What do you think?
Rate this book
Tom Swift Jr. #25
Tom Swift and His Polar-Ray Dynasphere
Tom Swift and His Polar-Ray Dynasphere. Free tracking. Pictorial Cover.
177 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
81 people want to read
About the author
Victor Appleton
354 books45 followersVictor Appleton was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and its successors, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...
The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...
The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 19, 2022
Fun book!
September 4, 2023
This is the third of three books I recently purchased from an antique bookstore. It sat among twenty other books from the same series. In hindsight, I admit to pangs of guilt pulling just one copy off the shelf, effectively ruining someone else’s opportunity to own a complete set. I may donate it back to the store at some point.
The initial Tom Swift series originated in the early 1900s by the same company that produced the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. That company, Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired ghost writers and penned the Swift stories under the pseudonym Victor Appleton. The book I purchased is from the second set of Tom Swift adventures, originating in 1954, and features Tom Swift Jr. as the protagonist. Tom Sr. still plays a minor role in this series, but the teenage Jr. and his friend Bud are the primary characters.
In this story, Tom is tasked with retrieving a Mars probe that has gone missing in outer space. To accomplish the mission, he simply builds a Polar-Ray Dynasphere, which features giant magnets that can attract objects from millions of miles away. I say simply because there is nothing Tom seemingly can’t do. In fact, the U.S. government relies on him, and his father’s business, Swift Enterprises, to solve most of the world’s problems.
Before successfully retrieving the probe, he uses the Dynasphere to help drain a poisonous lake in the Himalayas. In the process, he unearths ancient buildings full of valuable trinkets and breaks up an espionage ring selling those goods on the black market. With Bud, two girlfriends, and his cook Chow by his side, the reader is also offered a small introduction to Indian culture.
Where the Tom Sr. books mildly tinkered in science, the Jr. series is based heavily on the theoretical science of that era. As I understand it, actual scientists were hired to fabricate the adolescent’s inventions. This gives the storyline a plausibly realistic feel. But then I chuckled every time the teenagers narrowly thwarted a heat seeking missile with a slap on the shoulder and a “That was close. Is it lunch time, yet?”
This is the type of book I would have really enjoyed as a young teen – full of action and slightly nerdy. As an older adult, I appreciate its nostalgia. Despite 60 years of technological advances since Tom Jr. created his inventions, none of them exist today. Theoretical science indeed!
The initial Tom Swift series originated in the early 1900s by the same company that produced the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. That company, Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired ghost writers and penned the Swift stories under the pseudonym Victor Appleton. The book I purchased is from the second set of Tom Swift adventures, originating in 1954, and features Tom Swift Jr. as the protagonist. Tom Sr. still plays a minor role in this series, but the teenage Jr. and his friend Bud are the primary characters.
In this story, Tom is tasked with retrieving a Mars probe that has gone missing in outer space. To accomplish the mission, he simply builds a Polar-Ray Dynasphere, which features giant magnets that can attract objects from millions of miles away. I say simply because there is nothing Tom seemingly can’t do. In fact, the U.S. government relies on him, and his father’s business, Swift Enterprises, to solve most of the world’s problems.
Before successfully retrieving the probe, he uses the Dynasphere to help drain a poisonous lake in the Himalayas. In the process, he unearths ancient buildings full of valuable trinkets and breaks up an espionage ring selling those goods on the black market. With Bud, two girlfriends, and his cook Chow by his side, the reader is also offered a small introduction to Indian culture.
Where the Tom Sr. books mildly tinkered in science, the Jr. series is based heavily on the theoretical science of that era. As I understand it, actual scientists were hired to fabricate the adolescent’s inventions. This gives the storyline a plausibly realistic feel. But then I chuckled every time the teenagers narrowly thwarted a heat seeking missile with a slap on the shoulder and a “That was close. Is it lunch time, yet?”
This is the type of book I would have really enjoyed as a young teen – full of action and slightly nerdy. As an older adult, I appreciate its nostalgia. Despite 60 years of technological advances since Tom Jr. created his inventions, none of them exist today. Theoretical science indeed!
September 17, 2024
I picked this up in an antique store, mainly because the cover was super-cool looking in a retro sci-fi way. I had never read any of the Tom Swift books when I was a kid.
The Tom Swift Jr series is a 50s - 60s continuation of the Tom Swift novels written in the 20s and 30s. There are some similarities to Marvel's Tony Stark and his father, in that Tom Jr is an inventor, who loves creating new gadgets to solve problems, and he has the money and equipment to do so because his father has created a powerful company with lots of money and government contracts.
