I only recently learned that Tom Corbett is not Tom Swift. They are different early boys' space adventure, but both charmingly retro. I read these in the hope of writing a Yuletide treat for a long-unfilled request, and ended up enjoying them on their own merits. They're all available for free on Project Gutenberg.
"Carey Rockwell" was a house name, like Carolyn Keen or Franklin W. Dixon. The actual authors are unknown. Willy Ley was attached as a science advisor, so I'm guessing some of the science (probably the physics) is correct; however it was written in 1954 so there are jungles full of dinosaurs on Venus and breathable air and canals on Mars.
Stand by for Mars
"Cool your jets, space creep!"
The first half is a boys' boarding school story, complete with sports and tests and rivalries and bonding, only it's an academy of prospective space cadets so the sports are mercuryball and space chess. Which brings me to one of the most delightful things about the book: everything is space. They dress in space suits made out of space cloth, eat space burgers (no I'm not kidding) and say things like "Cut the rocket wash, you space-brained idiot!"
Even more delightfully, later in the book they discover the spaceship's emergency supplies include gallons of "Martian water."
The first half of the book introduces our heroes, Tom Corbett from Earth (natural leader), Astro from Venus (big lunk who's great with mechanics), and Roger (snarky, fight-picking genius asshole with secret angst). They're stuck on a team together and Roger doesn't get along, but Tom realizes that he can't be that bad when he catches him secretly crying over an exhibit in a space museum.
The second half is even better. That's when they have an epic survival, hurt-comfort, and bonding experience when they crash on Mars and have to slog through the desert with barely any water.
Leaning into premise rating: A+. It's exactly what it sounds like, only more so.
The illustrations are half rockets and planets, and half pictures of the characters focusing on their butts like a G-rated Tom of Finland.
If this sounds like the sort of thing you like, you will certainly like it.
On the Trail of the Space Pirates
"Well, blast me for a Martian mouse."
Tom, Roger, and Astro, now good friends though Roger remains snarky, solve a well-constructed space mystery, visit a space prison, and get in a space battle. In the course of this, Roger gets knocked unconscious and dangled over a pit, and Tom faces torture and, in a surprisingly moving scene, death by hypoxia when he's stranded in space and running out of oxygen.
The Revolt on Venus
"I'm getting to be as suspicious as an old space hen."
Tom, Roger, and Astro visit Astro's home planet of Venus for a vacation hunting Tyrannosaurus rex, only to run headlong into a space conspiracy. Roger once again plays the damsel in distress and chosen wobble. There's some great descriptions of the Venusian landscape, and a couple neatly constructed plot twists.
I ran out of time and did not write that Yuletide treat, but![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scioscribe stepped in with a wonderful 8000 word story, full of hurt-comfort and camaraderie and retro charm and gentle shippiness and space everything, Spaceman's Luck.
All the books for free download on Project Gutenberg.
"Carey Rockwell" was a house name, like Carolyn Keen or Franklin W. Dixon. The actual authors are unknown. Willy Ley was attached as a science advisor, so I'm guessing some of the science (probably the physics) is correct; however it was written in 1954 so there are jungles full of dinosaurs on Venus and breathable air and canals on Mars.
Stand by for Mars
"Cool your jets, space creep!"
The first half is a boys' boarding school story, complete with sports and tests and rivalries and bonding, only it's an academy of prospective space cadets so the sports are mercuryball and space chess. Which brings me to one of the most delightful things about the book: everything is space. They dress in space suits made out of space cloth, eat space burgers (no I'm not kidding) and say things like "Cut the rocket wash, you space-brained idiot!"
Even more delightfully, later in the book they discover the spaceship's emergency supplies include gallons of "Martian water."
The first half of the book introduces our heroes, Tom Corbett from Earth (natural leader), Astro from Venus (big lunk who's great with mechanics), and Roger (snarky, fight-picking genius asshole with secret angst). They're stuck on a team together and Roger doesn't get along, but Tom realizes that he can't be that bad when he catches him secretly crying over an exhibit in a space museum.
The second half is even better. That's when they have an epic survival, hurt-comfort, and bonding experience when they crash on Mars and have to slog through the desert with barely any water.
Leaning into premise rating: A+. It's exactly what it sounds like, only more so.
The illustrations are half rockets and planets, and half pictures of the characters focusing on their butts like a G-rated Tom of Finland.
If this sounds like the sort of thing you like, you will certainly like it.
On the Trail of the Space Pirates
"Well, blast me for a Martian mouse."
Tom, Roger, and Astro, now good friends though Roger remains snarky, solve a well-constructed space mystery, visit a space prison, and get in a space battle. In the course of this, Roger gets knocked unconscious and dangled over a pit, and Tom faces torture and, in a surprisingly moving scene, death by hypoxia when he's stranded in space and running out of oxygen.
The Revolt on Venus
"I'm getting to be as suspicious as an old space hen."
Tom, Roger, and Astro visit Astro's home planet of Venus for a vacation hunting Tyrannosaurus rex, only to run headlong into a space conspiracy. Roger once again plays the damsel in distress and chosen wobble. There's some great descriptions of the Venusian landscape, and a couple neatly constructed plot twists.
I ran out of time and did not write that Yuletide treat, but
scioscribe stepped in with a wonderful 8000 word story, full of hurt-comfort and camaraderie and retro charm and gentle shippiness and space everything, Spaceman's Luck. All the books for free download on Project Gutenberg.
