijack a bus and hurtle through the town on th
Read more

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Image
Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book is e
Read more

In a Free State - VS Naipaul

Image
Published by Picador: London, UK, 2001. First published 1971. An odd book, containing three different narratives (along with separate prologue and epilogue narratives) all on the theme of feeling displaced in a different culture and environment.  The first main story is told from the perspective of Santosh, an Indian servant who moves to America, only to find himself questioning his life choices. The next story follows a West Indian man who travels to England to support his brother, only to become disillusioned and eventually murder someone.  The third main narrative - which is the longest and also the titular 'In a Free State' - follows follows two English expats - Bobby and Linda - as they road trip south through a progressively more war-torn African nation. On the way we learn a lot about each character - mostly through their conversations - and witness their interactions with each other and those around them. As with many of the  Booker books I have read, there is an occasi
Read more