The Secret of Saturn's Rings

Last updated
The Secret of Saturn's Rings
TheSecretOfSaturnsRings.jpg
First edition
AuthorDonald A. Wollheim
Cover artistAlex Schomburg
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genrescience-fiction novel
Published1954 (John C. Winston Co.)
Pages207
OCLC 1279359

The Secret of Saturn's Rings is a science-fiction novel by Donald A. Wollheim and was first published in the United States by the John C. Winston Company in 1954. This is the first of three novels that Wollheim wrote for the Winston Company, the other two being The Secret of the Martian Moons (1955) and The Secret of the Ninth Planet (1959).

Contents

This is also one of the thirty-five juvenile novels that comprise the Winston Science Fiction set, which novels were published in the 1950s for a readership of teen-aged boys. The typical protagonist in these books was a boy in his late teens who was proficient in the art of electronics, a hobby that was easily available to the readers. It was his proficiency in that art that enabled Bruce Rhodes to detect an act of sabotage on his father's rocket ship.

Plot

On the day of his graduation from high school Bruce Rhodes finds his classmates shunning him. He discovers that his father, Dr. Emanuel Rhodes, who has worked for the Terraluna Corporation for thirty years, most of that time as head of research, has been fired and the corporation is now smearing him. With a borrowed United Nations exploration ship, Dr. Rhodes intends to lead an expedition to Saturn, farther from Earth than anyone has ever gone.

Dr. Rhodes explains that he has discovered that a nuclear-explosion-driven mining machine that he invented for Terraluna will actually blast the moon apart, sending debris raining down onto Earth and destroying civilization. Terraluna's executives had dismissed him (in both senses of the term) as a crackpot, so he went to the United Nations. Requiring additional proof of his hypothesis, the United Nations has loaned him a ship so that he can go to Saturn to determine whether the planet's rings are the remains of an exploded moon.

With the other three members of the crew – able spaceman Arpad Benz (who will work with Bruce), astrogator Frank Garcia, and pilot Kurt Jennings – Bruce and his father board the ship and prepare for liftoff. The ship is launched up the side of a mountain, much of the initial boost being provided by a series of magnetic rings (similar to the ringroad that Robert Heinlein described in Starman Jones). Soon they're on their way to the moon to top off their fuel tanks, knowing that Terraluna intends to use every filthy, vile trick in the corporate playbook to stop them. In spite of those tricks, they land on Mimas, Saturn's innermost moon, and set up camp. Immediately Dr. Rhodes takes one of the rocketship's two lifeboats and flies it into the rings. Radio contact is lost as the signal is lost in intense static. While waiting for radio contact to resume, Bruce and the others find artefacts, signs that an alien city once occupied the ground on which they stand and has since crumbled into the gravel on which their ship and camp sit.

When radio contact still has not been reestablished and only one day remains before the expedition must leave Saturn to return to Earth, Bruce takes the other lifeboat and flies into the rings. With some effort and luck he finds his father, whose rocketboat had broken down, and the two men return to Mimas just in time to see Garcia and Benz take off in their rocketship and head for Hidalgo. So intent are Garcia and Benz on running the ship that they don't notice the lifeboat landing behind them.

Marooned, the Rhodeses decide to write down descriptions of their discoveries for future explorers to find. While the Rhodeses are exploring, two of the villains arrive, but an old Saturnian cannon destroys their ship and kills them. In the wreckage of the ship Bruce and his father find three fuel tanks, intact and full. With nothing to lose, they fuel up an old Saturnian rocket and blast off. Shedding parts as it goes, the rickety craft barely gets the men to the asteroid Hidalgo, where Garcia and Benz run to greet them and the four men settle down for a long and successful journey to Earth.

Publication history

Reviews

The book was reviewed by

“Another father and son team of scientific superiority, sally to Saturn – to prove their innocence and even an old score with a greedy gang who want to blow up the moon for the minerals therein. The secret of Saturn's rings, finds Dr. Rhodes, ousted head of the Terraluna mining operations, is that they were once moons which, blown apart, formed rings just as our own moon would do under the pressure if atomic bombing were used to extract the uranium at its center. The concurrent excitement is commensurate with the plot.”

Related Research Articles

Donald A. Wollheim U.S. science fiction editor, publisher, and author

Donald Allen Wollheim was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell.

