Beyond All Weapons: A Science-Fiction Saga of a War for the Stars

Han Solo of Star Wars could learn a thing or two from Firsten Guide, the tough, wise-cracking rebel leader who’s light years ahead of his time. Facing a brutal crackdown by Earth’s tyrannical government, he has created a new fuel that enables him and his band to escape into space—and time. Now Firsten wants revenge. But when you break the laws of physics, you can get burned.

Hubbard was a pioneer in his use and development of Einstein’s theories of space and time as a plot point in his fiction. In Beyond All Weapons, he explains: “As mass approaches the speed of light . . . it approaches infinity. And, as mass approaches infinity, time approaches zero. It was only nine days back from Alpha. But in those nine days, six thousand years have passed by Earth.” It stands as one of the earliest—and most succinct—descriptions of the theory.

Also includes the science fiction adventures Strain, the story of a space war’s brutality and one man’s struggle to keep a secret under the pain of torture, and The Invaders, in which the distant crystal mines are under attack until a technician crystallizes a unique strategy to undermine the attackers.

“A thrilling space adventure . . . the terror and excitement builds through to the end.” —Publishers Weekly