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The Rocket's Shadow
(Rick Brant Science-Adventure #1)
by
Rick Brant's father is planning a rocket launch to the Moon. Saboteurs are trying to delay takeoff to claim a two million dollar prize.
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Start your review of The Rocket's Shadow (A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story, #1)
The Rocket's Shadow is the first Rick Brant adventure, and is a good kick-off to the series. Rick is introduced as a former member of the high school track team who used to fly to school; we meet the scientists of Spindrift and the rest of the Brant family as they are all anxious to win a grant which will enable them to stay on the island and pursue their work and research presumably permanently. Scotty is introduced as a veteran of three major actions against Japan and an orphan. Rick is shown
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Confession Time: Hello, my name is Naomi, I'm nineteen, and I'd never read the Rick Brant books until yesterday. * hangs head in embarrassment.* To be honest, I never gave these books more than a glance through-I thought they were a more travel-to-the-moon thing, like the Tom Swift books, (which I've never read either because I'm not into space-type books), and thus missed out on getting to read this series sooner! They are really quiet good! A cross between Hardy Boys and Ken Holt mystery's, w
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I discovered the Rick Brandt series shortly after finishing all the Hardy Boys that had been published to that point. I remember thinking that these were better than the Hardy Boys. Plenty of science, plus some historical references, such as Rick in one of the books learning to use a slingshot such as David is said to have used against Goliath. I read all the titles in this series when I was about 11. They were slightly dated then, and would be ridiculously so now, but I believe they are still w
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Anyone who loves old adventure stories like The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift… well, I do too, but the Rick Brant books were my favorites of the old books like that. I just LOVE them. Rick Brant and his friend Scotty (who was in the Marines and so Knows Stuff) are some of the bestest buddies ever and they have epic adventures all around the world and it’s great. I just love these. This first one’s my favorite because it’s when Rick and Scotty meet. And it’s just a cool adventure/mystery tryi
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This is the first book in this series and I enjoyed it, although I'm sure I would have liked it much, much more had I been 13. It's very much in the vein of Tom Corbett and the like, although I didn't think it was quite as well written. It's pretty dated, but what do you expect for a work written in 1947.
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Omg! Ex-Nazi agents are trying to keep us from winning $2m by nuking the moon! If only my plucky sidekick and I could stop them!
A wonderful serial romp from the '40's. ...more
A wonderful serial romp from the '40's. ...more
At long last, I found the series upon which Jonny Quest was based!
I love the old Tom Swift Jr books, and this is another similar fun series.
After reading Harold Goodwin's The Real Book About Space Travel, I tracked down some of his Rick Brandt Science-Adventure books. Written under the pseudonym John Blaine, I can imagine this would have thrilled a post-WWII 1947 boy - yes, they were gender-binary in their targeting back then; girls had Nancy Drew and boys had the Hardy brothers. Ten years before Sputnik, the rocket to the moon in this tends more toward Swift's or Verne's imagination. Still, there are the elements of science that do
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I first started the Rick Brant books as a teenager and enjoyed them so much I started buying them. I re-read my hard copies every few years and continue to enjoy them even though I could almost recite them from memory. A year or so ago I acquired all of the books in PDF format and uploaded them to my Amazon Kindle account, re-read the entire series including the last few books I had never read before, and actually got my wife to read them. She was surprised that she actually enjoyed the books.
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Taken with the largest grain of salt possible to excuse the antiquated ideas and customs that are rampant throughout the book, it’s still a pretty good adventure tale. With a bit of editing for the casual misogyny and preposterously backwards “scientific” ideas, it is a book that would be fun to read to a young elementary age child.
I grew up with this series and I'd love to re-visit them. They inspired me to join the Air Force in a technical field and I now run a public library makerspace and hope to influence a new generation of makers in the vein of Rick Brant. I heartily recommend these books!
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After reading all the Tom Swift books I could find, my literary tastes matured somewhat with the discovery of the Rick Brant series. A bit less improbable, with characters that were a little less cartoony.
Fun. Product of its time. Howler of velocity in space with a rocket being able to travel from the Earth to the moon in a minute and half.
Read a few Rick Brant series books back in the 70s
Post war juvenile science/adventure fiction
The marines once again save American way of life from the ravages of former NAZIs. Classic American ideology and faith in science.
The marines once again save American way of life from the ravages of former NAZIs. Classic American ideology and faith in science.
3 1/2 stars.
If it hadn't been for those meddling kids. I want to read the whole series, now.
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Have PC and DJ
The Rocket’s Shadow is the first of twenty four Rick Brant adventures. Sold by Grosset and Dunlap in editions resembling Tom Swift and the Hardy Boys, this series stands head and shoulders above the rest of the G&D line. There are a few cringeworthy scientific errors here, which author Harold Goodwin later kicked himself about, resulting in a four star rating in a five star series. For a full listing of current availability see http://sydlogsdon.com/2015/12/10/60-t...
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There will be a number of these as I am re-reading the series this year.
I thought this was pretty exciting and a good introduction to the characters.
It's been a long time since I last read it but could identify the bad guy because I didn't remember the name.
The settings and people all felt real.
It might be hard for younger people to get past the tech and cultural differences between now and the late 1940's when this book was written.
But it still expresses the excitement of science and engineeri ...more
I thought this was pretty exciting and a good introduction to the characters.
It's been a long time since I last read it but could identify the bad guy because I didn't remember the name.
The settings and people all felt real.
It might be hard for younger people to get past the tech and cultural differences between now and the late 1940's when this book was written.
But it still expresses the excitement of science and engineeri ...more
This is the first book in the series and it's better to read them in order. Will anyone think it's a spoiler to tell why, as long as I don't name names? (view spoiler)
This is historic-fiction at this point since astronauts landed on the moon some time ago but, given that, it might still have some appeal because it has kids as main characters doing grown-up stuff like driving and ...more
This is historic-fiction at this point since astronauts landed on the moon some time ago but, given that, it might still have some appeal because it has kids as main characters doing grown-up stuff like driving and ...more
Jul 30, 2008
Randy
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
young adult males
Recommended to Randy by:
James Reasoner
A young adult adventure novel published in 1947. It would fit in well with The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift.
Nov 01, 2016
Ronald
added it
possibly read in spring of 1967
First book of one of the best written boys' adventure series out there. Well written. A few technical errors.
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Such an awesome beginning!
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"John Blaine" was a pseudonym of Harold Leland Goodwin and Peter J. Harkins.
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