Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders, Or, the Underground Search for the Idol of Gold

Tom Swift Sr. #20

by Victor Appleton

CHAPTER I A WONDERFUL STORY Tom Swift, who had been slowly looking through the pages of a magazine, in the contents of which he seemed to be deeply interested, turned the final folio, ruffled the sheets back again to look at a certain map and drawing, and then, slapping the book down on a table before him, with a noise not unlike that of a shot, exclaimed: "Well, that is certainly one wonderful story!" "What's it about, Tom?" asked his chum, Ned Newton. "Something about inside baseball, or a new submarine that can be converted into an airship on short notice?" "Neither one, you-you unscientific heathen," answered Tom, with a laugh at Ned. "Though that isn't saying such a machine couldn't be invented." "I believe you-that is if you got on its trail," returned Ned, and there was warm admiration in his voice. "As for inside baseball, or outside, for that matter, I hardly believe I'd be able to tell third base from the second base, it's so long since I went to a game," proceeded Tom. "I've been too busy on that new airship stabilizer dad gave me an idea for. I've been working too hard, that's a fact. I need a vacation, and maybe a good baseball game--" He stopped and looked at the magazine he had so hastily slapped down. Something he had read in it seemed to fascinate him. "I wonder if it can possibly be true," he went on. "It sounds like the wildest dream of a professional sleep-walker; and yet, when I stop to think, it isn't much worse than some of the things we've gone through with, Ned." "Say, for the love of rice-pudding! will you get down to brass tacks and strike a trial balance? What are you talking of, anyhow? Is it a joke?" "A joke?" "Yes. What you just read in that magazine which seems to cause you so much excitement." "Well, it may be a joke; and yet the professor seems very much in earnest about it," replied Tom. "It certainly is one wonderful story!" "So you said before. Come on-the 'fillium' is busted. Splice it, or else put in a new reel and on with the show. I'd like to know what's doing. What professor are you talking of?" "Professor Swyington Bumper." "Swyington Bumper?" and Ned's voice showed that his memory was a bit hazy. "Yes. You ought to remember him. He was on the steamer when I went down to Peru to help the Titus Brothers dig the big tunnel. That plotter Waddington, or some of his tools, dropped a bomb where it might have done us some injury, but Professor Bumper, who was a fellow passenger, on his way to South America to look for the lost city of Pelone, calmly picked up the bomb, plucked out the fuse, and saved us from bad injuries, if not death. And he was as cool about it as an ice-cream cone. Surely you remember!" "Swyington Bumper! Oh, yes, now I remember him," said Ned Newton. "But what has he got to do with a wonderful story? Has he written more about the lost city of Pelone? If he has I don't see anything so very wonderful in that." "There isn't," agreed Tom. "But this isn't that," and Tom picked up the magazine and leafed it to find the article he had been reading....

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Science Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction Fantasy, Juvenile, 1917

Paperback

First published January 1, 1917

About the author

Victor Appleton was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and its successors, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...

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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders was the twentieth (of forty) books in the original Tom Swift series that the Stratemeyer Syndicate produced, and that Grosset & Dunlap published. It was written by Howard Garis (who wrote literally hundreds of children's books and was best known under his own name as the creator of Uncle Wiggly) under the house pseudonym of Victor Appleton, and it was first published in 1917. Tom is a brilliant young inventor who lives with his father (also an inventor), a housekeeper (who's given no character whatsoever), and a handyman (who's an unfortunate racist caricature; remember the book is from 1917) in Shopton, adjacent to the family workshops and manufacturing facilities. His best friends are Ned Newton, a financial whiz, and Wakefield Damon, an eccentric gentleman who spends his time hiding from his wife and who seems to start every bit of conversation by blessing unusual items, like his galoshes and handkerchief. Tom is also very interested in a young lady named Mary Nestor. Most of the books in the series involve Tom developing a remarkable new invention, but this one is more of a traditional adventure novel in which he joins an expedition to Honduras in search of a lost city and a golden idol. He is working on a new kind of gyroscope which will aid the war effort but turns it over to his father to complete before he departs with Ned, Mr. Damon, and the professor who's leading the quest. There's a rival expedition that's also seeking the lost city, and the leader of it is a rival for Mary's attentions, which is what convinces him to go in the first place. They have a lot of adventures at sea on the way, and then arrive in the savage jungle where they blast away at a lot of the native wildlife with their electric rifles and contend with treacherous natives before completing the mission. It's a fun story, typical of the time and series, though you have to remember the context and make allowances for the era. I especially liked an early scene in which Ned is teasing Tom about silly and unlikely things he could invent; one of his ridiculous ideas is indoor baseball. I especially liked that one, since I was able to take in a game at Tropicana Field last month. The Tom Swift books didn't have the staying power of The Hardy Boys, but they were important influences on a lot of kids who went on to become engineers and technicians.

[Nikky3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

TOM SWIFT AND THE LAND OF WONDERS!!! Join our hero on an adventure he told his friends he did not want to go on... that is untill he found out a rival treasure hunter was hitting on his girl friend!! Will Mary fall for Tom's rival's charm?!?!? Will Tom beat him to plunder the native haritage of Honduras?!?!?! Will Tom get to use his electric rifle to shoot highly exaggerated jungle wildlife?!!?!? Find out in this adventure of TOM SWIFT!

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great classic adventure to start 2014. Once I started I couldn't put it down, just had to know what came next... Here's a brief...

