george o smith

George Oliver Smith born Chicago, Illinois: 9 April 1911 died Rumson, New Jersey: 27 May 1981 George O. Smith was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as novels, short stories and essays and a book reviewer. His first story was QRM – Interplanetary (1942) in Astounding science...

I remember reading a story where two human engineers are working in the ruins of a tower in the Martian desert, trying to get an unknown device working, which after a lot of experimentation turns out to be a relay in a beamed power system. The interesting part was that intercut with their story...

the one thing that stands out about this novel is that it started cheesy, and that ship engines caterwauled. Okay, that’s two things... sue me. Book’s at least 15 years old, mebbe more. Thanks!