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Jeremy Grant #1
The Lost Planet
Sixteen year old Jeremy Grant, born in Australia, comes to live with his uncle Dr. Lachlan McKinnon in Inverard, Scotland, following the sudden death of his parents.
On his arrival, Janet Campbell, his uncle’s pretty secretary, also a science student, meets him at the train station and Jeremy takes an instant liking to her.
On their journey to Jeremy’s uncle’s house, Janet gives him an overview of the inhabitants. Jeremy is fascinated to learn that there is a deep secret guarded beyond the electric fence at his uncle’s residence.
Jeremy spends his first night in silence. With his uncle too busy to pay much attention to him, he has his evening meal alone, with just the friendly cook, Miss Smith, as intermittent company. The silence is shattered by something that sounds like the wail of a banshee … a long-drawn, piercing wail …
Over the next few days, Jeremy learns his uncle has built a spaceship, one of a kind, rivalled only by a European called Hermanoff. McKinnon is aware that Hermanoff may have planted a spy within his team of workmen and, with only a few days to go until launch, he becomes aware of potential sabotage attempts. With Jeremy’s help, McKinnon must strive to keep his work secret and safe.
McKinnon soon realises his nephew is no longer a young boy and extends his invitation of travelling to new frontiers to Jeremy. Beyond excited at the prospect of a new discovery, Jeremy does all he can to ensure he is knowledgeable about spaceflight. Shadowing Janet, he soon becomes familiar with the mechanics of the spaceship.
With the launch imminent, a certain fear amongst the travellers takes over the household.
Will they reach their destination? The mythic planet Hesikos…
What will they find there? … Can they survive? … Will they ever come home?
The Lost Planet is a thrilling science fiction adventure tale, filled with trials and tribulations, wonder and calamity, as Jeremy, McKinnon and company endeavour to make their voyage into the great unknown.
‘Absorbing Science fiction’ – Kirkus Reviews
Angus MacVicar was an accomplished Scottish author, screenwriter and playwright who published work in a variety of genres. Earlier in his career he was known for his crime thrillers and autobiographies, but his early writing was interrupted by his service as a captain in the Royal Scots Fusiliers. As a result, most of his juvenile science fiction was not published until after World War II. It was then that his ‘Lost Planet’ series became extremely popular, with MacVicar himself adapting the stories as TV and radio serials.
Venture Press is a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. We are committed to the discovery and rediscovery of immensely talented authors in the SFF genre, and continue to push boundaries in search of great literature. Join us as we venture across universes and unknown landscapes – past, present and future.
Sign up to our newsletter: http://bit.ly/1LUVI4n
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On his arrival, Janet Campbell, his uncle’s pretty secretary, also a science student, meets him at the train station and Jeremy takes an instant liking to her.
On their journey to Jeremy’s uncle’s house, Janet gives him an overview of the inhabitants. Jeremy is fascinated to learn that there is a deep secret guarded beyond the electric fence at his uncle’s residence.
Jeremy spends his first night in silence. With his uncle too busy to pay much attention to him, he has his evening meal alone, with just the friendly cook, Miss Smith, as intermittent company. The silence is shattered by something that sounds like the wail of a banshee … a long-drawn, piercing wail …
Over the next few days, Jeremy learns his uncle has built a spaceship, one of a kind, rivalled only by a European called Hermanoff. McKinnon is aware that Hermanoff may have planted a spy within his team of workmen and, with only a few days to go until launch, he becomes aware of potential sabotage attempts. With Jeremy’s help, McKinnon must strive to keep his work secret and safe.
McKinnon soon realises his nephew is no longer a young boy and extends his invitation of travelling to new frontiers to Jeremy. Beyond excited at the prospect of a new discovery, Jeremy does all he can to ensure he is knowledgeable about spaceflight. Shadowing Janet, he soon becomes familiar with the mechanics of the spaceship.
With the launch imminent, a certain fear amongst the travellers takes over the household.
Will they reach their destination? The mythic planet Hesikos…
What will they find there? … Can they survive? … Will they ever come home?