Professor Bumper learns of a lost underground city in which there can be found a gold idol, and Tom Swift decides to join him in the search for it... The expedition encounters many an adventure in their dangerous quest for this treasure...

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

When in his office with his friend Ned Newton, Tom Swift happened to read an article by Professor Swyington Bumper whom Tom met in the previous book, Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel. In that book, Professor Bumper was a minor character who was looking for the lost city of Pelone in Peru. As Tom finished the big tunnel, the professor found that lost city because of Tom’s actions. Now, according to the article that Tom was reading, the professor was looking for a lost and buried city called Kurzon in the Capon valley in Honduras. More specifically, he was looking for a large idol made of solid gold in that city. Coincidentally, while Tom was reading about Professor Bumper’s plans, he received a phone call from the professor saying that he was on his way to Shopton to talk to Tom. Upon arrival, the professor said that he wanted Tom to accompany him to Honduras to find the idol. Tom agreed to provide any of his inventions that may be needed; he offered to help with financing the expedition; but he said that he was too busy to go himself. However, when Professor Bumper said that his rival for finding the idol of gold was Professor Fenimore Beecher, Tom made an about face and agreed to go. Beecher was Tom’s personal rival for the affections of Mary Nestor and thus Tom became Beecher’s professional rival in finding the idol.

In this book, Tom’s pal Ned Newton accompanied him on the adventure along with Professor Bumper and the ubiquitous Wakefield Damon. In previous books, it was stated that Ned had given up his job at the Shopton bank to work for Tom. Then it was stated that he was on a leave of absence from the bank. Then it was noted he was still employed at the bank. Now, in this book, it seems that Ned has cut ties to the Shopton bank completely. He has been made the “general financial manager of the interests of Tom and his father.” It can be scary to give up a secure job in an established company. On the other hand, I suspect that the original employees of Apple or Microsoft are glad that they took a leap of faith rather than work for some big corporation like Boeing or General Electric. In future books, Ned will probably be well compensated for his loyalty to Barton and Tom Swift.

As the Tom Swift series of books progressed from the first to this twentieth in the series, it does sometimes seem that there is less focus on inventions and more on adventure. Sure, there is still technology to explore like more powerful cannons and difficult-to-dig tunnels as well as countries to explore like Peru and Honduras. But in this book, the adventure side of the story has overwhelmed the inventive side of the story. It is a good story. There are twists and turns. There is betrayal and recovery. To a certain extent, nature is an adversary as well as Fenimore Beecher. Yet Tom Swift is supposed to be associated with inventions. I hope that the next book gets back to that.

I am happy that Mary Nestor is part of this story, although anyone hoping for romance between Tom and Mary has to be concerned about the appearance of rival Fenimore Beecher. Mary doesn’t directly appear or speak in this book, but she is referenced in the beginning and the end. You will have to read the book to see how she feels about Tom and Fenimore.

Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders is a good book, but not among the best of the series.

[Rhonda Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a fascinating view of the tropics and the jungles that makes me very curious as to just how accurate some of the things are. I know some are decently accurate but bears in the rain forest, that I want to research.

That said, the treatment of the lost city and the way the native (non-Latino indigenous tribes) is actually fairly decent when compared to many written in this same time period. Appleton points out that oral tales can sometimes last longer than written ones simply because the traditions are passed along while the written histories are destroyed or molder away unattended.

The plot itself is a simple treasure hunt with good guys and bad guys. Most the antagonists and protagonists are educated white men/caucasians. But... the natives, whose tribes are not named, while uneducated by the Caucasian point of view, are knowledgeable about their ancestors, their mythologies, their local ecology and natural resources.

I really did like this.

[Mike Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this book in an antique store at a reasonable price. I bought it because it reminded me of the Tom Swift books my dad had when he was a boy. It was fun to read about Tom's adventures.
I see all the other reviews are for the reprint published in 2006. I purchased and read an original 1917 book.

[Keller Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and full of adventure. I like the series as an adult, would have loved as a kid.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Swift appears in over 100 novels, which were published beginning in 1910. Tom, a teenager, designs amazing inventions along with his father. In this story his new technology is needed to retrieve a valuable golden idol from a lost underground city. Many dangers and adventures await him and his team, often in the form of treachery by another team of explorers also seeking the idol. I listened to this as a free audio download from LibriVox.org.

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this installment our hero tom joins up with Professor Bumper to search for a giant gold idol in Honduras. We met Prof. Bumper in a previous story where Tom discovered a lost city for the good professor while blasting out a railroad tunnel.

Tom's assistance is further driven by his desire to get one up on Prof. Bumper's rival who is trying to woo Mary Nestor away from Tom.

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the great things about not being an English lit professor at a major university is that you can take time to read things like Tom Swift and the Land of Wonders. No redeeming value. Enjoyed it.

[Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite Tom Swift books so far. It is really an early Indiana Jones story. A lot of fun.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather abrupt ending, otherwise a good read down memory lane. Learned that there was a lot of ejaculating going on back in the day.

[Kariss · Rating 3 out of 5]

what is the 'fillium"?

[David Hibberd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Tom Swift Sr. books as a child and again when I got my Kindle in 2010. They are an easy read and enjoyable. It is interesting to see how writing has changed since these books were written.

[Tiffany Tinkham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good old classic young readers book about a young inventor that invents this awesome inventions and then goes on these wild and crazy adventures, sometimes getting into trouble in the process.

[Cindy DeLong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do enjoy Tom Swift books.