Ken MacLeod Scottish science fiction writer

Kenneth Macrae MacLeod is a Scottish science fiction writer. His novels The Sky Road and The Night Sessions won the BSFA Award. MacLeod's novels have been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Campbell Memorial awards for best novel on multiple occasions. A techno-utopianist, MacLeod's work makes frequent use of libertarian socialist themes; he is a three-time winner of the libertarian Prometheus Award. Prior to becoming a novelist, MacLeod studied biology and worked as a computer programmer. He sits on the advisory board of the Edinburgh Science Festival.

<i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i> (novel) 1968 science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke

2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film. Clarke and Kubrick worked on the book together, but eventually only Clarke ended up as the official author. The story is based in part on various short stories by Clarke, including "The Sentinel". By 1992, the novel had sold three million copies worldwide. An elaboration of Clarke and Kubrick's collaborative work on this project was made in the 1972 book The Lost Worlds of 2001.

<i>Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn</i>

Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn is the final novel in the Lucky Starr series, six juvenile science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov that originally appeared under the pseudonym Paul French. The novel was first published by Doubleday & Company in 1958. It was the last novel to be published by Asimov until his 1966 novelization of Fantastic Voyage, and his last original novel until 1973's The Gods Themselves. Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn is the only novel by Asimov set in the Saturnian system.

<i>Inconstant Moon</i> 1971 science fiction short story collection by Larry Niven

Inconstant Moon is a science fiction short story collection by American author Larry Niven that was published in 1973. "Inconstant Moon" is also a 1971 short story that is included in the collection. The title refers to "O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon", a quote from the balcony scene in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The collection was assembled from the US collections The Shape of Space and All the Myriad Ways.

Saturn has made appearances in fiction since the 1752 novel Micromégas by Voltaire. In many of these works, the planet is inhabited by aliens that are usually portrayed as being more advanced than humans. The planet is occasionally visited by humans and its rings are sometimes mined for resources. The moons of Saturn have been depicted in a large number of stories, especially Titan with its Earth-like environment suggesting the possibility of colonization by humans and alien lifeforms living there.

Tiger stripes (Enceladus)

The tiger stripes of Enceladus consist of four sub-parallel, linear depressions in the south polar region of the Saturnian moon. First observed on May 20, 2005 by the Cassini spacecraft's Imaging Science Sub-system (ISS) camera, the features are most notable in lower resolution images by their brightness contrast from the surrounding terrain. Higher resolution observations were obtained by Cassini's various instruments during a close flyby of Enceladus on July 14, 2005. These observations revealed the tiger stripes to be low ridges with a central fracture. Observations from the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) instrument showed the tiger stripes to have elevated surface temperatures, indicative of present-day cryovolcanism on Enceladus centered on the tiger stripes.

<i>Attack from Atlantis</i> 1953 novel by Lester del Rey

Attack From Atlantis (1953) is a science fiction novel written by Lester del Rey. The story follows the new U.S.S. Triton submarine on her maiden voyage, but trouble happens when the crew comes face to face with the inhabitants of the underwater city Atlantis.

<i>This Island Earth</i> (novel) 1952 novel by Raymond F. Jones

This Island Earth is a 1952 science fiction novel by American writer Raymond F. Jones. It was first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine as a serialized set of three novelettes by Jones: "The Alien Machine" in the June 1949 issue, "The Shroud of Secrecy" in the December 1949 issue, and "The Greater Conflict" in the February 1950 issue. These three stories were later combined into the 1952 novel This Island Earth. It became the basis for the 1955 Universal-International science fiction film also titled This Island Earth.

<i>Winston Science Fiction</i> American juvenile science fiction book line

Winston Science Fiction was a series of 37 American juvenile science fiction books published by the John C. Winston Company of Philadelphia from 1952 to 1960 and by its successor Holt, Rinehart & Winston in 1960 and 1961. It included 35 novels by various writers, including many who became famous in the SF field, such as Poul Anderson, Arthur C. Clarke, Ben Bova, and Lester del Rey. There was also one anthology, The Year After Tomorrow, edited by del Rey and others. There was one non-fiction book Rockets Through Space: The Story of Man's Preparations to Explore the Universe by del Rey which details the factual science and technology of rocket flight. Many of the dust jackets became science fiction classics; the artists included Hugo Award winners Ed Emshwiller and Virgil Finlay along with Hugo nominees such as Mel Hunter and Alex Schomburg.

