Star Trekâs Captain Kirk has a kindred soul in Lars the Ranger, a commander of his own star fleet. But whereas Kirkâs mission is to boldly go where no man has gone before, Lars is boldly going where other men are-in a desperate attempt to save his home planet . . . Earth. Heâs not exploring the final frontier. He is our last hope. Earth is way past global warming. Itâs totally fried-an environmental disaster-and most of its inhabitants have cut out for greener pastures, colonizing distant worlds. Lars leads an expedition across the galaxy to visit those worlds in hopes that he return with the resources needed to bring Earth back from the brink of extinction. But Lars has apparently failed. A mammoth fleet of mysterious starships are descending on the third planet from the sun. Is Earth history? Yes . . . and that may just be its saving grace. By the spring of 1938, Hubbardâs stature as a writer was well established. As author and critic Robert Silverberg puts it: he had become a âmaster of the art of narrative.â Hubbardâs editors urged him to apply his gift for succinct characterization, original plot, deft pacing and imaginative action to a genre that was new, and essentially foreign, to him-science fiction and fantasy. The rest is SciFi history. Also includes the science fiction adventures, Battling Bolto, the story of a giant, con man whoâs running an interstellar scam, while the biggest trick of all lies right under his nose; and Tough Old Man, in which an aging constableâs lack of feelings is not a matter of insensitivity, but of a secret-and surprising-side of his character.