2 SF books from the 60s. Unknown title unknown author.

[Pliable Moose]

Read these in a public library as a child.

First story is about a meteor infecting the earth with a red fungus with very strange properties and not compatible with earth life. The red growth is growing and research to stop it ends up using some of the growths properties to temporarily bring back to life important dead scientists. It is found that Mars is already infected and Jupiter's red spot is a growing infection. The red growth is a type of alien biome that gets weirder the more it grows.

Second story; A loner sees a meteor and when investigates discovers a crashed space ship with an injured occupant. The loner takes the humanoid home to try to help him. During the night the alien changes him with future tech and informs him in the morning. The alien is dying and needs to get a message to his people. The earther needs to get to moon orbit to start the trip with the first of a series of ships that will detect him within a certain range and fly to his location, he will be shuttled to Pluto as his destination. Not only does he have an alien tracker/transponder, and the message embedded in him, but yet another device that keeps him from being noticed or effectively invisible. The bad news is he will die if he does not get the message delivered on time (years?). The alien succumbs to his injuries, and the earther has to figure out how to get to the moon to start his trip.

Thanks

 

[otistdog]

That's a pretty good story ID post, Pliable Moose, but you may want to take a look at the standard advice about how to dredge up as much information as you can -- every little bit helps. I'll add some specific questions in the hope that they will help to identify story #1, which sounds interesting:

1. Approximately what year did you read this story? Did the book seem new or old? Can you guess the approximate year or even decade that the story was written?
2. Can you recall specifically or approximately where the meteor landed? A city, state/province, country or even continent? Urban or rural? Mountainous, desert, swampy, forest, etc.? Is there just one site, or are there multiple?
3. Is there any characteristic of the growth except its red color? Is it fuzzy like mold, lumpy like tree fungus, with fruiting bodies like mushrooms? Are there any other colors mixed in?
4. The resurrection of dead scientists seems like a key and uncommon plot point. Can you recall the names of any scientist(s) that were resurrected? Were they real or fictional scientists, or a mix? In what way was the resurrection accomplished, exactly?
5. How is it "found" that Mars and Jupiter are already infection sites? Is this guessed by remote observation? Is an exploration party sent somehow?
6. If the alien biome gets weirder as it goes, can you give any examples of the weirdness? Is it more complex and diverse over time? Can you recall any specific organisms, behaviors, etc.?

 

[Pliable Moose]

I read the standard advice and still goofed it.

1. I read both books in the 60's, in a public library (1965-68) I would have been about 9-12 years old. I don't recall the books being new nor well used.
2. First story, can't remember anything specific about the single impact site I believe to be in North America.
3. The fungus became more complex over time with moving forms, some skating across the surface but not quite sentient. Different textures and terrains with various outgrowths. Seems that it was red with out much variance in color.
4. I don't remember the names of the scientists that were resurrected thought they were famous figures like Da Vinci. Don't remember the details of how the resurrection was accomplished but it was from a byproduct of the fungus somehow. Short lived, a year or less (?) and they would return to dust.
5. I seem to remember the discovery of Jupiters red spot and all of Mars being the same infection was accomplished through dramatic improvements in telescopes during the research to defeat the problem, doesn't seem that earth had much of a space program at the time.
6. Seems that if you touched the fungus you would become enveloped. You could wear a suit and walk onto it, but dangerous because of the unpredictability of the growth. I remember that it was also growing down into the ground.

I remember how the problem was resolved if that would be helpful. With the concentrated effort of everyone involved some kind of gravity beam or force field was developed that surgically cut the infection out of the planet, leaving a massive crater, and creating a new 'red' moon.

The story stands out in my memory because of the strangeness and uniqueness of the growth.

The second story stands out in my memory because during the man's journey across the solar system he is knocked off course by something and falls into jupiter. He cannot move because of the high gravity but these incredibly gigantic beings find him and carry his ship to a location where they begin to cut it open. He thinks he is going to die the moment the hull is penetrated from noxious atmosphere but the aliens are found to be very intelligent and have sealed his ship in a glass dome with the proper atmo. They apparently are aware of his journey somehow (he is only there a short time and isn't able to communicate). They seal him with his suit in something like amber and fire him out of a cannon on a trajectory that intersects the next alien shuttle and the amber melts allowing him to enter the ship and continue his journey to pluto. The shuttles have a preprogrammed autopilot but nothing like A.I.

The man does get the message delivered, stopping an alien war, saving the earth from invasion, or something else. He is returned to earth but the "invisibility" trait remains. Seems that this whole story is a narrative given to a detective or someone is able somehow able to track him down but not capture him. He has been living by stealing what he needs and living quite simply into old age and just disappears again because no one can focus on him.

 

[Gman]

Hi Moose! I just posted a query about what seems to be the same book today! Good to know that someone else is looking for it, too! If I find it, I'll be sure to let you know. Good hunting!

 

[tachyon]

The 2nd one is The Martian Missile by David Grinnell

I posted a link to a plot summary in the other thread on this book:

(Found) Dying alien implant message in man who now has 2 years to deliver it

I read this book as a young boy in the 1960s and would like to read it again. For some reason it has stuck with me and can't remember the name. Here's the plot: A dying alien lands on Earth in the countryside. A man comes upon the crash and attempts to help the alien. The alien then...

www.sffchronicles.com

 

[CassFrank]

No. 1 is Giants from Eternity by Manly Wade Wellman. A meteor brings a red fungus that spreads out of control and can be used to resurrect the dead - including scientists from the past who help defeat the “blight.”