Customer Reviews

Final Blackout

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am not a Scientologist, but I do like pulp fiction. FINAL BLACKOUT was an innovative tale for its time, and does a fairly good job standing on its own today. The story's general cynicism towards governments seems rather atypical of the patriotism in pre-WW II America. The characters are interesting, but a little stiff. There is a fair amount of action; the main character's strategies make for interesting reading (although some of the Lieutenant's tactics are a bit of a stretch). Final Blackout's main strength is its "post-apocalyptic" scenario, written well before that genre was synonimous with apes and Mel Gibson. Not the greatest pulp novel ever written, but a good, solid read. Even if you disagree with Hubbard's "religion", the man could spin a decent yarn.

This is a gripping tale about a man known only as the 'Lieutenant' as he leads a small band of loyal followers in an apolocalyptic world war setting. It portrays the inhumanity of war, and exposes the character of those who create and prolong them. This early Hubbard novel is an expose' on the insanity of war, and deserves it's rightful place in history as classic novel. It should be recommended reading to all, who desire to prevent this kind of future. This one is a great SF classic in the spirit of Hemmingway's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' and 'A Farewell to Arms'. Read it and enjoy.

This book in some ways reminds me of Fatherland in the fact that WW2 lasted longer (a great HBO movie btw) It also reminds me that WW 1 would have lasted probably into a good amount of the 1920's if the US hadn't came in. Anyways the book is good...a great description at the beginning of how he was brought up. Also the fact he methodically plays solitare over and over to pass the war. Surprisingly this reminds me of the Vietnam conflict except this was written almost 20 years before Vietnam started.

Most of us today cannot help but evaluate L. Ron Hubbard without thinking of him in terms of his connection with Dianetics and Scientology. My view of Hubbard in this context is generally negative.

But Hubbard wrote a lot of fiction before the days of Dianetics in the early fifties. Much of it was bad, but some of it was quite good. _Final Blackout_ (1948) was first written in 1939 and serialized in _Astounding_ in 1940. In a preface to the 1948 book, Hubbard notes that when he wrote the novel "there was still a Maginot line, Dunkirk was just another French coastal town and the Battle of Britain, the Bulge, Saipan, Iwo, V2s and Nagasaki were things unknown" (5). Many gentlemen still wondered "whether or not it _was_ not possible to do business with Hitler" (6).

Hubbard's novel, written in "that quiet world of 1939" (8), generated a lot of controversy, both as a magazine serial and as a book. Hubbard imagines a Europe ravaged by so many wars that almost all traces of civilization have been wiped out. Against this background, a military genius called "the Lieutenant"-- he has no name-- bucks his incompetent superior officers and launches a series of campaigns that begin to win the war and unify England with himself as dictator. The country that is considered to be the main villain is not Germany or Russia. Rather, it is a decadent United States of America.

The novel is violent and grim, and the scenario of the Benevolent Dictator rescuing Civilization is a bit on the fascist side. (Though the novel goes through the motions of attacking fascism.) But these qualities are consistent with Hubbard's premise of a war-torn continent. And it is to Hubbard's credit that the violence is not sensationalized and the characters are not glorified.

Sixty years after the book publication, the faults of the novel are more obvious. The style is competent but pulpish, and its theme is sometimes a little too obvious. It is not as good as some of his early fantasies like _Slaves of Sleep_ (1948) and _Fear_ (1957). But it still has a certain power to it that wears well.

This book was something I picked out at a bookstore when I was given a gift certificate. Reading it each night before I went to sleep gave me such realistic dreams, that I could actually picture the battlegrounds, massive destruction, and faces of the Lieutenant and his crew. I am not an avid reader, but this book opened the way for me to start the Mission Earth decology which is of an even higher quality. I am presently on book number 4, and loving it. The only book I liked even better than these was "The Contender", the story of a young, black boxer living in the tri-state area, something I can relate to.

