Customer Reviews

Armageddon 2419 A.D.: The Seminal "Buck Rogers" Novel

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this book is a combination of the two original buck rogers stories together as one. these stories lead to the orignial comic strip. it tells how world war one veteran anthony rogers after investigating an incident at a remote mine wakes up five hundred years in the future. to an occupied america ruled by the air lords of the han with there gleaming cities and giant air ships suspended on beams of force. they supress the remants of the american population who live by stealh in the forests with there hidden factories and their plans to liberated thier homeland from the han invaders. into this mess in dumped buck rogers with his knowledge of combat and tactics long forgotten and with his help the han's days are numbered.

This is one of those books I read many years ago (the ACE paperback edition with both this book and The Airlords of Han printed together) and introduced me to sci-fi classics but also the wonderful world of Buck Roger comic strips. This is a book every sci-fi fan should read at least once. It is something "modern" writers should take note that many of Nowlan's predictions came true; many yet to come. He created science out of nothing and hit the target many times. I bought this and The Airlords of Han for my new Kindle because I thought a "Buck Rogers device" needed to have Buck Rogers on it.

The book "Armageddon 2419 A.D.: The Seminal "Buck Rogers" Novel [Mass Market Paperback]" is a combination of the two original books: "Armageddon 2419 A.D.", and "The Airlords of Han". The Kindle book linked from the page of the paperback is NOT the same book. It is only "Armageddon"; You will have to buy it and "Airlords" separately for the Kindle.

Before "Buck Rogers" came to be, he was Anthony Rogers, called Tony by those that know him. He gets put to sleep for almost 500 years by radioactive gas found in a mine. He is a world war one veteran, thus has strategic and tactical experience that has been lost to Americans as a whole in 2419. This is fortuitously times, since the occupied and oppressed America is just getting ready to revolt against the Han airlords that have been systematically trying to wipe them out.

The main technologies Nowlan predicts will never come to be. Anti-gravity "inertron", the super-heavy ultra-dense invisible "ultron", disintegrator rays, repulsor rays, and broadcast power are all firmly in the realm of fantasy. But flat-screen TVs, and video conferencing do exist today. Sexual equality exists too. There's even a sort of crude internet in the Han city. But even the things that don't exist are handled with logic and consistency. If you can suspend disbelief about the technologies existing in the first place, he springs no new rules on you suddenly as a plot device.

The primary interest in this book is going to be for the historical aspect, the ideas in it, and the speculative nature of the technology it contains. The people are two dimensional, the sociology is mostly hinted at.

I found this book to be a quick read, and tons of fun. Who wouldn't want a anti-weight belt that gives them the ability to make 80-foot jumps.

Anthony Rogers enters suspended animation in 1927 and wakes up in 2419.

He soon finds himself surrounded by some pretty cool technology, and in a military conflict. His military skills are still transferable to the present day, so he becomes an important player in the fight against the Han, especially with Wilma Deering by his side.

To enjoy this book, you have to put yourself in the mindset of the pulp stories of the thirties. It was a time of great economic struggle; American phobias and fears regarding other races were intense. The greatest fear was against the "Asiatic hordes", which was a common theme among escapist stories of the time and the Buck Rogers stories were no exception.
The premise of the story is that Buck Rogers, an American veteran of the First World War, enters a mysterious cavern and is put into hibernation by a mysterious gas present there. He awakens in 2419 to find an Asiatic race called the Hans in control of North America. The Hans have built great cities, forcing the few surviving Americans into the forests. In keeping with the racial prejudice of the 1930's the Hans are depicted as soulless, completely lacking in morals and ruthless killers of even their own race when deemed necessary.
Of course, Rogers becomes the leader of the American gangs and defeats the Han forces, who commit mass suicide rather than surrender. In true pulp fashion, Nowlan invents new elements when needed and explains them with simplistic, unscientific and incomplete descriptions. If you are capable of putting yourself into the proper mental state, it is possible to read and enjoy this book. However, if you keep your disbelief meter at too high a level, it will be a dull read.

very happy with the book. good raring on condition of book from seller and fast shipping