The Flying Saucer Gambit

Agent of T.E.R.R.A. #1

by Larry Maddock

Science - Fiction

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy

159 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Used As Alternate Name By: Jack Owen Jardine

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Please allow me to give this Man From U.N.C.L.E. rip off 4 stars. I read them back in my youth (the dark ages of the) 1960s. I remember them fondly and have often wished I still had them. In each book Hannibal (Fortune) and his partner Webley (a shape changing alien made up of 15 pounds of protoplasm) would save the world from domination (or worse). Hannibal had a "License to Tamper", with time that is. A rip off of 007's license to Kill? They would move back and forth in time to stop E.M.P.I.R.E. in their attempts to change history and rule the world...or more (cue dramatic music).

In the first one they went back in time to investigate the death of a resident agent.

[Terry Mulcahy]

This was fun to read. The "agent" in the title is basically a secret agent, defending time itself from serious alterations that would lead to disaster. Much like the fictional British agent Bond, he has to stop a maniac from taking control of the Earth. But neither the agent, his partner, nor the maniac and his minions are from this planet. The stakes are high for the people of Earth, but marauders in time would create chaos and destruction throughout the universe. Armed with a vehicle that travels through time, a mind-reading partner, and some very high-tech weapons, he must fight for his life, for planet Earth, and for the flow of time itself. A good adventure, well-written, and the science is plausible.

[Jb Lee]

This fusion of Dr. Who and Bond James Bond is scarcely deathless literature, but for a kid of 11 or 12, it was quite a romp.

[David B]

A time-traveling agent and his alien partner strive to foil the plan of an evil mastermind who intends to use a device that drives people mad to change the past. The four-book series Agent of TERRA was one example of the 60s tsunami of secret agent storytelling that followed the immense success of Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Hannibal Fortune, who has been granted a “license to tamper,” works to preserve the integrity of the timeline for the Temporal Entropy Restructure and Repair Agency. Webley, his partner, is a ball of wisecracking sentient protoplasm that has the ability to inhabit a functional replica of a human being when needed. Gregor Malik of EMPIRE is the evil mastermind. This is a light fun adventure with some timey-wimey nonsense thrown in for spice. You could do worse for a quick read.

https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com

[Gregory Frost]

I first read this book when I was 14 and it was a new book (spoiler alert: I'm ancient). It was so entertaining that I was hooked on Maddock's series and just gobbled up all four of these gems. Yes, they're dated. Yes, they reflect the sexual attitudes of the period. But they're also just breezy, fun reads.

[Eric]

Full Review: https://monsterbookclub.com/2023/02/2...

[Charles]

I like to try the first volume in these older SF series and after this one I won't read any further. Pretty dull work.

[Lynda]

Webley is my favorite sidekick. Great satire of the spy genre that was popular in the sixties.

[Yvensong]

Autographed

[Jamie Ross]

I am a big fan of this series.. I read them as a teenager

[Marko]

I have the german edition: Agenten der Galaxis