The Incredible Planet is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 fix-up

Fix-up

A fix-up is a novel created from short stories that may or may not have been initially related or previously published. The stories may be edited for consistency, and sometimes new connecting material—such as a frame story—is written for the new novel. The term was coined by the science fiction...

 novel by American author John W. Campbell, Jr.. It was published in 1949

1949 in literature

The year 1949 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Arthur C. Clarke becomes Assistant Editor of Science Abstracts.*Bertrand Russell receives the Order of Merit....

 by Fantasy Press

Fantasy Press

Fantasy Press was an American publishing house specialising in fantasy and science fiction titles. Established in 1946 by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was most notable for publishing the works of authors such as Robert A. Heinlein and E. E. Smith...

 in an edition of 3,998 copies. The novel is a collection of three linked novelettes that were not accepted for the magazine Astounding. The stories are sequels to Campbell's 1934 novel The Mightiest Machine

The Mightiest Machine

The Mightiest Machine is a science fiction novel by author John W. Campbell, Jr. It was published in book form in 1947 by The Hadley Publishing Co. in an edition of 1,200 copies...

.

Reception

Astounding reviewer P. Schuyler Miller

P. Schuyler Miller

Peter Schuyler Miller was an American science fiction writer and critic.-Life:Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a life-long interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as an amateur archaeologist and a member of the New York State Archaeological Association.He...

 found "The Incredible Planet" "a kind of bridge to the Don A. Stuart style which writer-editor Campbell [had been] developing." Everett F. Bleiler

Everett F. Bleiler

Everett Franklin Bleiler was an editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" series of science fiction anthologies, and his Checklist of Fantastic Literature has been called...

thought the sequels "lack the strengths, such as they are, of The Mightiest Machine."