A Life in the Future

Buck Rogers

by Martin Caidin

The serial space-ranger Buck Rogers tells his own story for the first time, from his awakening in a strange future to his immortal exploits in the domed city of the Mongols, the Martian camps of the tigermen, and elsewhere.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

312 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1967

About the author

Martin Caidin was a prolific and controversial writer. Most of his work centered around the adventures of pilots and astronauts. A number of his books were notable for their reasonable, realistic predictions of then-futuristic technology.

Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare.

Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation.

In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.

Reviews

[Glen]

This book is based on the Role Playing game by TSR, rather than the original comic strip, or the TV show.

It's interesting, but not as good as the original. There is also a section of the book reprinting an old book about the world of the future, detailing the planets, cities, and starcraft. To me, this was the best part.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an odd juxtaposition for me. It was interesting yet boring at the same time. Well, not quite at the same time. There were interesting elements and boring elements. Actually, some of the interesting elements were still boring. So there you have it. Not sure if I would recommend this to anyone or not to read.

I remember reading reprints of the old Buck Rogers newspaper comic strip as well as pocket book copies of Buck Rogers [as well as Flash Gordon]. I also remember the old 1977 TV show about Buck Rogers [loved those starfighters of theirs in the show!]. So I picked this up on a whim to read.

The basic plot has been updated: Instead of being buried alive in a cave-in and trapped in suspended animation, Buck is a renowned pilot, able to fly anything and everything he puts his hand to. He flies WWI fighters in mock dogfights during airshows, which is what puts him into a life-threatening status. The only way he can survive is if he can be put into suspended animation in hopes future medicine can heal and restore him. They use an experimental process involving a laser where he is trapped in the laser's beam as it bounces back and forth between mirrors. Jump ahead five hundred years and he wakes up with a restored body. Kane and Ardala are no longer villains in this story; they are valued mililtary members of the NiagraOrg Zone. This book seems to run the gamut of Buck's early adventures - he indirectly battles the Mongols on Earth, convinces rogue groups in old North America to join the free orgzones of the new Amerigo country, discovers Atlantis before it is destroyed by a second cataclysm, defeats the Mongols and Tiger Men on Mars, and discovers [and destroys/defeats] the Japanese' attempt to secretly destroy Venus to prevent the Amerigo nation from terraforming it for use by the remaining free countries in the world. The book ends with a traitor being revealed and Buck proclaiming 'remember Pearl Harbor.'

It was an okay book. It was fast-paced, overall, despite the prodigious amount of dialogue in the book. I know some other reviewers have complained about the 'ancient history lessons' that take up a large chunk of the beginning, but that only makes sense to me. If I had awoken after being suspended for five hundred years I would want to know as much as I could about the world around me before venturing forth. So that only made sense to me. At the same time, each major 'incident' that Buck faced seeemed rushed. As did the relationships. It seemed like the author was trying to create sexual tension by having Buck surrounded by several strong, intelligent, attractive women who vied for Buck's attention, but it never went anywhere [not that it needed to end up in bed; the attempted tension just seemed to fall flat]. The author could have written several books, or a longer book, where each 'incident' could have been mined for the gold that was most assuredly hidden beneath the surface. As it was, it seemed like the author had several items to tick off a list as to what Buck did during each chapter and the book followed the list accordingly. I did not necessarily feel like anything was revealed early or given away, but ths story flow did have a weird, choppy feel to it. Not sure if the author was limited to a certain number of words to write this book or was trying to reach the minimum numbr of words for it to be published, but the flow definitely seemed to be lacking some coherence.

I don't like books where the author makes up a stupid scenario that require a deux ex machina to save the day [like some of the later 'Left Behind' books did], but this book did not generate very much suspense for me. I guess in the original Buck Rogers novel, Wilma Deering dies and [if memory serves me correctly] we find out the Mongols were controlled by aliens [yeah, I cheated and read the back of that book on a whim], so it was nice to see that Wilma did not die in this book. And the implication of Buck and Wilma's wedding is nice as well [a sad ending is not always the best ending]. It was not like the heros were put in any kind of true danger; none of the 'major' characters died or were truly in danger of dying. So there was very little, if any, true suspense.

I did like how Buck's experiences and knowledge of the 20th Century helped save the day, as it were. I could see that happening, considering the level of destruction the world faced in the prior five hundred years of warfare.

It is funny - there were times I felt the author expounded a little too much and gave us too much information in the book. Yet there were also times I felt we could have used a little more exposition, a little more information, in other parts of the book for it to have a better flow, a better consistency, to it. Funny how that works.

I also liked how Buck's idioms from the 20th Century kept throwing everyone off when he was speaking. At times it was somewhat humorous, but it never truly got old for me as trouble with idioms, phrases, and word usage would definitely change over 500 years and cause some kind of consternation when it comes to speaking with somebody a la Rip van Winkle.

Overall, I am glad I read the book. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I think it could have been expanded into three or four books, but overall it was a nice attempt to re-imagine Buck Rogers' story and make it more 'relatable' to a new generation of readers.

[Harry Bogle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much testosterone for my liking. 5 centuries of growth and advancement and nothing has changed. After a successful military operation where everyone is patting themselves on the back for all the death and destruction, they reward themselves with big steak, beer and cigars. Too much war and killing after civilization almost destroys itself with nuclear war. I guess humans will never change. Also I agree with other reviewers, somewhat boring.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with another reviewer who talked about boring parts and interesting parts and boring interesting parts. If I listed the events in the book it would sound really exciting. Much was interesting and fun, but it really didn't move along smoothly. I think I appreciate what the author was attempting in trying to capture the serialized pacing of the 30's original movies.

[Brian Grouhel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I certainly enjoyed this updated Buck Rogers story. Mr. Caidin followed the true sense of the original story but brought it a little more forward into our current timeline. A great story and one I'm seriously considering making room on the shelf for.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This certainly is not the Gil Gerard or Buster Crabbe Buck Rogers I’m familiar with. However, that is not why I didn’t really enjoy this book. It does still have a sense of campy fun to it but there were large chucks of it that were rather boring. When Buck wakes up in the future he has to be told all that has happened while he was out of the loop. All 400 odd years of it. There are also long passages about the strengths and weaknesses of every plane Buck has ever flown and detailed descriptions of how the future technology works. I understand that certain things need to be explained to us as the readers as well as Buck but it got pretty dry at times and I found some of it hard to slog through. The plot also seems to jump about randomly. They are on one mission and then on to the next without any sort of transition or anything that ties it all together. Which would work if it came in monthly installments but doesn’t really come together into one cohesive novel. And there are a lot of interesting characters but no one is developed very well. Caidin seemed to want to fit everything in the Buck Rogers myth in this book and it becomes some what of a jumbled mess. I think it would have worked out better if some things were left out and one story line was developed more fully. I’m assuming that the racist attitude of everyone in the book was an attempt to stay close to the feelings in the original stories but it still seemed tacky to me. And it all came together in an ending that wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped for. There is a reproduction of the Phil Nowlan’s 1933 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century' novelette included at the back of the book that is a lot of fun and which, unfortunately, I found more interesting than the book itself.

[Michael Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a reboot of the old Buck Rogers franchise. This had more in common with the 1920-1930's comic, radio, and movie serials than the campy late 70's Buck Rogers television show. Some characters are still the same, others have entirely new personalities and roles. There was never a moment when I couldn't not put the down, and even when I was curious as to what would happen next I just couldn't achieve that suspension of disbelief that was so easy with earlier and other Buck Rogers tales.

[Timothy]

A blast from the past!

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Buck Rogers novel.