Tom Swift and His Deep-Sea Hydrodome

Tom Swift Jr. #11

by Victor Appleton II

Tom and his father return to an underwater city of gold to do further exploration and discover a new source of helium.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Juvenile, Childrens, Young Adult

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

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

Reviews

[Sophia Olivarez]

I love this book! It was very good and I like how it reminded me of the magic treehouse

[Jim Razinha]

The fantasy elements reign large in this one. The invention du jour is a wild one. And counterradiation? Um, okay. A Navy Admiral deferring to Tom on matters of “atomic warheads”? Oh, but Tom the eighteen year old is … Tom Swift (Junior)! How about an injection to cure decompression sickness?

There was a nod to his father’s giant magnet from the original series, which was cool. All in all, standard boy adventure fare.

[Gary Parker]

Tom Swift Jr. books are poorly written, filled with incorrect science, and largely insipid. That said, they are also a window into a lost era, and a reminder of what it felt like to be a young boy, full of wonder and aspirations. So, despite their poor quality, they are still enjoyable, and I will always return to them, along with The Hardy Boys, for a bit of childish fun.

[Brad Wilber]

Interesting premise about an undersea helium bed and what its potential benefits were thought to be at that time. But ... derailed for me by the nuclear threat and by the fact that the guest crewman seemed to (unfairly) take the brunt of ALL the mishaps yet unrealistically remained game.

[Shawn Deal]

These fun nostalgia reads have helped with the escapism I need more than ever these days.

[Craig]

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 eleventh volume has an okay cover showing Tom rattling about under the sea in his Humpty-Dumpty suit. Helium... it's a gas!

[Jenny]

From my Tom Swift Jr. collection...

[Ronald]

possibly read some time in winter 1967