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Space: 1999 #11
Earthfall
Space:1999 Earthfall is E.C. Tubb's singular reimagining of the series.
- GenresScience Fiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1977
40 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 6, 2014
This was the first of the original material Space 1999 novels that I've read. It's "mostly" original, I should say, as it adds a lot of backstory and detail to the pilot episode, "Breakaway" and brings Moonbase Alpha full circle and back to Earth.
E.C. Tubb wrote a lot of the original novelizations, so he knows how to handle these characters. He does an excellent job of that, and especially with creating the new society that the Alphans end up adopting to maintain what remains of the colony. It is very well written, and with some great characterizations (though some of the newer characters are either cyphers or cutouts, but some of those didn't need to be anything more than that). There's a touch of Huxley in the themes, but it's diehard Space 1999 for the fans.
I would definitely recommend this one to any Space 1999 fan.
E.C. Tubb wrote a lot of the original novelizations, so he knows how to handle these characters. He does an excellent job of that, and especially with creating the new society that the Alphans end up adopting to maintain what remains of the colony. It is very well written, and with some great characterizations (though some of the newer characters are either cyphers or cutouts, but some of those didn't need to be anything more than that). There's a touch of Huxley in the themes, but it's diehard Space 1999 for the fans.
I would definitely recommend this one to any Space 1999 fan.
February 13, 2013
EARTHFALL, published in 1977, never saw U. S. publication. What it does is take the pilot episode and build a novel around it that a real science fiction author could take some pride in writing. It addresses a number of factors that TV glossed over, explains a lot of stuff people have speculated about since the show first appeared. Five races and fifteen countries represented at the base. Each with their own ways, mores, and prejudices.
Basically three stories, the first is a reworking of the pilot BREAKAWAY. Commander John Koenig is convinced to return to Moonbase Alpha. He’d been replaced two years before and his replacement hadn’t done a stellar job of command. Thirteen had died during that period and no one knew why. It doesn’t take Koenig long to grasp the problem. His replacement had extended dump sites and wasn’t exactly careful. Also scanners picked up a mass headed toward the earth system and investigation found it to be antimatter. The devastation to Earth would be heavy. Science officer Victor Bergman and his staff devise a plan to split the mass with nuclear weapons and hopefully avoid Earth.
it only works partially.
The main mass misses Earth, but the small one piles into the waste dumps of nuclear material on the Moon. That’s what sets the Moon on it’s course away from Earth. But here it does more. It knocks it into another dimension.
The second story picks up four months later. Moonbase Alpha is attacked by an alien race somewhat analygous to termites. A queen, specialized drones, and a technology. They are there to set up a new colony on the Moon and the Alphans have to figure out how to deal with them.
Our third story is twenty year later. By the end of the second story, several women were pregnant, including Doctor Helena Russell with Koenig as the father. As the next generation was being born, the Alphans were revising school studies. Since Earth was a thing of the past, geography and history of it were useless. One of the early problems Koenig had had was getting people to come to the understanding they were no longer Earthlings with all their differences, but one people that must work together to survive and prosper. One men with his own contingent was more interested in who did the leading than anything else.
a disease starts spreading through the populace after a chamber is found by a crew drilling a tunnel under the Moon’s surface. It was an alien ship with a table full of mummies surrounding a coffin. The hull had apparently been a force field of some sort. And the age it had been there was figured to be half a million years. The alien mummies were humen enough to have a deadly disease.
While trying to deal with that, some were also working on reverse engineering the technology to produce the drive the ship had used. Disaster ensues when using it agitates a black hole they were passing close by, putting the Moon to close to being sucked into the event horizon. The Moon is agitated and gets pushed back into it’s home universe, only to find itself in orbit around Earth.
A devastated Earth. The ripping of the Moon away had caused earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, the shifting of tectonic plates, returning the planet to near stone age level for the survivors. Time had passed at a different rate during th time the Moon had been in the alternate universe. Twenty years for them, two hundred for Earth.
That’s how the book ends. It completely violates the second series when several of the characters from the first weren’t there. An interesting novel though.
This book was reprinted i a revised addition by Fanderson, the fan club for all things Gerry Anderson. The three stories were separated into three parts. One other novel, an original by Tubb, was published by them. Both fan club books don’t seem to be on the market. According to what I read, British law kept them from being sold to any but club members.
