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Tom Swift Jr. #14
Tom Swift and His Electronic Retroscope
Fine. No Jacket, 5 By 7 3/4`` No. 14, The New Tom Swift Jr. Adventures, Very slight foxing to pg edges, no other damage. Picture cover shows Tom with machine.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1959
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About the author
Victor Appleton II
117Ìýbooks21Ìýfollowerssee also Victor Appleton
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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 25, 2023
Simpler times.
March 7, 2025
This felt a little more cohesive than some of the other Tom Swift books I've read lately, and kind of reminiscent of some of his dad's South/Central American adventures in the original series.
There was a very . . . ahem . . . *interesting* cast of characters, including an unknown villain who was hardly on the page, but always out there *somewhere*. That was a cool twist! The ex-wrestler was a weird twist but he was a hoot 😂
(And, Tom, while the descendants of the Mayans may be "fine and peaceful people", the ancient Mayans weren't. At least he never came right out and claimed that, like a lot of modern books probably would. 🙄 And he acknowledged that they practiced human sacrifice, which makes them decidedly NOT either fine or peaceful, duh.)
There was a very . . . ahem . . . *interesting* cast of characters, including an unknown villain who was hardly on the page, but always out there *somewhere*. That was a cool twist! The ex-wrestler was a weird twist but he was a hoot 😂
(And, Tom, while the descendants of the Mayans may be "fine and peaceful people", the ancient Mayans weren't. At least he never came right out and claimed that, like a lot of modern books probably would. 🙄 And he acknowledged that they practiced human sacrifice, which makes them decidedly NOT either fine or peaceful, duh.)
October 7, 2023
What a bit of nostalgia. I remember devouring these books as a youth. The attitudes and stereotypes are consistent with the zeitgeist and may be annoying or offensive to some, but some of the science parts were pretty cutting edge. For example, Tom has a portable computer he can operate in the Yucatan jungle. This was in 1959! I don't recall portable computers being available until at least the mid-70's and I distinctly remember learning elementary programming using punch cards on huge mainframes with tape memory at college around the same time. Swift is portrayed in the series as an extremely curious young adult with a brilliant and flexible mind who is constantly theorizing, testing, inventing, and refining. It was fun to read one again and reflect on how much they may have influenced me at such an impressionable time.
August 11, 2022
These continue to be fun reads and bring back some very nice memories of my brother and I, as kids, each getting a Tom Swift, Jr. book for Christmas. We would read our copy and then switch and read the other copy. As I said, these are fun books to read, full of thrills and suspense, with nice doses of science thrown in. What's especially delightful is that each chapter ends on a cliffhanger note, compelling you to read on and find out what happened next.
June 24, 2019
which can back date engravings in stone(rock) to bring out more clearly what was etched in them
November 18, 2020
Just reading some I missed in my youth, as I try to put the whole series in my collection. A very nostalgic read for me.
November 2, 2024
Kind of a weird invention. OK lecture on Central American culture.
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 fourteenth volume has a great cover showing the young archaeologist at work. This early van Danikenesque novel was a favorite of mine; science was happening other places than under the sea or in space!
January 22, 2016
A straightforward mission to the Yucatan to study the physiology of an isolated Maya tribe takes on much greater importance when Tom Swift, boy genius, realizes that their sacred carvings are written in a script he last encountered on the Moon. His attempts to get to the bottom of that enigma are thwarted at every turn by the Mexican bureaucracy, an assortment of wacky Americans stumbling through the jungle, and the mysterious failure of all of his fancy gadgets. The science is a load of technobabble but the facts about the Maya are remarkably accurate. The paper-thin characters are subjected to a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter.
June 11, 2010
This is really dreadful stuff. It only gets as many as 2 stars because it would make a great read-aloud.
May 9, 2013
An entertaining science-fiction based mystery from the 60s.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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