The Forgotten Star

Dig Allen, Space Explorer #1

by Joseph Greene

Here is an exciting tale of action and suspense, set in the world of tomorrow. As the story opens, two brothers, Jim and Ken Barry, are traveling by space ship from Earth to a new city on the moon. Aboard the space ship they discover a stowaway, young Dig Allen. Almost at once the three youths are plunged into an adventure that threatens to spell destruction for them all.

Dig has set out to find his father, a space scientist who mysteriously disappeared months before. The Barry brothers agree to help Dig. Their search takes them to the "Graveyard of Space" and to Mars. There they meet Old Dorkas, the one person who is able to decipher the last message received from the missing man. Finally, the boys are forced to set out along in an unauthorized space ship. They soon find themselves marooned on a weird, forgotten world at the outer edges of the solar system where unknown to them, their greatest adventure is about to begin!

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in a young adult SF series written in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Joseph Greene. It is reminiscent of the Tom Swift and Tom Corbett space adventure series from around the same time, but it must not have been as popular since I had never heard of this until recently. However, after reading this first one, I thought it matched up well with the better known series and was a lot of fun. It features a young man named Dig Allen. The first 3/4s of the book was very exciting and really hooked me, which I didn't expect. The ending was an interesting mystery but fairly slow. Yet, I still am glad to have read it and will be picking up the others in the series.

[C. C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a long time ago when I was a kid. I never forgot The Forgotten Star!

[Ken Honecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Forgotten Star is the first volume in the Dig Allen Space Explorer series which appears to have been written by the same fellow that did the Tom Corbett books although here he is using his real name of Joseph Greene rather than Carey Rockwell. This will be the first time I've read these in the proper order. In fact I believe I got this one last and and began with the 6th and final story.

Since this is the start of the series things are a little slow as the fuzzy science gets explained but once things get going the story takes off. Dig stows away on a passenger ship to the moon, meeting Ken and his bother Jim. Later they take off to find Dig's father who has gone missing in space. Daring Do makes an appearance and astounding discoveries are made. The boys seem to be a couple of years younger than the fellows in the Tom Corbett books, in the 15-16 year range. For a kids book written in the late 50's that I read in the mid 60's I enjoyed it once things began to move along

[Tim Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great science fiction book for young, imaginative minds. This book was given to me as a birthday present from a good friend when we were in middle school in the late 1950s. We were both interested in space travel, and i was hoping for a career in astronomy.

The story was easy to follow, and fun to read. The story really unfolds when the three friends land on the asteroid, Ceres, and accidentally discover how to get inside. It turns out it is hollow, and from that point on, the discoveries they make are really astounding.

[Kent Archie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was a bit of a surprise considering books like this.
A little deeper than most.
On to the next one.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost decent. Characters were a little too bland.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read my kids a book that my dad loved when he was a kid.

[Carmelo Rafalà · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this when I was 10 years old. I was home from school with the flu and sat on the couch and read it in one sitting. For a children's book it is a great adventure, taking the characters from one place to another using the old cliffhanger technique per chapter. I was enthralled by it and found its characters, setting and plot unforgettable. Despite being heavily dated, I read it again recently and still found it enjoyable. I think this is a perfect book to get young boys (or girls) into reading. Never mind the outdated rocket technology and the fact that Mars does not have inhabitants, this book is enjoyable and fun--just what kids need from a book these days.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first volume in the Dig Allen series. I read some of the books when I was very young and remember thinking that they were all right, but sort of a poor cousin to the Tom Corbett series; I was a little surprised to find my opinion stayed the same many decades later. The generation-starship concept famously used by Heinlein, Ellison, and many, many others over the years is still cool, but the overall background and characterization just wasn't as convincing as the Space Cadet books. Still, it was a nice visit with a long-lost, almost-forgotten friend.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series as a kid and have remembered them fondly for a long time.

Rereading it, the story was largely familiar, though a few details were lost in the mists of memory. But I did not find it disappointing, other than my knowledge that our solar system doesn't and cannot work the way it does in these books.

Still, as with John Carter of Mars, so too Dig Allen and the Space Explorers! My imagination is more than able to place these in a "what if?" category and enjoy them for what they are.

[David Darrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Francis Homer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book as a Teenager. It was the first book I read stright through in one sitting. WHile it is dated I belive it may be a good book for the younger readers out there.

[SciFiOne · Rating 4 out of 5]

1983 grade B

Juvenile level
Hardcover