The Lost Planet is a thrilling science fiction adventure tale, filled with trials and tribulations, wonder and calamity, as Jeremy, McKinnon and company endeavour to make their voyage into the great unknown.
‘Absorbing Science fiction’ – Kirkus Reviews
Angus MacVicar was an accomplished Scottish author, screenwriter and playwright who published work in a variety of genres. Earlier in his career he was known for his crime thrillers and autobiographies, but his early writing was interrupted by his service as a captain in the Royal Scots Fusiliers. As a result, most of his juvenile science fiction was not published until after World War II. It was then that his ‘Lost Planet’ series became extremely popular, with MacVicar himself adapting the stories as TV and radio serials.
Venture Press is a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. We are committed to the discovery and rediscovery of immensely talented authors in the SFF genre, and continue to push boundaries in search of great literature. Join us as we venture across universes and unknown landscapes – past, present and future.
Sign up to our newsletter: http://bit.ly/1LUVI4n
Follow us on Twitter @venture_press
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1NnFow7
- GenresScience Fiction
186 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1953
22 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Angus MacVicar
80 books9 followersAngus MacVicar was an accomplished Scottish author, screenwriter and playwright who published work in a variety of genres. Earlier in his career he was known for his crime thrillers and autobiographies, but his early writing was interrupted by his service as a captain in the Royal Scots Fusiliers. As a result, most of his juvenile science fiction was not published until after World War II. It was then that his Lost Planet series became extremely popular, with MacVicar himself adapting the stories as TV and radio serials.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 30, 2022
For British people of a certain age, the name Angus MacVicar may bring back waves of nostalgia. For a couple of decades he was a prolific writer of children’s radio (and later television) serials. In fact many children of the 1950s and 1960s will have had their first taste of science fiction through listening to Angus MacVicar’s thrilling radio dramas.
BBC Radio for children had started in the 1930s, but at the time it was only a ten minute strand, and broadcasts stopped during the 2nd World War. Longer programmes only really got going during the 1950s, and drama serials began to be included when it became known as “Children’s Hour” - and in total it lasted just one hour. By the 1960s more families had access to television sets, hence a niche for a “Children’s Hour” was found for children’s programmes on television too. Angus MacVicar, already known for his radio serials, was in at the start.
This was not how he had first become known though. Angus MacVicar was a Scottish author, who after graduating from Glasgow University had started as a newspaper reporter for the “Campbeltown Courier”, then making his name writing crime thrillers in the 1930s. His knack for writing exciting stories served him well, and he moved into writing children’s science fiction later in his career. The Lost Planet is a full length novel published in 1953, of what used to be termed juvenile science fiction. It started out as a popular series broadcast on the BBC Home Service radio, on Children’s Hour during 1952. Later it was adapted for television.
The book stands up well as a story, although this was before even “Sputnik”, the very first satellite, which was to be launched into space in 1957. In 1953, Britain still considered itself to be a possible candidate for what was later termed the Race to Space, so Space Stories were hugely popular. The Lost Planet is well told and atmospheric, although the writing is stronger on character and situation than on technology. Today we would probably call it a “Space Opera”. The structure, length and language are as complex as in any general novel, and the only solid reason I can see for it being targeted to a juvenile audience is that its protagonist is a 16 year old boy.
At the start we meet the protagonist, Jeremy Grant, who has been recently orphaned. He is travelling from Australia to Scotland to live with his scientist uncle, Dr. Lachlan McKinnon, at his estate at Inverard.
Jeremy has never met his uncle before, and does not feel that his uncle is particularly interested in him; in fact he seems permanently preoccupied with his work. Jeremy relates much more to his uncle’s assistant, the science student Janet Campbell, partly because she is nearer his age, but also because he finds her attractive. A cockney housekeeper Madge Smith is also there to take care of him.
With Jeremy’s uncle’s permission, Janet tells him about the work they are doing. Jeremy is quite good at Science, so understands more than she expects. Dr. McKinnon and his colleague Swedish Professor Lars Bergman are building an atomic-powered spaceship to travel to “Hesikos”, a fictitious “peaceful planet”, once mentioned by Plato. They are assisted by an American engineer Spike Stranahan and another engineer Kurt Oppenheim. This wandering “lost planet” is at the moment within a few days’ flight of Earth. It is also known to have near-Earth gravity and a breathable atmosphere. The reason for the intense work is because there is a rival expedition, led by Professor Hermanoff, from an unspecified Eastern European country. Jeremy finds that he soon becomes an essential part of the team.
