''The Daleth Effect'', also known as ''In Our Hands, the Stars'', is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel written by Harry Harrison and published in 1970.

Plot

Arnie Klein, an Israeli scientist, discovers the 'Daleth effect', a simple and economic way to achieve space travel. It also has the potential to be used as a weapon. Klein defects to Denmark in order to protect his discovery and develop it without it falling into the hands of the military. He fits an experimental Daleth effect unit to a submarine to create a makeshift spacecraft. When it is sent into space to rescue two Soviet cosmonauts who are stranded on the moon, Klein is forced to reveal his secret to the world. He and his friends are then subjected to pressure from a variety of international sources, all of which seek access to his invention.

Publication

The novel was originally serialised in ''Analog ''magazine in 1969–1970. It was published in book form in 1970, in the United States as ''The Daleth Effect'' and in the United Kingdom as ''In Our Hands, the Stars''. A German translation was published as ''Der Daleth-Effekt'' in 1971, a Spanish translation as ''En Nuestras Manos las Estrellas'' in 1972, an Italian as ''Le stelle nelle mani'' in 1973, and a Chinese translation as ''Tai Kong Quian Ting'' in 1981.

Reception

Reviewing the novel in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

'', James Blish described it as "quite straight forward—a driving action story ... and in addition, this is a cautionary tale, like the best of Wells ... at once as exciting and as somber as

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

... though not, I am afraid, as well written." (The third ellipsis is in original.) As a novel about the misuse of scientific discovery, the book was listed by Stanley Schmidt as one of the "10 SF Books For Scientists".

References

External links

''In Our Hands, the Stars'' at Google Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daleth Effect 1970 American novels 1970 science fiction novels Novels by Harry Harrison Books with cover art by Richard M. Powers Novels first published in serial form