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Space: 1999 #4
Collision Course
LOST IN SPACE!
A nuclear "mistake" blasts the men and women of Moonbase Alpha on a daring one-way odyssey to distant stars. Their only home is a wandering cinder heap. Their daily routine -- outwitting the treacherous alien forces of the universe.
There is a brilliant flash of light and a planet appears where none should be. A gift from the mysterious queen Arra? Or a deadly world where the present becomes as primitive as the past?
The Alphans unlock more than the secret of life and death when they free an astonishing creature with the face of a diabolical angel!
Contains the episodes "Collision Course", "The Full Circle", "End of Eternity", and "Death's Other Dominion"
A nuclear "mistake" blasts the men and women of Moonbase Alpha on a daring one-way odyssey to distant stars. Their only home is a wandering cinder heap. Their daily routine -- outwitting the treacherous alien forces of the universe.
There is a brilliant flash of light and a planet appears where none should be. A gift from the mysterious queen Arra? Or a deadly world where the present becomes as primitive as the past?
The Alphans unlock more than the secret of life and death when they free an astonishing creature with the face of a diabolical angel!
Contains the episodes "Collision Course", "The Full Circle", "End of Eternity", and "Death's Other Dominion"
- GenresScience FictionFiction
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
41 people want to read
About the author
E.C. Tubb
382 books85 followersEdwin Charles Tubb was a writer of science fiction, fantasy and western novels. He published over 140 novels and 230 short stories and novellas, and is best known for The Dumarest Saga (US collective title: Dumarest of Terra) an epic science-fiction saga set in the far future.
Much of Tubb's work has been written under pseudonyms including Gregory Kern, Carl Maddox, Alan Guthrie, Eric Storm and George Holt. He has used 58 pen names over five decades of writing although some of these were publishers' house names also used by other writers: Volsted Gridban (along with John Russell Fearn), Gill Hunt (with John Brunner and Dennis Hughes), King Lang (with George Hay and John W Jennison), Roy Sheldon (with H. J. Campbell) and Brian Shaw. Tubb's Charles Grey alias was solely his own and acquired a big following in the early 1950s.
An avid reader of pulp science-fiction and fantasy in his youth, Tubb found that he had a particular talent as a writer of stories in that genre when his short story 'No Short Cuts' was published in New Worlds magazine in 1951. He opted for a full-time career as a writer and soon became renowned for the speed and diversity of his output.
Tubb contributed to many of the science fiction magazines of the 1950s including Futuristic Science Stories, Science Fantasy, Nebula and Galaxy Science Fiction. He contributed heavily to Authentic Science Fiction editing the magazine for nearly two years, from February 1956 until it folded in October 1957. During this time, he found it so difficult to find good writers to contribute to the magazine, that he often wrote most of the stories himself under a variety of pseudonyms: one issue of Authentic was written entirely by Tubb, including the letters column.
His main work in the science fiction genre, the Dumarest series, appeared from 1967 to 1985, with two final volumes in 1997 and 2008. His second major series, the Cap Kennedy series, was written from 1973 to 1983.
In recent years Tubb updated many of his 1950s science fiction novels for 21st century readers.
Tubb was one of the co-founders of the British Science Fiction Association.
Much of Tubb's work has been written under pseudonyms including Gregory Kern, Carl Maddox, Alan Guthrie, Eric Storm and George Holt. He has used 58 pen names over five decades of writing although some of these were publishers' house names also used by other writers: Volsted Gridban (along with John Russell Fearn), Gill Hunt (with John Brunner and Dennis Hughes), King Lang (with George Hay and John W Jennison), Roy Sheldon (with H. J. Campbell) and Brian Shaw. Tubb's Charles Grey alias was solely his own and acquired a big following in the early 1950s.
An avid reader of pulp science-fiction and fantasy in his youth, Tubb found that he had a particular talent as a writer of stories in that genre when his short story 'No Short Cuts' was published in New Worlds magazine in 1951. He opted for a full-time career as a writer and soon became renowned for the speed and diversity of his output.
