Secret of the Black Planet

by Milton Lesser

HATED AND HUNTED

John Hastings knew that twenty-five years ago his father had touched-down here and walked this same path on the Black Asteroid.

He thought he knew what to expect, but he didn't realize that an other-world Amazon with an amazing theory of instantaneous regeneration of cellular composites was after him, but not for his life...

[from the back cover of the book]

--

Two novellas in one paperback tell the story of John Hastings, once known as Bok-kura the Strong Man of Jupiter, and his son, who both travel to a mysterious black planetoid situated in an asteroid field that may be the remnants of a planet that once existed between Mars and Jupiter. A planetoid that holds the key to great science... and an even greater chance of death!

Genres: Science Fiction

157 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Milton Lesser was an American author of science fiction, mystery novels, and fictional autobiographies of Christopher Columbus, Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, and Edgar Allan Poe. He is best known for his detective character Chester Drum, whom he created in the 1955 novel The Second Longest Night.

He was awarded the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre in 1988, and in 1997 he was awarded the "Life Achievement Award" by the Private Eye Writers of America. He lived with his wife Ann in Williamsburg, Virginia.

His pseudonyms include Adam Chase, Stephen Marlowe, Andrew Frazer, C.H. Thames, Jason Ridgway and Ellery Queen.

Reviews

[Sol · Rating 2 out of 5]

AND THE SECRET OF THE BLACK PLANET IS humanity originated millions of years ago on a distant planet, Tawroc, in the Greater Magellanic Cloud. They discovered immortality, and travelled to the Milky Way and seeded hundreds of planets with the ancestors of humanity, including Earth, Mars and Venus. They left behind "chalices", devices which confer immortality to those compatible. Over time, Tawroc became filled with ennui. Its citizens have no regard for their own safety, being immune to death, preferring to be painfully run over by cars rather than wait to cross a street. Play-wars between citizens of arbitrary characteristics such as blue and brown eyes are played out. Science is a disreputable hobby, since no knowledge can be greater than immortality. While aware of their descendants across the galaxy, nobody cares about them. The only excitement in their lives comes from the prospect of un-chalicing, in which a small number of citizens are randomly stripped of their immortality and exiled into the wilderness, if they do not immediately kill themselves. Realizing that human civilizations either destroy themselves through war over the chalice (like the asteroid belt, which was once an inhabited planet), or become decadent like Tawroc, Pulp Hero opts to destroy the chalice and end immortality.

[Jenelle Compton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually 2 short novels, bound together. It's a continuing story though, so in spite of it being 2 books with a 25 year jump, it felt like 1 book to me.

I love that a lot of old scifi starts with the main character not knowing WTF is going on around him. I think it's fun to be introduced to the world along with the character. My only problem with that here was that it felt like John just figured stuff out at the end, and he didn't really let us in on what he remembered.
The second story features his kid as the main character, also John. The book basically deals with the aftermath of the first story. What IF there was regeneration? What sort of consequences would that have? I really enjoyed it. Plus....space travel! Deep space travel makes me happy, I dunno why.

Overall, I really liked this book. I probably liked the second "book" more, but together I think they make an interesting read.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is exactly what I turn to pulp science fiction for; very fast-paced, a moral dilemma, and engaging heroes. I only gave this 3 stars because (a) it uses amnesia as a way to keep the mystery going as long as possible (b) it never explains how the lead character got amnesia and (c) the badguy already had all the secrets from the hero and should have been able to exploit the asteroid's power without him. Btw, the back cover synopsis is bogus. I enjoyed the second story's depiction of the human race after boredom sets in. Overall fun stuff, and since it is so short the story's flaws aren't that big a deal.

[Made DNA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Great classic SF read. Spaceships, alien cultures, interplanetary criminal gangs, mysterious sciences, and my hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa--all the great factors that make up the perfect science fiction adventure! ;)

[Bonface M. K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice read. It gives us an insight of how discrimination emanates in society and 'somehow' suggests a solution in a rather interesting way. We humans should solve our own problems first and learn to live each other, otherwise we might end up destroying ourselves. But the dilemma is that to learn to live in harmony is something very difficult.