The format is approximately 6.25 inches by 8.75 inches. vi, 276, [6] pages.

The format is approximately 6.25 inches by 8.75 inches. vi, 276, [6] pages. Decorative cover. The cover has some wear, soiling and edge nicks. No dust jacket present. Note on Pronunciations. Dirk Barnevelt knew he wasn't a hero, but somebody had to find the explorer who'd vanished on the low-tech planet, Krisha and to do that, somebody had to single-handedly rescue a beautiful princess from bloodthirsty pirates and to do that, somebody had to lead the fleet against an impregnable fortress, while fending off a superior navy. And whoever managed all that was going to be a hero-whether he knew it or not. Lyon Sprague de Camp (November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of non-fiction, including biographies of other fantasy authors. He was a major figure in science fiction in the 1930s and 1940s. An aeronautical engineer by education, de Camp earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Caltech in aeronautical engineering 1930. He earned his Master of Science degree in Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1933. De Camp was also a surveyor and an expert in patents. During World War II, de Camp served as a researcher at the Philadelphia Naval Yard along with his fellow writers Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein. De Camp eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy as a reserve officer. De Camp was a materialist who wrote works examining society, history, technology and myth. The Hand of Zei is a science fiction novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the second book of his Viagens Interplanetarias series and its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. The book has a convoluted publication history. It was first published in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction as a four-part serial in the issues for October, 1950-January 1951. The text was redivided into two parts for its first publication in book form by Avalon Books, appearing as the separate volumes The Search for Zei (1962) and The Hand of Zei (1963). To facilitate the new division, de Camp wrote a new ending for the first and a new beginning for the second to briefly recapitulate the portion of the story already told. The two parts were then reissued together in paperback by Ace Books in 1963, back to back and inverted in relationship to each other, as an "Ace Double" The Ace versions were slightly abridged by the author. A restored text bringing both segments back together was finally published by Owlswick Press in 1981. A new paperback edition utilizing this text was issued by Ace Books in August 1982 as part of the standard edition of the Krishna novels, and was reprinted in March 1983. The novel has been translated into Dutch, French, German and Czech. Travel writer Dirk Barnevelt and lecturer George Tangaloa, associates of interplanetary explorer and documentarian Igor Shtain, are drafted on Shtain's disappearance to complete his commission to explore the Sargasso Sea-like Sunqar area of Krishna's Banjao Sea — and incidentally to find Shtain, who is suspected to have been kidnapped to Krishna. Arriving on the planet, the Earthmen travel to their goal in disguise as native Krishnans; Barnevelt himself is given the alias of the famous general, Snyol of Plesht, from the Antarctic nation of Nichnyamadze. Snyol's formidable reputation proves at various times both a boon and a hindrance to their mission. The two are dogged at every step by pirates from the Sunqar who believe their true goal is to disrupt the pirates' smuggling operation. Complications arise when the two become embroiled in the affairs of the native monarchy of Qirib, whose princess Zei is kidnapped by the pirates. Dirk is ordered by Queen Alvandi to recover the princess while George remains behind as a hostage. Dirk must therefore take the lead in rescuing Zei, putting...