Things that were interesting about the novel is the mile-a-minute plot and tons of gadgets, from the eponymous polar-ray dynasphere of the title, submarines, and atomic powered flying laboratories to smaller items like his repelatron and pocket pencil radio communicator. He also has invented what is essentially a holographic display projector.
The plot mainly revolves around a friend of Tom's: Prince Jahan of the isolated Himalayan country of Vishnapur. Tom is invited to visit, and ends up solving a mystery involving a mysterious lake and the Abominable Snow Man, who (Scooby Doo like) winds up to be the King's nefarious brother dressed up in a suit. The brother is working with not-China who wants to take over Vishnapur and is building a hidden rocket ship base in the mountains. Tom, of course, manages to defeat the bad guys with the help of his friends and employees of Swift Enterprises.
I liked that Tom espoused non-violent means to solve problems, the closest thing he has to a gun is his repelatron, which is more of a defensive weapon. Tom's sister and her friend Phyllis also visit Vishnapur with Tom, but are of course more interested in girly-type things like hair and outfits which was not so cool, but very much of the time period and target market for the books. That's probably why I didn't read them as a kid.
The Tom Swift Jr series is a 50s - 60s continuation of the Tom Swift novels written in the 20s and 30s. There are some similarities to Marvel's Tony Stark and his father, in that Tom Jr is an inventor, who loves creating new gadgets to solve problems, and he has the money and equipment to do so because his father has created a powerful company with lots of money and government contracts.
Things that were interesting about the novel is the mile-a-minute plot and tons of gadgets, from the eponymous polar-ray dynasphere of the title, submarines, and atomic powered flying laboratories to smaller items like his repelatron and pocket pencil radio communicator. He also has invented what is essentially a holographic display projector.
The plot mainly revolves around a friend of Tom's: Prince Jahan of the isolated Himalayan country of Vishnapur. Tom is invited to visit, and ends up solving a mystery involving a mysterious lake and the Abominable Snow Man, who (Scooby Doo like) winds up to be the King's nefarious brother dressed up in a suit. The brother is working with not-China who wants to take over Vishnapur and is building a hidden rocket ship base in the mountains. Tom, of course, manages to defeat the bad guys with the help of his friends and employees of Swift Enterprises.
I liked that Tom espoused non-violent means to solve problems, the closest thing he has to a gun is his repelatron, which is more of a defensive weapon. Tom's sister and her friend Phyllis also visit Vishnapur with Tom, but are of course more interested in girly-type things like hair and outfits which was not so cool, but very much of the time period and target market for the books. That's probably why I didn't read them as a kid.
June 28, 2015
The Tom Swift, Jr., books were a fun, upbeat, and interesting adventure series published for kids from 1954 to 1971 that promoted science, fair-play, patriotism, and team-work; they were good, positive books. The series served as a sequel to the original Tom Swift series that appeared from 1910 to the beginnings of World War II; Tom and his sister, Sandy, are the children of the first Tom and his wife, Mary Nestor; Tom's girlfriend Phyllis Newton is the daughter of Tom Sr.'s sidekick Ned Newton (now Uncle Ned to Tom and Sandy); the family home is still located in Shopton along Lake Carlopa, etc. It's nice that the continuity is preserved rather than just being over-written as happened to The Hardy Boys; in the first Tom Jr., book beings make contact that were first hinted at in the final real Tom Sr., book, Planet Stone, and throughout the series references to the history are made such as naming a device the Damonscope in honor of a character from the first series, Mr. Wakefield Damon. In addition to the Swifts and Newtons, Tom Jr. has his own sidekick, Bud Barclay, and there are several interesting supporting characters such as Phil Radnor, Harlan Ames (I wonder if Harlan Ellison was the inspiration for the name?), Hank Sterling, Miss Trent (who I don't believe ever had a first name), and especially Chow Winkler, Tom's cook, a former "Texas chuck-wagon" cook who was given to a variety of wild and unlikely expressions such as, "Well, brand my space biscuits!" The earlier books had nice covers, end-papers, and illustrations: Graham Kaye and Charles Brey provided the art for the first twenty-five volumes, followed by Edward Moretz, after which the artistic (as well as the literary) quality starting going downhill. Tom invented and built many fantastic inventions (but remember it was the '50s and '60s), and had many exciting adventures along with his friends and family. They faced off against saboteurs and spies and the evil Brungarians but their good spirits and hard work and can-do attitude always paid off in the end. The continuity didn't always hold logically from book to book, and looking back it's easy to pick apart one thing or another, but they were fun and fine books in their time. This twenty-fifth volume has a great cover showing the titular invention in action. Poisons and tigers and missiles, oh my!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews