Armageddon 2420 A.D.!: The Return of the Han [Buck Rogers #3]

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Characterizations in "Armageddon A. Basically, this is Rogers explaining his role during an historic time period, and nothing more, almost as if he were a soldier reporting to his CO. And then there is the matter of political correctness. The two novellas here are just as much guilty of buying into the so-called "yellow menace" of the era as any of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novels; thus, the Han conquerors are blithely referred to as the "yellow incubus" and "yellow blight" any number of times. Nowlan, to be fair, does redeem himself a bit by revealing, near the book's end, that the Hans just might have extraterrestrial blood mixed in with their own!

Their employment, even against such dastardly villains as the Hans, will likely compel most readers to cry "Foul! This egregious section pops up in the otherwise thrilling second novella, in which Nowlan apparently felt the necessity of adding veracity to his story by explaining some of those technical marvels, in passages of exceedingly recondite mumbo jumbo.

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To wit, this section, in which we learn how the Hans use broadcast power to work their airship repeller rays: It went out at a frequency of about 1, kilocycles, had an amperage of approximately zero, but a voltage of two billion. Properly amplified by the use of inductostatic batteries a development of the principle underlying the earth induction compass applied to the control of static this current energized the 'A' ionomagnetic coils on the airships, large and sturdy affairs, which operated the Attractoreflex Receivers, which in turn 'pulled in' the second broadcast power known as the 'pullee,' absorbing it from every direction, literally exhausting it from surrounding space.

The 'pullee' came in at about a half-billion volts, but in very heavy amperage, proportional to the capacity of the receiver, and on a long wave--at audio frequency in fact. About half of this power reception ultimately actuated the repeller ray generators.

The other half was used to energize the 'B' ionomagnetic coils, peculiarly wound affairs, whose magnetic fields constituted the only means of insulating and controlling the circuits of the three 'powers. In the 'X' circuit, the negative was grounded along an ultraviolet beam from the ship's repeller-ray generator. The positive connection was through the ether to the 'X' synchronizer in the power plant, whose opposite pole was grounded.

The 'Y' circuit traveled the same course, but in the opposite direction. Techno dummy that I am, I had to reread this section several times to try to ascertain if it is sheer gobbledygook or if it might actually contain a kernel of genuine science. And this extended quote here represents less than one page of a section that goes on for eight! As I say, it stopped the book, for this reader, at least, dead in its tracks. And I happen to know someone who felt the same exact way about the chapter in which the author describes life in Lo-Tan, with an emphasis on the Hans' morals and customs.

That section, for me, however, was pretty darn interesting, and at least understandable! Anyway, that one eight-page chunk, dry-as-dust writing style, un-P.

It gets a marginal recommendation from yours truly. Don't disintegrate me for saying so, but I suppose that I am here, uh, passing the Buck By the way, this review originally appeared on the Fantasy Literature website One person found this helpful. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. This, the original Buck Rogers story, is quality storytelling in the vein of classic science fiction, of which it is certainly a fine example. Of course, the later movies and television productions derived from the adventures of Buck Rogers--who isn't even called "Buck" in this tale--took the story in very different directions and played up the space opera elements of the story, so readers only acquainted with the character and his best girl, Wilma Deering through those versions may be a bit put off by the the more earth-bound narrative of this novella.

Still, it is a fine story, with realistically drawn characters and believable treatments of the great changes in both technology and culture which await the protagonist when he is awakened from an artificial sleep several hundred years in the future.

The villains are not extraterrestrial, but of Asian origin, and the story is definitely not politically correct by the standards of A. There is also a brief commentary on the differences between capitalist and socialist economics and culture, with the author seeming to unfortunately push the socialist ideal rather more positively. But if the action lacks dog fighting star ships and alien invaders, it still delivers lots of action delivered with considerable attention to realism especially in terms of military tactics , some romance, and more than a few neat sci-fi gadgets and weapons.

It may not be what the uninitiated expect from Buck Rogers, but it's still a fine story. I really loved reading these two novellas. I've seen Buster Crabbe's portrayal, and now reading the literary inception of the character is a real treat. This is a Buck Rogers before the advent of our contemporary anti-heroes, overly thinky themes, or postmodern PC dilutions. See all 66 reviews. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers.

Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Set up a giveaway. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: By Your Command Vol 1: What other items do customers buy after viewing this item? When the supposedly exterminated Han attack Earth from Space, Anthony Rogers, better known as Buck, follows up on clues in The Airlords of Han suggesting America's evil conquerors were descendents of an alien race.

Soon Rogers is at the control of one of America's fastest spaceships on his way to Mars, Callisto and beyond in a desperate race prevent Earth's reconquest by an even greater menace than the Han. Meanwhile, Roger's wife, Wilma Deering, the female supersoldier of the future, stays behind to organize Earth's defenses, where she faces her own challenges and perils. Superscientific weapons, space battles, romance, villains, heroes, Armageddon A. Heir to the Jedi: To Fall Among Vultures.

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War to the Knife. Ghost Ships of Terra. Jardin Ice working Title. Star Wars Sampler. Naero And The Quick War. The Essential Guide to Warfare: The New Essential Guide to Droids. Like I said, it's written pretty close to the style of Nowlan's books, including narrative. Near the end of the novel the first person narrative of past events changes from Anthony to his wife, Wilma. For practical purposes, it was the same person speaking, and I could not detect any differences between "Anthony" and "Wilma" even though one was born years before the other, and this wasn't taking place all THAT long after the end of Nowlan's first two books.

Now, is it a stretch that Mankind was able to meet this invading Han master race out in space around Mars and the Asteroids and further on, even with the population and resources we had in place? All from rockets and spaceships the size of aircraft carriers with practically no experience to begin with?

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With all that implies? Let's just say that a HUGE suspension of disbelief is necessary to enjoy this novel like the author intended. And, if you can accomplish it which I did, with an effort then you will have fun, though like I mentioned earlier, the ending leaves you with a feeling of, "What the? Where are the missing chapters? Did the download screw up?

There was a problem loading comments right now. Wish I'd saved my money.

MANDELA EFFECT UPDATE, Reply From Gil Gerard, AKA Captain William "Buck" Rogers In The 25th Century.

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