Saturday, 12 March 2011

Stand by for Mars by Carey Rockwell

Official Blurb

Tom Corbett - Space Cadet was one of the first multimedia sensations. In the 1950s the character had his own radio show, TV series, comic book, breakfast cereal, and a line of young-adult novels. A cross between "Tom Brown's School Days" and Horatio Hornblower (and loosely based upon Robert A. Heinlein's novel "Space Cadet"), the books follow the adventures of Tom and his friends Roger Manning and Astro as they work their way through Space Academy to become officers of the Solar Guard. Along the way they tangle with space pirates, smugglers, and the threat of demerits for breaking the rules.

My Review

This is a pure sci fi story in the true 1950's/60's tradition. Unlike many such stories, in this book the protagonists are not all super expert and good at everything. The characters in this story have their faults and don't all get along. This makes the story much more interesting.

The story follows the exploits of a group of young cadets as they work through training and even get sent on their first mission, which, of course in such boys-own stories does not go according to plan. As the blurb says they encounter all kinds of problems that need to be overcome.

It's got all of the great story elements of classic sci fi. Hero's, space ships, high tech and bad guys, and they're put together in a fun light story that will keep any sci fi happy.

Don't expect hard hitting gritty story here, it's light pop corn literature.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 6/9

Download it from the Librivox

Listen to the first part

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