Yet another "can you ID this scifi book?"

[smartcooky]

Here's what I remember.

The main character has had recurring dreams all his life about an alien planet and some sound that he associated with that planet

Somewhere in the world a radio telescope detects a strange sound coming from space (perhaps from an alien incoming ship?) and the main character remembers that sound as being the same as the sound in his dreams

He builds a spaceship in his back yard to go investigate

Somewhere along the line there is a matter transporter but I can't remember how it worked or how it was involved in the story

All my searches keep returning the 1985 movie "Explorers" and/or a book called "The Euphio Question" by Kurt Vonnegut. Although there are some similar plot elements its not either of th

 

[smartcooky]

...bump

 

[BowlOfRed]

It's more fun here. But sci-fi.stackexchange.com is another resource for identifications if we fail.

 

[Wudang]

I'm guessing if he builds a spaceship in his yard it's pretty old?

 

[Dave Rogers]

Does he end up as the absolute ruler of said alien planet? If so it might be A. E. Van Vogt.

Dave

 

[smartcooky]

I'm guessing if he builds a spaceship in his yard it's pretty old?

I probably read it in the 1960s and it wasn't new then, so yeah, its probably 1950's or earlier.

IIRC, he was an engineer of some description, and either he or his friend built yachts.

Does he end up as the absolute ruler of said alien planet? If so it might be A. E. Van Vogt.

Dave

Sounds like you are thinking "War Against the Rull" but its not that; I re-read that a little while ago.

Another thing I remembered last night was that the idea for the main drive for his homebuilt spaceship also came to him in a dream about this alien planet, and when he was testing the drive, he nearly wrecked his workshop.

 

[Dabop]

the singing asteroid (or something like that)
I actually have a hardcopy, but my few books are all in storage atm

The asteroids song is from his dream- when he hears it for the first time when the asteroid starts transmitting (cause the bad guys are coming back) he actually persuades his friend he isnt going crazy because he had made a recording of the sounds years previously and thats why he decides to make the 'engine' of the spaceship from his dream pistol

He designs the drive (compressed coils around a iron core) from a 'dream' of a pistol (it isnt a dream, he slept as a child with a "dark shard" under his pillow which turns out to be the remains of a "training cube" from the crew that used to inhabit the asteroid- which were actually our ancestors
His friend build fiberglass yachts and he made the hull of the ship, then the two guys and their two girlfriends took off to go to the singing asteroid

Once there they discover its a fort built to fight 'the ancient enemy' but the crew have abandoned it thousands of years previously
The asteroid started 'singing' because the ancient enemy had reappeared and was planning to sent a pair of 'gravity linked' ships through the solar system (the ships basically acted as a mini black hole with their artificial gravity)
The guys and girls do some technomagic with the forts torpedoes and destroy the bad guys, and because nothing bad happens to the earth, they are considered cranks and liars by the powers that be

They dont really care because they now have this megapowerful fort to play with, and find it actually has matter transmitters in it that lead to other worlds so they got plenty to explore and such



I tried a quick google but wasnt able to find it- but yes it does exist

 

[Dabop]

I was close...
It was the wailing asteroid
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wailing_Asteroid

eta
Interestingly none of the covers pictured in google images matches the cover of my copy, so apparently there are more covers unknown on some of these old books- when I get my books out of storage (got to buy land and built a new house first, so not anytime soon) I'll have to see how many I have that have unknown covers

 

[LongFuzzy]

Available as a free ebook at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50022

 

[smartcooky]

Yep. That is it.

I buggered up the bit about the sounds coming from an incoming ship. They were coming from an asteroid made into a fortress.

 

[fuelair]

I was close...
It was the wailing asteroid
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wailing_Asteroid

eta
Interestingly none of the covers pictured in google images matches the cover of my copy, so apparently there are more covers unknown on some of these old books- when I get my books out of storage (got to buy land and built a new house first, so not anytime soon) I'll have to see how many I have that have unknown covers

Have that edition but have not read it!!!

 

[Dabop]

Hey still enough to ID it tho!

Its one reason I like forums like this- no matter what the question, no matter how obscure or dated, someone on here most likely knows something about it