December 2012 Book Club Discussion: Time Bomb

[tomswift2002]

Merry Christmas and it's time to read the Epilogue of probably the best Hardy Boys trilogy printed to date.

TIME BOMB



http://hardyboys.wikia.com/wiki/Time_Bomb

(The picture's suppose to be the cover over at Hardy Boys Wiki)

[MacGyver]

I finally read both of the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Ultra Thriller books earlier this year. Time Bomb was a great read. Though I enjoyed both this and The Alien Factor, I think I would give Time Bomb the edge as to my favorite. Being a long time fan of time travel science fiction like The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, the Back to the Future movies and the Quantum Leap television show, I was naturally drawn into this story, on top of the fact that I'm definitely a big fan of The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift to a lesser degree. (I must admit I have read very little Tom Swift- I finally just recently read one of the revised books from the 1950s [Tom Swift and his Jetmarine] and while I enjoyed it okay- I didn't find myself getting into the series quite as much as The Hardy Boys- but it is a great series in itself.)
           Having Tom Swift, Sr. and Tom Swift, Jr. both involved in the story, along with Mrs. Swift and Sandra to lesser degrees, was good to see. And of course, Fenton Hardy and Frank and Joe Hardy were all on hand as well, with most all the action taking place on the Swifts' home turf in California. And having the Black Mace for the villian was great- reading this book made me want to try reading the Tom Swift IV series (i.e. the Tom Swift series that ran during the Hardy Boys Casefiles' run.)
       I loved the device of Unlikely Tales to get a message in time across- that was really cool. And the joke at the end was cute too. It was also pretty nerve-wracking to read, especially if you just read the Operation: Phoenix trilogy before this, wherein Fenton Hardy was presumed dead, to see Frank and Joe dealing with this possibility again in this book- wow. This was definitely a nice epilogue to the trilogy as well as a great historic event to see some of the Stratemeyer Syndicate's most famous and oldest characters finally officially meet. Now if they could just have a novel and/or comic book with The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Tom Swift all teamed together. (And maybe The Dana Girls and The Bobbsey Twins while we're at it.)

[tomswift2002]

I'm just starting to read this right now, and it is definitely a great book.  I don't agree with the age of the earth, (I believe in a young earth of 6 - 7,000 years old), but it is still a great time travel story.

[MacGyver]

I don't agree with the age of the earth, (I believe in a young earth of 6 - 7,000 years old), but it is still a great time travel story.

There were definitely things like that which I didn't agree with in both books actually- but I can overlook them to enjoy the story as a whole anyway.