The Lost Planet (novel)

The Lost Planet is a 1953 science fiction novel by Angus MacVicar, published by Burke, London. It forms part of the series The Lost Planet, which was extremely popular in books, radio and TV versions.

There are six novels in the "The Lost Planet" series: "The Lost Planet" (1953), "Return to the Lost Planet" (1954), "Secret of the Lost Planet" (1955), "Red Fire on the Lost Planet" (1959), "Peril on the Lost Planet" (1960) and "Space Agent from the Lost Planet". It was the first Science Fiction series ever translated to Hebrew, and had considerable impact on the development of this genre in Israel.

Plot summary

The narrator, 16-year-old Jeremy Grant, has been recently orphaned, and travels from Australia to Scotland to stay with his scientist uncle, Dr Lachlan McKinnon, at his estate, Inverard. He discovers that the irascible McKinnon and his colleagues, including Swedish Professor Lars Bergman, American engineer Spike Stranahan, science student Janet Campbell, cockney housekeeper Madge Smith and engineer Kurt Oppenheim, are building an atomic-powered spaceship to travel to Hesikos, the wandering 'lost planet' which is now within a few days' flight of Earth, and which is known to have near-Earth gravity and a breathable atmosphere.

It transpires that Oppenheim is a spy and saboteur working for a rival expedition, led by Professor Hermanoff, from an Eastern European country. Oppenheim is dismissed, and later Hermanoff visits Inverard to try and persuade the two expeditions to join forces, but there is too much suspicion and animosity. Oppenheim's place is taken by Grant.

Their take-off and voyage are trouble-free, but a mechanical fault causes a crash-landing on Hesikos, damaging the radio, and making it almost certain that the ship cannot take off again. Nevertheless, the crew start to explore the area, finding an atmosphere of peace which calms their anxieties and tempers. They gradually realise that much of the planet is covered by deep snow and ice in the winter, making all but plant life - and their own survival - impossible.

On one trip they encounter Hermanoff and his assistant, Andrieff, whose spaceship has landed a few miles away. Hermanoff's personality has also changed, and he immediately offers to take McKinnon and his colleagues back to Earth before the imminent onset of winter. McKinnon is worried about overloading the spaceship, and at the last minute, unbeknown to the rest, he leaves the ship to return to his own, hoping to survive the cold until a relief expedition can be organised.

Safely back on Earth, Grant and Campbell pick up a radio message from Hesikos confirming that McKinnon is alive. Within a few days Hermanoff and Stranahan have taken off to rescue him. The sequel Return to the Lost Planet takes over at this point.

Private spaceflight

The book depicts private individuals constructing a spaceship on their own premises and once it is completed taking off on their own privately sponsored space expeditions. This theme can be traced back the H. G. Wells' "The First Men in the Moon" and it was a feature of many later works, e.g. C. S. Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet".

Early space programs and actual space flight proved too expensive for any but governments of big powers, and the above theme disappeared from science fiction. It will be interesting to see whether it reappears in the time of private space entrepreneurs like Richard Branson.

External links

• Angus MacVicar