The novel has 23 chapters, each with an exciting title, and ending on a cliffhanger. For instance the first four are titled: “Mystery at Inverard”, “The Wailing Sound”, “Plato’s Planet” and “Midnight Adventure”. It feels episodic, with sabotage, environmental threat, accidents and danger to life, and more than one instance of mechanical failure providing themes for the individual linked stories. Nearing the end there is a suggestion of a supernatural element, and an ethical dimension.
Angus MacVicar’s father was a Presbyterian minister in the Church of Scotland, and there is a non-obtrusive Christian morality here. One of the characters might feel an inner voice speaking to them at times of great danger. Another might wish to sacrifice themselves for the good of all. There is also some pseudoscience, which results in promoting peace between formerly warring factions.
The ending of this novel leaves a tempting thread hanging, ready to be taken up in a sequel, and this is exactly what happened. Angus MacVicar wrote an entire The Lost Planet sequence, initially at the rate of one a year. Here they are:
The Lost Planet (1953),
“Return to the Lost Planet” (1954)
“Secret of the Lost Planet” (1955)
“Red Fire on the Lost Planet” (1959)
“Peril on the Lost Planet” (1960)
“Space Agent from the Lost Planet” (1961)
“Space Agent and the Isles of Fire” (1962)
“Space Agent and the Ancient Peril” (1964)
They are all concerned with space journeys to reach, explore and ultimately defend the minor planet Hesikos. Apparently the first 3 are the best, although critics of the genre also say that “Peril on the Lost Planet” (1960) is worth reading.
I had found a first edition of this one on a charity website quite easily, but do not know how easy it is to locate the others. Oddly, only The Lost Planet plus the third in the series are available on kindle. I recommend this series to all who are interested in good juvenile fiction from yesteryear, by authors whose names have passed out of the general view. I would also suggest that it might prove particularly interesting for Christian readers. Angus MacVicar wrote many more Science Fiction books for youngsters. It is a little sad that he never went on to write any adult Science Fiction. Perhaps that way the name “Angus MacVicar” might have lived on.
BBC Radio for children had started in the 1930s, but at the time it was only a ten minute strand, and broadcasts stopped during the 2nd World War. Longer programmes only really got going during the 1950s, and drama serials began to be included when it became known as “Children’s Hour” - and in total it lasted just one hour. By the 1960s more families had access to television sets, hence a niche for a “Children’s Hour” was found for children’s programmes on television too. Angus MacVicar, already known for his radio serials, was in at the start.
This was not how he had first become known though. Angus MacVicar was a Scottish author, who after graduating from Glasgow University had started as a newspaper reporter for the “Campbeltown Courier”, then making his name writing crime thrillers in the 1930s. His knack for writing exciting stories served him well, and he moved into writing children’s science fiction later in his career. The Lost Planet is a full length novel published in 1953, of what used to be termed juvenile science fiction. It started out as a popular series broadcast on the BBC Home Service radio, on Children’s Hour during 1952. Later it was adapted for television.
The book stands up well as a story, although this was before even “Sputnik”, the very first satellite, which was to be launched into space in 1957. In 1953, Britain still considered itself to be a possible candidate for what was later termed the Race to Space, so Space Stories were hugely popular. The Lost Planet is well told and atmospheric, although the writing is stronger on character and situation than on technology. Today we would probably call it a “Space Opera”. The structure, length and language are as complex as in any general novel, and the only solid reason I can see for it being targeted to a juvenile audience is that its protagonist is a 16 year old boy.
At the start we meet the protagonist, Jeremy Grant, who has been recently orphaned. He is travelling from Australia to Scotland to live with his scientist uncle, Dr. Lachlan McKinnon, at his estate at Inverard.
