I finally got my hands on a Tom Swift book. By luck, it’s the second book in the Tom Swift Jr. series (Tom Swift and His Jetmarine). I’ve been curious about the quality of these rousing adventures for years.
And boy, is this book fun. It’s all breathtaking adventures and sci-fi inventions, though the author at least attempts to make the inventions plausible.
And the adventure…I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with this rapid a pace. I doubt there’s more than three pages between action scenes. There’s just enough dialogue to answer a question and raise a few more before something exciting happens.
Which is great. I doubt one could keep up this pace for five hundred pages, but for a quick young adult novel it’s fine. Meanwhile, the story rockets along. Great stuff.
Much as I like the modern novelistic tendency towards drama and character development, I wonder if that couldn’t be toned down somewhat in favor of this. This is pure entertainment.