<i>Missing Men of Saturn</i> 1953 novel by Robert S. Richardson

Missing Men of Saturn is a juvenile science fiction novel, published first in 1953, by astronomer and author Robert S. Richardson with cover illustration by Alex Schomburg. The story concerns Dale Sutton's mission to the dreaded planet Saturn from which no one has ever returned. Missing Men of Saturn is a part of the Winston Science Fiction set, a series of juvenile novels which have become famous for their influence on young science fiction readers and their exceptional cover illustrations by award-winning artists.

<i>Rocket to Luna</i> 1953 novel by Evan Hunter

Rocket to Luna is a juvenile science fiction novel by prolific author and screenwriter Evan Hunter published in 1953 by The John C. Winston Company with cover illustration by Alex Schomburg. The story follows the adventures of the main character Ted Baker after he mistakenly replaces a member of the first lunar expedition at the last moment before the rocket leaves for the Moon. Rocket to Luna is a part of the Winston Science Fiction set, a series of juvenile novels which have become famous for their influence on young science fiction readers and their exceptional cover illustrations by award-winning artists.

<i>The Star Conquerors</i> 1959 book by Ben Bova

The Star Conquerors is a science fiction novel by American writer Ben Bova. It was published in 1959 by the John C. Winston Company.

<i>Five Against Venus</i> 1952 novel by Philip Latham

Five Against Venus, written by Philip Latham, is a science-fiction novel first published in the United States in 1952 by the John C. Winston Company. Philip Latham was the nom de plume of Robert S. Richardson, a professional astronomer who also provided technical assistance on movies such as Destination Moon and wrote scripts for the Captain Video television series.

<i>Planet of Light</i> 1953 novel by Raymond F. Jones

Planet of Light is a science fiction novel by American writer Raymond F. Jones, first published in 1953 by the John C. Winston Co. as part of its 35-book set of juvenile novels. Written as a sequel to Son of the Stars, the story follows Ron Barron and his family as they are taken to a planet in the Great Galaxy of Andromeda to participate in a meeting of an intergalactic analogue of the United Nations. They face the question if Earth is ready to join an intergalactic society.

<i>Son of the Stars</i> 1952 novel by Raymond F. Jones

Son of the Stars is a science fiction novel by American writer by Raymond F. Jones, first published in the United States in 1952 by The John C. Winston Company.

<i>The Secret of the Martian Moons</i> 1955 novel by Donald A. Wollheim

The Secret of the Martian Moons is a science-fiction novel by Donald A. Wollheim. It was first published in 1955 by the John C. Winston Company. Playing world-class hide-and-seek with the Martians, Nelson Parr believes that he has found them... until the real Martians show up. This is the second novel that Wollheim wrote for Winston, the other two being The Secret of Saturn's Rings (1954) and The Secret of the Ninth Planet (1959).

<i>The Secret of the Ninth Planet</i> 1959 novel by Donald A. Wollheim

The Secret of the Ninth Planet is a science-fiction novel written by Donald A. Wollheim and first published in the United States in 1959 by the John C. Winston Co. Wollheim takes his heroes on a grand tour of the Solar System as that team struggles to prevent an alien force from blowing up the Sun. This is the last of three juvenile novels that Wollheim wrote for Winston, the other two being The Secret of Saturn's Rings and The Secret of the Martian Moons.

<i>Star Gate</i> (novel) 1958 science fantasy novel by Andre Norton

Star Gate is a science fantasy novel by American writer Andre Norton, published by Harcourt, Brace & Company in 1958. The story is science fiction with a blend of sword and sorcery, mingling technologically advanced humans from Earth with the human natives of the far-off world of Gorth and a native culture that has achieved the development level of medieval Europe.

<i>The War Against the Rull</i> 1959 novel by A.E. Van Vogt

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.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Bibliography: The Secret of Saturn's Rings". isfdb.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  2. ↑ Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. pg. 466. ISBN   0-911682-20-1.
  3. ↑ "Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction".

Sources

Listings

The book is listed at

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.