Jeremy has never met his uncle before, and does not feel that his uncle is particularly interested in him; in fact he seems permanently preoccupied with his work. Jeremy relates much more to his uncle’s assistant, the science student Janet Campbell, partly because she is nearer his age, but also because he finds her attractive. A cockney housekeeper Madge Smith is also there to take care of him.
With Jeremy’s uncle’s permission, Janet tells him about the work they are doing. Jeremy is quite good at Science, so understands more than she expects. Dr. McKinnon and his colleague Swedish Professor Lars Bergman are building an atomic-powered spaceship to travel to “Hesikos”, a fictitious “peaceful planet”, once mentioned by Plato. They are assisted by an American engineer Spike Stranahan and another engineer Kurt Oppenheim. This wandering “lost planet” is at the moment within a few days’ flight of Earth. It is also known to have near-Earth gravity and a breathable atmosphere. The reason for the intense work is because there is a rival expedition, led by Professor Hermanoff, from an unspecified Eastern European country. Jeremy finds that he soon becomes an essential part of the team.
The novel has 23 chapters, each with an exciting title, and ending on a cliffhanger. For instance the first four are titled: “Mystery at Inverard”, “The Wailing Sound”, “Plato’s Planet” and “Midnight Adventure”. It feels episodic, with sabotage, environmental threat, accidents and danger to life, and more than one instance of mechanical failure providing themes for the individual linked stories. Nearing the end there is a suggestion of a supernatural element, and an ethical dimension.
Angus MacVicar’s father was a Presbyterian minister in the Church of Scotland, and there is a non-obtrusive Christian morality here. One of the characters might feel an inner voice speaking to them at times of great danger. Another might wish to sacrifice themselves for the good of all. There is also some pseudoscience, which results in promoting peace between formerly warring factions.
The ending of this novel leaves a tempting thread hanging, ready to be taken up in a sequel, and this is exactly what happened. Angus MacVicar wrote an entire The Lost Planet sequence, initially at the rate of one a year. Here they are:
The Lost Planet (1953),
“Return to the Lost Planet” (1954)
“Secret of the Lost Planet” (1955)
“Red Fire on the Lost Planet” (1959)
“Peril on the Lost Planet” (1960)
“Space Agent from the Lost Planet” (1961)
“Space Agent and the Isles of Fire” (1962)
“Space Agent and the Ancient Peril” (1964)
They are all concerned with space journeys to reach, explore and ultimately defend the minor planet Hesikos. Apparently the first 3 are the best, although critics of the genre also say that “Peril on the Lost Planet” (1960) is worth reading.
I had found a first edition of this one on a charity website quite easily, but do not know how easy it is to locate the others. Oddly, only The Lost Planet plus the third in the series are available on kindle. I recommend this series to all who are interested in good juvenile fiction from yesteryear, by authors whose names have passed out of the general view. I would also suggest that it might prove particularly interesting for Christian readers. Angus MacVicar wrote many more Science Fiction books for youngsters. It is a little sad that he never went on to write any adult Science Fiction. Perhaps that way the name “Angus MacVicar” might have lived on.
July 31, 2024
I bought this secondhand for sentimental reasons. I remember – though maybe I misremember – David Davis reading this on Children’s Hour on the Home Service, and thinking it was thrilling. (I also loved Davis’ voice.)
Aged 70+, and reading it for the first time, of course revealed it to be a load of old tosh, but I enjoyed it no end. Its toshness lies mostly in the science that is more Dan Dare than Einstein-made-simple, and the utterly unrealistic portrayal of space travel it presents.
The story concerns the holiday excursion to ‘The Lost Planet’ by the 16 year old narrator, Jeremy Grant, with his idealistic private space-scientist uncle – kind of old-money, self-funding Elon Musk – Dr Lachlan McKinnon who has a secretive space base at Inverard in the Highlands of Scotland. Dr McKinnon is kitting out an expedition to the wandering planet Hesikos, equated with Plato’s ‘Lost Planet’ – oh yeah? On Hesikos there are large deposits of a new kind of metal which ‘Dr McKinnon calls… iridonium. Mixed with lead by a catalytic process, it could produce another metal indistinguishable from gold’.
Dr McKinnon, in good 1953 Cold War style, wants to prevent the metal falling into the hands of a rival from an unnamed Eastern European country, Dr Hermanoff.