Tubb contributed to many of the science fiction magazines of the 1950s including Futuristic Science Stories, Science Fantasy, Nebula and Galaxy Science Fiction. He contributed heavily to Authentic Science Fiction editing the magazine for nearly two years, from February 1956 until it folded in October 1957. During this time, he found it so difficult to find good writers to contribute to the magazine, that he often wrote most of the stories himself under a variety of pseudonyms: one issue of Authentic was written entirely by Tubb, including the letters column.
His main work in the science fiction genre, the Dumarest series, appeared from 1967 to 1985, with two final volumes in 1997 and 2008. His second major series, the Cap Kennedy series, was written from 1973 to 1983.
In recent years Tubb updated many of his 1950s science fiction novels for 21st century readers.
Tubb was one of the co-founders of the British Science Fiction Association.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 19, 2026
Space 1999 was a not-really-very-good television series fifty or so years ago; it was on for two years, and the first season was better than the first. We watched it because there was little other sf on television then, and it often looked cool, even if it was silly at times. The Moon takes off on a cosmic pinball jaunt through the cosmos, hi-ho! A variety of authors of the time did novelizations of the first season in ten volumes, and Michael Butterworth wrote adaptations for 23 of the 24 second season episodes in a six-volume series. There's nothing especially noteworthy about most of them; they vary in quality as did the scripts upon which they were based. The first season seemed to borrow heavily from Star Trek ideas. This fourth book from the first season was written by E.C. Tubb, of Dumarest fame. One thing that sticks out about this one was that he made an effort to tie the four stories he was adapting together in novel format, rather than just having separate short pieces. I wonder if the authors got to choose what episodes they wanted, or if they were assigned? Immortality is a big theme in three of these four. The episodes in this one were Collision Course from a screenplay by Anthony Terpiloff, The Full Circle by Jesse Lasky, Jnr and Pat Silver, Death's Other Dominion by Anthony Terpiloff and Elizabeth Barrows, and End of Eternity, which was written by Johnny Bryne. (No, not -that- Byrne, the English one.) Anyway, Space 1999... a brief nostalgic visit to near-forgotten television.
August 1, 2025
This novel seeks to link the episodes (in the order of the book) "Collision Course" "the Full Circle" "End of Eternity" and "Deaths Other Dominion". I'm not sure if this is the order that the creators of Space 1999 intended the episodes to be shown but they are not what was actually released.
There are abrupt scene changes throughout the attempt to tie these episodes into 1 story. These abrupt changes coincide with commercial breaks in the episode when the story had to be moved along and explained with a line or two of dialog rather than a natural shift. There is little effort put into providing more characterization or description other than the necessary amount to cover what was in the script.
There are abrupt scene changes throughout the attempt to tie these episodes into 1 story. These abrupt changes coincide with commercial breaks in the episode when the story had to be moved along and explained with a line or two of dialog rather than a natural shift. There is little effort put into providing more characterization or description other than the necessary amount to cover what was in the script.
February 28, 2014
The fourth Space 1999 novelization adapts a quartet of first season episodes into a seamless narrative. This one covers "Collision Course", "The Full Circle", "End of Eternity" and "Death's Other Dominion". E. C. Tubb was probably the best author to handle these adaptations, and he does a great job with these, particularly since most of them are more on the cerebral side, a hallmark of the program, rather than space-operatic action.
Tubb manages to add a good amount of detail and color to the stories without taking away from the essence of each tale. I like the blending of the shows into a whole, though I do wonder if there shouldn't be more filler, or adventures-between-the-adventures, if you know what I mean. Considering the interstellar distances being traversed by Moonbase Alpha, one would think there would be a lot of downtime where the base was repaired and maintained. A book would've been an interesting way to show how that part of the crew's survival went on.
Definitely worth a read if you are a Space 1999 fan. This one should also appeal to general science fiction fans (at least those that can get past the basic scientific fallacy of the entire series).
Tubb manages to add a good amount of detail and color to the stories without taking away from the essence of each tale. I like the blending of the shows into a whole, though I do wonder if there shouldn't be more filler, or adventures-between-the-adventures, if you know what I mean. Considering the interstellar distances being traversed by Moonbase Alpha, one would think there would be a lot of downtime where the base was repaired and maintained. A book would've been an interesting way to show how that part of the crew's survival went on.
Definitely worth a read if you are a Space 1999 fan. This one should also appeal to general science fiction fans (at least those that can get past the basic scientific fallacy of the entire series).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews