SOJALS rating:

Mediocre (2/5)

I first read this in 1976 and most recently on the 14th July 2012

Arnie Klein is a scientist working in Israel. An explosion in his lab leads him to an astounding discvoery. He believes many governments, Israel included, would simply use this discovery to make more powerful weapons. Arnie is a moral man and he wants to use this for the benefit of mankind. He flees Israel in a desperate search for a country where his newfound discovery can be developed for a peaceful purpose. He chooses Denmark.

Now that small country must defend him, and its own neutrality, against the malignant agencies of the superpowers. He and Ove Rasmussen develop the discovery into a revolutionary engine that can power a spaceship and deliver the planets, and even the stars. Skou, the government man, and Nils, the SAS pilot, will help them. It's going to be a hard road. They'll have to overcome brutality, betrayal, treachery and murder.

The story starts like any teenage SF adventure but rapidly reveals a there is depth of perception and thought under the surface. Some of the characters, especially Hansen's wife Martha, are exceptionally well drawn. I enjoyed it much more this time around.