Remarkably, Hesikos is as comfortable as Earth for human beings, and equally remarkably McKinnon’s spaceship is powered by an atomic motor which can be serviced without the need for protective clothing etc. Moreover, its hull is half-inch steel, so how the hell it got off the ground is a trick NASA would probably like to know about. And ridiculously McKinnon has made provision for his housekeeper, Madge, to accompany the expedition to ‘keep house’ in the kitchen/galley – no chocolate cake in a freeze-dried pack for this lot, oh no! just plain, ordinary fare at a sensible sit-down meal served by a woman in a summer frock and with a coat in her wardrobe in case it is ‘chilly at nights on Hesikos’.
Well, I’ve made fun of this book, but I enjoyed it. It’s a rip-roaring yarn in a sort-of post-imperial style which although hopelessly and helplessly un-p.c. today, read with an open mind might be understood as being exciting for a 7 year old who still enjoys the Beano, an adventure playground, Lego (although I had Minibrix) and baked beans on toast for tea. And the rival scientists both behave, eventually, with old-fashioned gallantry.
Aged 70+, and reading it for the first time, of course revealed it to be a load of old tosh, but I enjoyed it no end. Its toshness lies mostly in the science that is more Dan Dare than Einstein-made-simple, and the utterly unrealistic portrayal of space travel it presents.
The story concerns the holiday excursion to ‘The Lost Planet’ by the 16 year old narrator, Jeremy Grant, with his idealistic private space-scientist uncle – kind of old-money, self-funding Elon Musk – Dr Lachlan McKinnon who has a secretive space base at Inverard in the Highlands of Scotland. Dr McKinnon is kitting out an expedition to the wandering planet Hesikos, equated with Plato’s ‘Lost Planet’ – oh yeah? On Hesikos there are large deposits of a new kind of metal which ‘Dr McKinnon calls… iridonium. Mixed with lead by a catalytic process, it could produce another metal indistinguishable from gold’.
Dr McKinnon, in good 1953 Cold War style, wants to prevent the metal falling into the hands of a rival from an unnamed Eastern European country, Dr Hermanoff.
Remarkably, Hesikos is as comfortable as Earth for human beings, and equally remarkably McKinnon’s spaceship is powered by an atomic motor which can be serviced without the need for protective clothing etc. Moreover, its hull is half-inch steel, so how the hell it got off the ground is a trick NASA would probably like to know about. And ridiculously McKinnon has made provision for his housekeeper, Madge, to accompany the expedition to ‘keep house’ in the kitchen/galley – no chocolate cake in a freeze-dried pack for this lot, oh no! just plain, ordinary fare at a sensible sit-down meal served by a woman in a summer frock and with a coat in her wardrobe in case it is ‘chilly at nights on Hesikos’.
Well, I’ve made fun of this book, but I enjoyed it. It’s a rip-roaring yarn in a sort-of post-imperial style which although hopelessly and helplessly un-p.c. today, read with an open mind might be understood as being exciting for a 7 year old who still enjoys the Beano, an adventure playground, Lego (although I had Minibrix) and baked beans on toast for tea. And the rival scientists both behave, eventually, with old-fashioned gallantry.
August 21, 2017
Solid read
Decent story written in the style of Vern so it is a travel log told from the point of view of a young man.
Decent story written in the style of Vern so it is a travel log told from the point of view of a young man.
September 7, 2025
I think this was a hoot. Super easy to read and I liked the characters. Aside from building their own spacecraft, the first clue that it was going to be fun was the housekeeper/ cook wondering if she should wear her summer frock or blue suit on the trip to the lost planet. Space travel treated like a trip to the country.
May 23, 2011
Lekker achterhaalde SF over een reis naar een onbekende planeet in ons zonnestelsel.
Onderweg drinken ze gewoon koffie en eten ze biefstuk...
Maar toch wel geinig.
Onderweg drinken ze gewoon koffie en eten ze biefstuk...
Maar toch wel geinig.
November 9, 2015
Not for me. Couldn't finish it.
September 18, 2015
This book is published by Venture Press.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews