 | |
| Author | Robert A. W. Lowndes |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Ed Emshwiller |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | science-fiction novel |
| Published | 1961 (Ace Books) |
| Pages | 119 |
| OCLC | 4921255 |
The Puzzle Planet is a science-fiction novel by Robert A. W. Lowndes. It was published in 1961 by Ace Books as one of their double novels (# D-485). According to the author, it marks the first attempt to create a proper science-fiction murder mystery.
Dr. Roy Auckland has been asked by Dr. Howard James to come with him on an archaeological expedition to the planet Carolus. As a communications expert, Roy will deal with the Vaec, roly-poly humanoids who talk like characters out of an old Charlie Chan movie. A simple people, the Vaec judge everything by its contribution to mirth and they enjoy playing harmless pranks on each other and on the Terrans. Roy also serves covertly as a detective searching for an assassin.
Shortly after coming to Carolus Roy discovers that someone has poisoned Dr. James' soup. The attempted poisoning was discovered and thwarted by one of the Vaec, who smelled the poison. Sometime later a time bomb, clearly meant for Dr. James, explodes harmlessly. Apparently someone is trying to murder Dr. James and is being downright amateurish about it. Roy wants to prevent that someone from succeeding. As in any good murder mystery, Roy has the intended victim and a list of suspects:
Not long after Roy has his list made up and has asked four of the Vaec to watch the building in which the Terrans reside, one person on the list is murdered. It was made to look like an accident, as if the victim had been stung by one of the local insects, but Roy discovers that the murder was executed by a very clever trap that apparently had been set for Dr. James. After interrogating the Vaec observers Roy feels that he has all of the clues necessary to solve the murder, but he can’t yet see the pattern.
Later Roy goes to the Vaec village, where the aliens subject him to several tests that reveal to him a procedural error that he's been making in his investigation. He also discovers that the Vaec are teledynes, that they possess the power of telepathy and the ability to teleport objects. As Roy returns to the Terran base the murderer attempts to kill him, but the Vaec thwart the attempt.
At last Roy solves the mystery and, in good murder mystery fashion, he gathers all of the participants together to reveal the killer. At the same time the Vaec reveal that they are long-lived members of a highly advanced civilization and that they are cutting off all contact with Terrans until the Terrans properly fulfill their potential.
In the Foreword [1] Lowndes writes,
Back in the early 40s, I remember a bull-session that some of us had with John W. Campbell, where he stated definitively that there could never be any such thing as a science-fiction detective story in the traditional “murder mystery” sense. His reason for this proclamation was that since almost anything can happen in a science-fiction story – the villain can pull any sort of dingus or super-phenomenon out of his hat – the reader would never have a fair chance to solve the mystery. I didn’t quite believe it, yet I couldn’t think of any counter-argument to throw at John at the time. But, as Holmes would have said, it was all so absurdly simple! Of course there can be science-fiction murder mysteries, offering the reader as good a chance to solve the crime as he has in any ordinary murder-mystery where the author is playing fair. And you can have science-fiction wonders and dinguses and super-scientific phenomenon, too: you just make it clear that nothing essential to the solution of the crime is wrapped up in super-science, or intricate phenomenon and extrapolation that only a scientific wizard could be expected to unravel. The motives, methods, and clues must all lie within the range of what is clearly presented to the reader. I hope Puzzle Planet will convince you that the murder mystery does have a place in science fiction.
The book was reviewed by
The Naked Sun is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, the second in his Robot series. Like its predecessor, The Caves of Steel, this is a whodunit story. It was first published in book form in 1957 after being serialized in Astounding Science Fiction between October and December 1956.
Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first science fiction (SF) title in 1953. This was successful, and science fiction titles outnumbered both mysteries and westerns within a few years. Other genres also made an appearance, including nonfiction, gothic novels, media tie-in novelizations, and romances. Ace became known for the tête-bêche binding format used for many of its early books, although it did not originate the format. Most of the early titles were published in this "Ace Double" format, and Ace continued to issue books in varied genres, bound tête-bêche, until 1973.
James Henry Schmitz was an American science fiction writer born in Hamburg, Germany of American parents.
The Super Barbarians is a science fiction novel by British writer John Brunner, first published in the United States by Ace Books in 1962. Written in the first person, the story gives an account of an Earthman's struggle to regain lost memories and to uncover the horrifying secret of the feudal society whose people used remarkably advanced technology to conquer Earth and its solar system.
Asimov's Mysteries, published in 1968, is a collection of 14 short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov, almost all of them science fiction mysteries. The stories were all originally published in magazines between 1954 and 1967, except for "Marooned off Vesta", Asimov's first published story, which first appeared in 1939.
