pers.

"Welcome," he said to them all. "Welcome to the solar system. We've got
a lot to talk about."

About the Author

Donald A. Wollheim was bitten early by the science-fiction bug. As a
boy, he filled many thick notebooks and scrapbooks with clippings,
pictures, and facts about the planets, and astronomy in general.

He grew up in New York, graduating from New York University, and at once
began a successful career as a free-lance writer of science fiction.
Since 1946 he has been editor of a publishing house specializing in
paperback books. A number of anthologies of the fantastic are the result
of his editing.

Aware of the wide-spread interest in this subject, Mr. Wollheim decided
to inaugurate science fiction conventions, and founded the Fantasy
Amateur Press Association as well. He considers himself a true science
fiction pioneer.

Among his hobbies are model soldiers. He is considered an authority on
them and has a fabulous collection.

_Other Winston Science Fiction Novels by the Author_

THE SECRET of the MARTIAN MOONS
THE SECRET of SATURN'S RINGS

_The Secret of the Ninth Planet_

On the day that the theft of the solar system's light begins. Burl
Denning is with an archaeological expedition in the Andes, only a few
miles from the source of the "disturbance." Within hours the United
States Air Force has ordered the expedition to investigate the strange
phenomenon that is causing a dimness and a drop in temperature
throughout the world.

This is the start of a fantastic adventure that eventually takes Burl, a
high-school senior, on the first circumnavigation of the solar system.
On planet after planet, he and the crew of the _Magellan_, a gleaming,
powerful, and virtually untested spaceship, discover the weird trappings
of a brilliantly-designed Sun-tap station. Each planetfall brings
unexpected hazards, as the ship draws closer and closer to solving the
mystery of the theft.

The author has based his story on science fact. Researchers are actually
at work on the possibilities of just such a circumnavigation, and on
another surprising theory brought out in this book.

Other Winston Science Fiction Novels

ANT MEN, THE by Eric North--_Geologists find living fossils in the
badlands of Central Australia_

ATTACK FROM ATLANTIS by Lester del Rey--_An atomic submarine crew
discovers the lost city of Atlantis_

BATTLE ON MERCURY by Erik Van Lhin--_Sun storms sweep Mercury