Mesklin Series by Hal Clement

Cover Artist: Ed EmshwillerMission of Gravity is an sf novel by Hal Clement. The title is a play on words, one meaning "the force which pulls" & the other being "extremely serious or important". It was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction, 4–7/53. Its 1st cloth publication was in '54. It was 1st published in paper in '58... moreCover Artist: Ed EmshwillerMission of Gravity is an sf novel by Hal Clement. The title is a play on words, one meaning "the force which pulls" & the other being "extremely serious or important". It was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction, 4–7/53. Its 1st cloth publication was in '54. It was 1st published in paper in '58. Along with the novel itself, many editions (& most recent editions) of the book also include Whirligig World, an essay on creating the planet Mesklin that was published in the 6/53 Astounding. He published two sequels, a '70 novel called Star Light & a '73 short story called Lecture Demonstration. Mission of Gravity was nominated for a Retro Hugo Award for '54.For a profit & adventure Barlennan would sail thousands of miles across uncharted waters, into regions where gravity played strange tricks. He'd dare the perils of strange tribes & stranger creatures--even dicker with those aliens from beyond the skies, though the concept of another world was unknown to the inhabitants of the planet of Mesklin. But in spite of the incredible technology of the strangers & without regard for their enormous size, Barlennan had the notion of turning the deal to an unsuspected advantage for himself--a considerable enterprise for a being very much resembling a 15" caterpillar! less

Discover MESKLIN - Gravity: 3g at the equator, 700g at the poles!Hal Clement is a Grand Master of SF, and the one most associated with the subgenre of hard SF. From his classic stories in Astounding in the 1940s through his novels of the 1950s and on to the recent Half Life, he has made a lasting impression on SF readers, and on writers, too. For many of them, Clement's work is the model of how to write hard SF, and this book contains the reasons why... moreDiscover MESKLIN - Gravity: 3g at the equator, 700g at the poles!Hal Clement is a Grand Master of SF, and the one most associated with the subgenre of hard SF. From his classic stories in Astounding in the 1940s through his novels of the 1950s and on to the recent Half Life, he has made a lasting impression on SF readers, and on writers, too. For many of them, Clement's work is the model of how to write hard SF, and this book contains the reasons why. Here are all the tales of bizarre, unforgettable Mesklin: the classic novel Mission of Gravity and its sequel, Star Light, as well as the short stories "Under"and "Lecture Demonstration." Also included is "Whirligig World," the famous essay Clement published in Astounding in 1953. It describes the rigorous process he used to create his intriguingly plausible high-gravity planet, with its odd flattened shape, its day less than eighteen minutes long, and its many-limbed, noble natives. Come to Mesklin and learn why The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction called Mission of Gravity "one of the best loved novels in SF." less

Tenebra has a gravity 3 times that of earth, a day temperature at the equator of 380° C (716° F), an atmosphere of water mixed with other chemicals, and a constantly shifting crust. There is life, with intelligence, on the planet, and a scientific expedition has been attempting for some years to make contact... moreTenebra has a gravity 3 times that of earth, a day temperature at the equator of 380° C (716° F), an atmosphere of water mixed with other chemicals, and a constantly shifting crust. There is life, with intelligence, on the planet, and a scientific expedition has been attempting for some years to make contact. The scientists have devised a remote-controlled unit that lands on the planet, takes away 10 youngsters from their tribe and teaches them to communicate with it —then, when they have grown up, they will be the means of contact with other natives. All is going according to plan until two children of the political officers who are watching the experiment from an orbit 160,000 miles out climb into the bathyscape that has been designed to land humans on the surface of the planet. They accidentally set it into motion and it soon gets too close to the planet's atmosphere to be pursued and controlled. So instructions are radioed for it to land. The native group, through the control unit, are then set to trace the bathyscaphe and carry out technical work necessary before it can return to the parent ship. But many weeks are to pass and many setbacks occur before the climax of the rescue is reached.1st published in Astounding Science FIction magazine in 1958. less

Dhrawn was a giant rockball, more than 3,000 times the mass of Earth. Perhaps a planet, perhaps a nearly dead star, these 17 billion square miles of mystery cried out for investigation. But its corrosive atmosphere and crushing gravity assured that no human would ever set foot on its surface.Those hardy, caterpillarlike Mesklinites, on the other hand, were ideally suited to explore Dhrawn, and their leader certainly knew a good deal when he saw one... moreDhrawn was a giant rockball, more than 3,000 times the mass of Earth. Perhaps a planet, perhaps a nearly dead star, these 17 billion square miles of mystery cried out for investigation. But its corrosive atmosphere and crushing gravity assured that no human would ever set foot on its surface.Those hardy, caterpillarlike Mesklinites, on the other hand, were ideally suited to explore Dhrawn, and their leader certainly knew a good deal when he saw one. So Barlennan, a shrewd sea captain if ever there was one, struck a sharp bargain with the Earthmen for his services in leading the expedition.But the humans might not have been so pleased with their side of the bargain, if they had known that Barlennan had plans of his own for Dhrawn.... less