Stand by for Mars! [Paperback]

Carey Rockwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

THE TOM CORBETT SPACE CADET STORIES

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Echo Library (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406839604
• ISBN-13: 978-1406839609
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,150,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Polaris unit- Staaaand TO!, December 20, 2004

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Stand By For Mars! (Tom Corbett Space Cadet Adventure) (Hardcover)

This is the first of the eight book series based on the Tom Corbett radio and television series of the 1950's. This series was closely based on Robert Heinlein's _Space Cadet_ novel. In fact, the book reads very much like a Heinlein "juvenile." The technical advisor on the series was Willy Ley, the German aerospace pioneer and visionary.

This book introduces all the major characters from the series Tom Corbett, Roger Manning, Astro, Captain Strong, etc. In fact, it starts off with Corbett's admission to the Solar Academy and his first missions as a member of the Solar Guard. The Guard are the peacekeepers for the three planet civilisation of the Solar Alliance (Earth, Mars, Venus- and also the moons of Luna, Titan, and Ganymede.)

I found this to be a truly inspiring series when I was younger- and it is still a good, tight read today. I always assumed that Heinlein was the actual author since the style is so close to his, and because the name "Carey Rockwell" is a pen name that is only associated with this series.

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless fun..., October 24, 2011

By 

Rick Pibb (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stand by for Mars! (Paperback)

I still have my original mid-50s copies of the Tom Corbett Space Cadet book series and I re-read them every several years. I'm 60 now, so that's been quite a few go-rounds with them. Until kinescopes of the TV shows started to be released on videotape in the 80s, these books alone fed my hunger for the kind of future world conceived by Robert Heinlein in his book "Space Cadet", the inspiration for the cycle of Tom Corbett TV shows, radio series, comic books and the novels. The novels go deeper than the other media and do a wonderful job of letting the reader's imagination put much more depth and detail into the stories and the characters. Whoever Carey Rockwell really was, he's a heck of a writer! These books are tautly and excitingly written with quite a few well-drawn and memorable characters besides the three young heroes of the Polaris Unit.
This is superior juvenile fiction and solid 50s-style science fiction. I speak of them as being truly, a Star Trek prequel, an early inspiration for Gene Roddenberry. The Solar Alliance = The Federation. The Solar Guard = Star Fleet. The Polaris = The Enterprise. The TV shows were very popular in the early '50s. I remember their original shows a bit, even though their run ended when I was 6 years old. The releases of bleached-out kinescopes on VHS and DVD have been great fun but remind me of how much more sophisticated the novels are. There's a website called SolarGuard, dedicated to he world of Tom Corbett. I try to forget that there's a state governor currently, who bears the same name).
I recommend these books highly and I'm thrilled that several of them are back in publication. Start with "Stand By For Mars" the first in the series. An epic!
And "The Space Pioneers" is fantastic! Don't be an "earthworm" (someone who's never flown in space). Try 'em!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best. Retro. Space-epic. Ever., February 16, 2010

By 

Lily Hawser (Ridgecrest, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stand By For Mars! (Paperback)

Absolutely great reads! The whole series is cute in its 50's-dated language (which contains no swear words whatsover, unless you consider "space gas" an unholy epithet), and just has a fun energy!