Ralph Roberts

The Hundred-acre Spaceship Ralph Roberts

It starts off innocently enough. Uncle Nired's n'er-do-well but genius nephew invents a handgun that shoots all the way through the earth. Uncle Nired-a nice old guy who's a cross between Conan the Barbarian and Cohen the Engineer, especially when someone makes the fatal mistake of getting him cross-no sooner has that problem under control than they hear of an American space shuttle stranded in space. And the Russians plan to make the stranding permanent with a few well-placed laser cannon shots. The entire world, to say the least, stands agog when Uncle Nired and Henry fly Henry's parents' house, lot, and elm tree back to Earth with the rescued American astronauts and captured cosmonauts. The Russians and other groups are scared spitless of the idea of flying houses with guns that can shoot through planets a bristling. Deciding that Mars is the place to start, they rush forces there to fortify it against the Yanks. This does not please Uncle Nired. "Hoo boy!" says Uncle Nired. "We fly the estate to Mars and some tails kick! To mess with me was not smartest thing world has done recently!" The rest of the story follows in hilarious conflicts between the American military, the CIA, Russians, and numerous other groups with the good guys on the flying estate, including a huge but rib-tickling space battle.