The X Factor

Description

Too big, too clumsy, too slow of thought and speech. Diskan Fentress had always known he was too different. And defective. He would never fit in no matter where he was. Or so he believed. Desperate and despondent, Diskan steals a spaceship which crashes on what he believes to be an unknown planet. There he finds kindred. A species of telepathic alien for whom Diskan can act as a key, bringing to life not only their hearts' desire, but, he discovers, his own. But to realize this dream he must first fight against the planet's hostile climate and wildlife, and against death-dealing space pirates.

Description

Diskan Fentress was rejected as mentally unsuitable for Scout training; his size and great strength mark him as a throwback. Since his mother's death in childbirth and his father's disappearance in space left him in state custody, he wound up assigned to manual labor -- until the day Renfry Fentress reappeared. Renfry had found a new civilization, and even a wife among his adopted people -- but knowing that they could not have children, he sought out his son. But Diskan, despite -- or because of -- the endless patience, charm, and tact of his father's adopted people, is utterly alone among strangers, marked by clumsiness, his great size and strength, and inability to express himself. Fleeing from an embarrassing scene of (accidentally) shattered artwork, Diskan hides in Renfry's study -- and steals a voyage tape for Mimir, a world marked as only partially explored and having some mystery about it. His journey in a stolen spaceship brings him into contact with a Zacathan archeologist, the Guild, and the ruins of an alien civilization. Or are they really ruins -- could Mimir still be inhabited?

Subjects

Genres

• Science Fiction

Series Statement

• Game of Stars and Comets #1

Other Editions

• The X FactorPaperbackAce Books1965-01-01
• The X FactorHardcoverGollancz1965-01-01
• The X FactorHardcoverHarcourt, Brace & World1965-01-01
• The X factorHardcoverHarcourt, Brace & World1965-01-01
• The X FactorPaperbackAce Books1970-01-01
• The X FactorPaperbackAce Books1972-02-26