Robert Augustine Ward "Doc" Lowndes was an American science fiction author, editor and fan. He was known best as the editor of Future Science Fiction, Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Quarterly, among many other crime-fiction, western, sports-fiction, and other pulp and digest sized magazines for Columbia Publications. Among the most famous writers he was first to publish at Columbia was mystery writer Edward D. Hoch, who in turn would contribute to Lowndes's fiction magazines as long as he was editing them. Lowndes was a principal member of the Futurians. His first story, "The Outpost at Altark" for Super Science in 1940, was written in collaboration with fellow Futurian Donald A. Wollheim, uncredited.
The Jewels of Aptor is a 1962 science fantasy novel by Samuel R. Delany, his first published novel. It first appeared in shortened form as an Ace Double F-173 together with Second Ending by James White.
Fields of Sleep is a fantasy novel by British writer E. C. Vivian. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1923 by Hutchinson. In the United States, the novel first appeared in the magazine Famous Fantastic Mysteries under the title The Valley of Silent Men. An edition with illustrations by Thomas Canty was published by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in 1980. A sequel, People of the Darkness, appeared in 1924. An omnibus edition of the two volumes was published by Arno Press as Aia in 1978.
The Planet Savers is a science fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, part of her Darkover series. It was first published in book form in English by Ace Books in 1962, dos-à-dos with Bradley's novel The Sword of Aldones. The story first appeared in the November 1958 issue of the magazine Amazing Stories. It subsequently appeared in a German translation in 1960 with additional chapters added that were not by the author.
Falcons of Narabedla is a science fiction novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley set in the universe of her Darkover series. It was first published in book form in English by Ace Books in 1964, as an Ace Double with Bradley's collection The Dark Intruder and Other Stories on the other side. The story first appeared in the May 1957 issue of the magazine Other Worlds.
The Door Through Space is a 1961 science fiction novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley. An expansion of Bradley's story "Bird of Prey", which first appeared in the May, 1957 issue of the magazine Venture, it is her first novel, and was published by Ace Books, bound tête-bêche with Rendezvous on a Lost World by A. Bertram Chandler.
Famous Fantastic Mysteries was an American science fiction and fantasy pulp magazine published from 1939 to 1953. The editor was Mary Gnaedinger. It was launched by the Munsey Company as a way to reprint the many science fiction and fantasy stories which had appeared over the preceding decades in Munsey magazines such as Argosy. From its first issue, dated September/October 1939, Famous Fantastic Mysteries was an immediate success. Less than a year later, a companion magazine, Fantastic Novels, was launched.
The Wizard of Linn is a science fiction novel by Canadian American writer A. E. van Vogt, a sequel to Empire of the Atom. The novel was originally serialized in the science fiction magazine Astounding Science Fiction. It was first published in book form in Germany in 1961 by Terra Sonderband, as Der Zauberer von Linn.
Rocket to Limbo is a 1957 science fiction novel by Alan E. Nourse. It was first published in book form by David McKay Co., Inc, and was later incorporated into an Ace Double. It first appeared in the October 1957 issue of Satellite Science Fiction.
The Angry Espers is a science-fiction novel written by Lloyd Biggle, Jr. and published by Ace Books as half of Ace Double #D-485 in 1961. The novel first appeared in the August 1959 issue of Amazing Science Fiction Stories as A Taste of Fire. In 1962 it was given Honorable Mention as a candidate for the Best Novel Hugo Award.
Star Born is a science fiction novel by American writer Andre Norton, first published in 1957 by World Publishing Company of Cleveland. This is the sequel to The Stars Are Ours! and continues that adventure three generations on.
Starship Through Space is a science-fiction novel written by G. Harry Stine under the pseudonym Lee Correy. It was published in 1954 by Henry Holt and Company. The book tells the story of the building of the first starship and of its flight to Alpha Centauri.
Voodoo Planet is a science fiction novel by American writer Andre Norton, first published in 1959 by Ace Books. This is a short novel that was usually published in a double-novel format. It is part of the Solar Queen series of novels.
The War Against the Rull is a science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. Van Vogt, first published in 1959 by Simon & Schuster. The novel is a fixup made from six short stories and two connecting chapters.
The Canopy of Time is a science fiction novel by English writer Brian W. Aldiss, first published in 1959 by Faber and Faber. The story is a fix-up of previously published short stories, centering on the forty-million year history of the fictional city of New Union. The book was published in the United States as Galaxies Like Grains of Sand.
Notes
Sources