As this book demonstrates, before he turned to Dianetics and founded the religion of Scientology, Hubbard was a pretty good science fiction writer. Originally written in 1940, this book is a dark and prescient tale about a general European war.
The setting is decades after the start of the war, it started with the use of high powered weapons of the 1940 era, but after the involvement of atom bombs, biological and chemical agents, the war continues but the quality of the weapons has declined. Airplanes and all other mechanized weapons of war are no longer, along with nearly all of the people. The soldiers continue to fight on, but now a large unit is a few hundred men. They are called the "unkillables" because they have managed to survive the biological agents, war and the chronic lack of food. Most of what they eat is the remnants of what was packaged years ago, so nearly everyone is on the edge of starvation. The industrial base is gone and there are few civilians and even fewer pockets of civilization.
The lieutenant commands a small British unit that has been in constant warfare on the European mainland for years. Since they are infected with a biological agent, they are forbidden to return to England. The lieutenant is an extremely skilled commander, so as they move around the countryside they easily defeat any opposition they encounter.
Eventually, they come across a unit commanded by British political generals, sent by the British Communist Party, now ruling Britain, to make contact with all remaining British units. The goal of the generals is to strip these units of their distinctive structure and incorporate them into a political fighting force. However, since the generals are militarily incompetent, it is easy for the lieutenant and his unit to defeat them and take over the command. Knowing that it is now biologically safe to do so, the lieutenant and his forces return to England.
Hubbard demonstrates his knowledge of the current status of science and a degree of predictive capability in his use of biological and atomic weapons. However, as dark as the story is, it has an even darker ending, for despite all of the death and destruction; as soon as it is possible, imperialism arises once more in a terrible but predictable way.

The courage, integrity and increadible leadership of the main character in this book (The Lieutenance) is a driving force from beginning to end. This book goes beyond war and the mere survival of one man and his company. It takes you into the survival and future of an entire country through this one man's efforts and those he leads. Quite an incredible read from start to finish.

I can appreciate that the writer broke ground in writing one of the first future-war novel, but I just could not get into the story. With much pulp fiction written during the time that this was, the work either has good character development or it doesn't. For me that was the case with FINAL BLACKOUT. It was entertaining enough, but I have read better books. I am reading FEAR by the same writer; that book is better.

I think that L. Ron Hubbard is an amazing author. Battlefield Earth is the greatest science fiction novel I have read. The Mission Earth series was a great read. Hubbards command of the english language and the cadence of his storytelling is that of a master. It is too bad that so many people seem to avoid his work due to Dianetics and Scientology.

Final Blackout was written nearly 40 years before Battlefield Earth. His growth as an author during those years was painfully apparant after reading Final Blackout. His description of events and depth of character are scattered and weak, and I often felt lost in the stories path. I can see some early examples of his style that become perfected in his later works, but in this novel it really didn't quite work and I was disappointed.

This is a pulp fiction, sci-fi novel. Kind of comic book stuff, which makes it an easy read. There is no suspense, clever plots, internal dialogues or character development.

I liked the book for its simplicity and concept of a post World War II. After years of fighting, Europe is covered with roving bands of soldiers, who take food and weapons wherever they travel. They eventually re-conquer England and set up a prosperous and fair government. After a few years, their peace is disrupted by an invading force from the U.S.A. under the pretense that they violated some international law. (This is really Deja vu regarding the Middle East and several of the U.N. Peace Keeping "Humanitarian" missions.)

While Peace Keeping, in Croatia, (former Yugoslavia) I heard reports of the same roving kind of private army bands, pillaging across the country. So, this scenario is very possible. Any history buff or soldier can also relate to concepts of the "field soldiers/officers" and the lazy, self-serving bureaucrats that make up "the brass."

While this is not great book, it is thought-provoking to what could have happened in Europe or Asia, if the west had not intervened.

Doug Setter, author of One Less Victim: A Prevention Guide and Stomach Flattening