John Murray Reynolds 1 hr 14 min read

Death hides behind a smile in the white-and-gold city of Gral-Thala. If the captured Earth-spy Gibson dies, the Green planet perishes of the Gray Death, and so does Diana, Goddess of the Moon.

John Murray Reynolds's 1940 story is a lush, breathless planetary romance of spies, plagues, and lunar goddesses. Colorful, atmospheric golden-age pulp. Read it for classic space-opera adventure, all peril and exotic splendor, with a world and a goddess hanging in the balance.

In its time

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

Reading it

1 hr 14 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Leo Morey