ARMAGEDDON 2419 A.D. - Philip Francis Nowlan


 Philip Francis Nowlan's Armageddon 2419 A.D. is a sci-fi classic, a book I've long wanted to read and I finally got around to it. For those who think you've never heard of this book, chances are you know of it by the name of the central figure ... Buck Rogers.

It's 1927 and WWI vet Anthony Rogers, working for American Radioactive Gas Corporation, is trapped in a cave-in with some radioactive gas which puts Rogers into suspended animation. It is nearly 500 years before he wakes up. He does so just in time to save a beautiful woman, Wilma Deering, and he learns that some awful things have happened in 500 years. The United States is in chaos, having been conquered by Asian powers. Small bands of rebels fight against their oppressors with limited success.

With Deering's help to connect with the rebels, Rogers shows them how to work together, giving them hope and spurring a revolution.

Although this was my first time reading the book, I've been familiar with the character for about as long as I've been reading and watching science fiction. There are drawbacks to this, though, as I seriously couldn't read this without picturing Gil Gerard and Erin Gray as Buck and Wilma respectively, and while they may have worked in 1979-81, neither is really how we might picture Armageddon heroes today.

The story shows signs of age - the writing a bit melodramatic and the prose over the top. It's not nearly as dry as fiction from the 19th century, but it doesn't have the excitement of a space opera saga today. It's also almost uncomfortably 'pure.' There's no sex or even suggestions of lusty romance, despite Rogers' first meeting is with Wilma (come to think of it, this really is a lot like the 1979 television series).

There were some stereotypes that in today's reading feel obvious and very politically incorrect but when I think about the fact that this was written prior to WWII but includes 'radioactive gas' and an invasion from an Asian culture. Was Nowlan prescient or very 'up' on world events?

I'm glad to have read this finally, the book is a classic and will remain so for a long time, I suspect, but reading this is interesting from a 'this is a classic' interest, and not for the actual storytelling anymore.

Looking for a good book? Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan is a classic scifi story of a man of 'today' who wakes up in the future to save whatever us left of what he once loved.

3 stars

* * * * * *

Armageddon 2419 A.D.

author: Philip Francis Nowlan

publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy

90 pages, Kindle edition

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