Third Planet

Name: Third Planet
Brand: Author's Republic
Availability: InStock
Author: Murray Leinster
ISBN: 9798295395765

Author: Murray Leinster

Narrator: Saethon Williams

Unabridged: 1 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Independently Published

Published: 01/25/2026

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction

Synopsis

Third Planet by Murray Leinster is a classic mid-20th-century science fiction novel that blends space exploration with a chilling warning about humanity’s future. Written during the height of Cold War tensions, the story follows the crew of the survey ship Lotus as they investigate a once-living planet reduced to lifeless ruin by nuclear devastation. What they uncover is more than an alien mystery—it is a mirror reflecting Earth’s own perilous path.Perfect for readers who enjoy classic science fiction with philosophical depth, planetary exploration, and socially conscious storytelling, this novel remains as relevant today as when it was first published.

About Murray Leinster

Murray Leinster (1896–1975) was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an award-winning American writer of science fiction and alternate history. He wrote and published over fifteen hundred short stories and articles, fourteen movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays. His first science fiction story, “The Runaway Skyscraper,” appeared in the February 22, 1919 issue of Argosy, and he won a Hugo Award for his 1956 story “Exploration Team.” He was also an inventor, best known for the front-projection process used in special effects. In Virginia, June 27, 2009, was named Will F. Jenkins Day in honor of his achievements in science fiction.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Manuel on January 09, 2022

ENGLISH: This Leinster short story is built around the idea, generalized at the time, that all planetary systems around other stars would be identical to ours, in number, size and distribution of the planets. We have now discovered several hundred planetary systems, and not one is similar to ours. Th......more

Goodreads review by Tony on April 27, 2025

Fantastic story narrated by a Great narrator!!!......more

Goodreads review by Ray on July 20, 2019

Leinster makes a comment about fallout dropping into the sea. It makes me believe he didn't understand how the water cycle works, or how radioactive decay works either. Not a great story, worth reading once.......more