Gardner F. Fox 1 hr 21 min read

The engine is the wealth of Mars: with it Kortha could save his people, or the evil Guantra could rule the universe, but neither can wield it until its secret is cracked.

Gardner F. Fox's 1946 story sets a brooding smith who is 'afraid of himself' at the center of a colorful Martian space-opera struggle. Vivid, muscular golden-age pulp. Read it for a rousing tale of a world on the brink, a mysterious machine, and a reluctant hero wrestling his own fear.

In its time

Published in 1946, during the 1940s, the golden age begins.

Reading it

1 hr 21 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

H. W. Kiemle