In this novel, Byers depicts the suspenseful search for Planet X, the 9th planet in our solar system, a story in which the truth is, literally, stranger than fiction. Amongst the interesting characters is real-life Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, who actually found the planet in 1930, an inquisitive, persistent and broken-hearted man. Knowing that Planet X, or Pluto, is no longer classified as a major planet does not diminish the enjoyment of this race to discovery. Byers writes:
“Our lives intersect, and interfere, and there is no telling where certain beauties might come from.”
I certainly did not expect such beautiful, impassioned writing in a novel about astronomy and mathematics. It made me look at the night sky with a renewed sense of wonder. (“The Unfixed Stars” was published in the USA as “Percival’s Planet”.)
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