Basically three stories, the first is a reworking of the pilot BREAKAWAY. Commander John Koenig is convinced to return to Moonbase Alpha. He’d been replaced two years before and his replacement hadn’t done a stellar job of command. Thirteen had died during that period and no one knew why. It doesn’t take Koenig long to grasp the problem. His replacement had extended dump sites and wasn’t exactly careful. Also scanners picked up a mass headed toward the earth system and investigation found it to be antimatter. The devastation to Earth would be heavy. Science officer Victor Bergman and his staff devise a plan to split the mass with nuclear weapons and hopefully avoid Earth.
it only works partially.
The main mass misses Earth, but the small one piles into the waste dumps of nuclear material on the Moon. That’s what sets the Moon on it’s course away from Earth. But here it does more. It knocks it into another dimension.
The second story picks up four months later. Moonbase Alpha is attacked by an alien race somewhat analygous to termites. A queen, specialized drones, and a technology. They are there to set up a new colony on the Moon and the Alphans have to figure out how to deal with them.
Our third story is twenty year later. By the end of the second story, several women were pregnant, including Doctor Helena Russell with Koenig as the father. As the next generation was being born, the Alphans were revising school studies. Since Earth was a thing of the past, geography and history of it were useless. One of the early problems Koenig had had was getting people to come to the understanding they were no longer Earthlings with all their differences, but one people that must work together to survive and prosper. One men with his own contingent was more interested in who did the leading than anything else.
a disease starts spreading through the populace after a chamber is found by a crew drilling a tunnel under the Moon’s surface. It was an alien ship with a table full of mummies surrounding a coffin. The hull had apparently been a force field of some sort. And the age it had been there was figured to be half a million years. The alien mummies were humen enough to have a deadly disease.
While trying to deal with that, some were also working on reverse engineering the technology to produce the drive the ship had used. Disaster ensues when using it agitates a black hole they were passing close by, putting the Moon to close to being sucked into the event horizon. The Moon is agitated and gets pushed back into it’s home universe, only to find itself in orbit around Earth.
A devastated Earth. The ripping of the Moon away had caused earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, the shifting of tectonic plates, returning the planet to near stone age level for the survivors. Time had passed at a different rate during th time the Moon had been in the alternate universe. Twenty years for them, two hundred for Earth.
That’s how the book ends. It completely violates the second series when several of the characters from the first weren’t there. An interesting novel though.
This book was reprinted i a revised addition by Fanderson, the fan club for all things Gerry Anderson. The three stories were separated into three parts. One other novel, an original by Tubb, was published by them. Both fan club books don’t seem to be on the market. According to what I read, British law kept them from being sold to any but club members.
August 14, 2025
This book is not a novelization of the TV series, but an alternate telling of the Moonbase Alpha saga. it involves the same characters, and the Moon does get blown out of Earth's orbit, but that is where the similarity ends.
I am reluctant to say more and let out any spoilers. All I will say is after the Moon gets blasted out of orbit, the story gets dark real fast.
I am reluctant to say more and let out any spoilers. All I will say is after the Moon gets blasted out of orbit, the story gets dark real fast.
October 4, 2015
As a young kid I used to watch the TV show and simply loved it. I was not aware that books based on this show exist, thus I was looking forward to reading this book.
I found the beginning a little bit slow going. It could be simply because it has been many years since I've read any science-fiction novels and I had to get used to the setting and the terminology.
The main characters were very interesting. Some of them I still remembered from the TV show. It was interesting to see how people reacted to the fact that they have left Earth's orbit which they might not see ever again. There was a great mix of cultures and personalities, which created a fantastic base for some of the story lines.
What I found fascinating is how the crew faced different challenges: the bee-like alien, the plague, the diminishing population and the especially setting up of a new colony - society.
What I liked the most about this book is that the story started with Breakaway and finished with the return to Earth. Thus it covered 20 years. But since this book is quite short, I found that the time frame was jumping a lot and suddenly we found that 20 years have passed and the Moon is back to the Earth's orbit.
Thus I would prefer if this book was longer and covered more adventures and challenged :-)
I found the beginning a little bit slow going. It could be simply because it has been many years since I've read any science-fiction novels and I had to get used to the setting and the terminology.
The main characters were very interesting. Some of them I still remembered from the TV show. It was interesting to see how people reacted to the fact that they have left Earth's orbit which they might not see ever again. There was a great mix of cultures and personalities, which created a fantastic base for some of the story lines.
What I found fascinating is how the crew faced different challenges: the bee-like alien, the plague, the diminishing population and the especially setting up of a new colony - society.
What I liked the most about this book is that the story started with Breakaway and finished with the return to Earth. Thus it covered 20 years. But since this book is quite short, I found that the time frame was jumping a lot and suddenly we found that 20 years have passed and the Moon is back to the Earth's orbit.
Thus I would prefer if this book was longer and covered more adventures and challenged :-)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews