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As our reader base has grown, the Starman Series has begun receiving letters from highly satisfied readers. Read on to see a sampling of what other people thought about the Starman books!
#1: Assault on Mars Jim Ogden, Founder of the Rick Brant Web Site: The first book in the Starman series, Assault on Mars, is a wonderfully old-fashioned futuristic story. The book tells the story of an invasion of Mars by pirates and the efforts of three Starman to help repel the invasion. The three Starmen are David "Zip" Foster, Joe Taylor and Mark Seaton. Along the way we meet Jack and Jill, tiny beings from Titan, the great moon of Saturn, Steve Cliff, a kind of Han Solo type character, Richard Starlight, head of Starlight Enterprise and the mysterious Jogren. There are a crash landing, hidden tunnels, robots, laser weapons and of course secret weapons, all things that make for a great adventure. If there is any downside to the book it is what I call Volume 1 Syndrome. Because the book is volume one of more than twenty planned books the first book has to set the stage for the rest of the series. This includes introducing a lot of characters and alluding to events that cannot possibly be fully explained in under 500 pages. While this is a downside it is not a very big problem knowing that characters will be fleshed out more in future books. I can’t wait for the next book in the series. BTW: Listening to the Star Wars soundtrack
while reading this book makes for great background music. Fred Woodworth, Publisher of The Review: I’m amazed at the preliminary organization you’ve put into the project,…the historical detail of your summary puts the work on a level of adult TV-level SciFi rather than juvenile (so-called) series-book writing; whereas the actual writing sample was very strongly reminiscent of ’50’s juvenile-type SciFi. It’s not just the ages of the heroes, but their speaking patterns: they remind me of Heinlein’s young-people’s space stories, or Mike Mars or even Tom Corbett…. Bottom line: I think this is a fine
series-book. I’d have gotten hooked on your series and I’d have
looked forward to the subsequent books, and would have chopped all the
weeds, etc. that I had to do to earn the money to buy ’em. Ed Pippin, Founder of the Tom Corbett Web Site: The STARMAN Juvenile Book Series is now available. If you enjoyed the TOM CORBETT, RICK BRANT and TOM SWIFT series books, you will be very happy with the STARMAN adventures. ASSAULT ON MARS is the first book in a proposed series of 23 STARMAN books and has all of the elements of the 1950’s space opera that we loved. In an age where electronic games, Internet surfing and computers compete for the leisure time of young people, the STARMAN series is a welcomed alternative. It is also a great read for "older" Cadets who remember the TOM CORBETT, and RICK BRANT stories. It is a project conducted by fans for fans with a professional result. This type of adventure book disappeared during the 1960’s when NASA’s engineer’s provided a less than glamorous looking space vehicle for the conquest of space :-) The style and flavor of the STARMAN series is reminiscence of the book series Robert Heinlein wrote for Scribner in the 1950’s. Heinlein never "talked down" to his audience in his series of books and neither does the STARMAN books. The influence’s from Rick Brant’s author Hal Goodwin and Tom Corbett’s science advisor Willy Ley are also apparent. The background of the series has a structure and history that has been plotted for each book. This is the type of project all fans should support. Cadet Ed plans to buy two copies. One for himself and one for his grandson to read and enjoy. Aside from the great read, the first run of
500 copies are numbered and are sure to be collector’s items in the
future. So don’t wait, contact the Starman Team and order your book
today!! Tell ’em Cadet Ed sent you. You will be glad you did. Greg, Who Sent the First
Communication After Assault On Mars Was Mailed Out:
The Starman book arrived today. It looks like
it just came out of a time vault, like those other Dig Allen and Tom
Swift books! You certainly captured the look and feel of an old-time
series. Thanks very much! #2: The Runaway Asteroid Dale Ames: Hi Jonathan: Just finished The Runaway Asteroid and it is better than the first book. In the first book I found Jack and Jill too far out and was happy they were not in this book. The plot was "Super" and a lot like my favorite space show Babylon 5 and the Shadow Wars -- each show stood alone but had an underlying subplot for the five year run... I found the story highly intelligent and liked the fact that the Starmen didn't save the world alone. Gene, Richard Starlight, Robert Nolan, Denn, Steve Cliff, Jesus Madera all played a role as big as the Starmen played. The inside of the Asteroid was great and who were the "Unknowns" on the Asteroid??? Plots, subplots, and sub-subplots were the best. I have red westerns, novels, mysteries, and much more but these books are right up there in writing skills.
#3: Journey to the Tenth Planet Dan Henton: Thanks for the update, and thanks also for the [copies of Journey to the Tenth Planet]! They showed up in the mail today. My son (age 13) was there to see me unwrap them and immediately grabbed one to take to his room to read after he finishes his homework this evening. The cover looks great and I am looking forward to reading it myself as soon as I get a break in our remodeling project. Thanks also for the very nice note regarding my advice on precipitation on Titan...
#4: Descent Into Europa Mark Johnson: I finished reading Descent Into Europa this evening. Outstanding. This book takes the Starman saga to new levels and is on par with the finest series book writing. David, Jon, and Mike have done a superb job. In my opinion each book so far has been smoother and richer than the one before. Descent Into Europa had very few, if any, false or sour notes. The plotting, pacing, and writing come together to form a very cohesive and enjoyable whole. Most interesting to me is that Descent Into Europa is the most original and creative in terms of sci-fi ideas, yet also the most adept at reminding us that humans are human no matter what century they live in. Take a bow, gentlemen!
#5: The Lost Race of Mars Mark McSherry: Just finished The Lost Race of Mars today and found it to be a thrilling break-neck ride that ends on a deeply emotional-- and satisfying-- note. As with all the Starman books the action set-pieces are riveting fun. The adventures at the ravine and later at Brandow’s iron foundry are as exciting-- and vivid-- as anything in the earlier volumes. One of the strengths of the Starman books-- in my humble opinion-- is the sense of place as well as predicament in the telling of the stories. The Starman Team has enough confidence in their work to take time to leaven the plotting with descriptive accounts of both locale and environment. And, by drawing on all five of the reader’s senses while doing so, enriches the tale by adding a depth that lingers in the memory long after the telling. I knew the Series could be something special while reading Assault on Mars. The trek across the Martian landscape to Eagle City, which takes up the middle portion of the book, is exciting in and of itself. But the journey, especially after meeting up with Jogren, takes on a leisurely, almost lyrical quality as the earthmen land-sail across a snowy plain, then work their way on foot through the maze of the mud caves, til finally kayaking the Martian Sea. It is writing such as this, and there are other examples throughout the entire series, that transcends the boy’s-sf-adventure series genre that the Team seeks to emulate and pay homage to. It is a style that could almost be called Tolkienesque. Likewise, as an example in ‘The Lost Race of Mars’, the exotic setting of the villain's desert refuge is visualized in a manner resembling Middle-Earth locales imagined by that inimitable don. Yes, The Lost Race of Mars is filled with great moments of both action and revelation. But for me the highlight of the book is where the action is nothing more than four men sitting on benches under eucalyptus trees watching a fisherwoman casting her net in the middle distance--- And listening to one of them reminiscing to the other three about a woman named Rose.
#6: Doomsday Horizon Tim Parker: Just finished
Doomsday Horizon! (I tried to stretch it out as long as I could but
you guys made it so exciting that I finally had to finish it.) It was
a very enjoyable read. I didn't think that you would be able to top
"The Lost Race of Mars" but I think that you just may have. It had
everything in it that you could ask for in a children's (or adults
pretending they're children's) series.
#7: The Heart of Danger Steve Servello: After reading
The Heart of Danger, I believe I
am looking forward to the last volume, The Last Command, as
much as most any series finale.
David Ethell: I have to agree
that this is a great read. I'm only half way through it, but I'm
thoroughly enjoying it so far.
#8: The Last Command Mark McSherry: ... While I feel a sense of sadness, the over-riding sensation is one of joy; I believe that reading the Starman Series has made me a better person. That my consciousness has been elevated. And my spirit made more robust. ...
Steve Servello: My plan was to
put off reading The Last Command
because I knew it was the last of this incredible series and I wanted
to delay not only the end but the expected joy while reading it. Well,
the book arrived on October 5 and I held off until October 28. Such
willpower! The truth of the matter was I just "had to know" precisely
how the Xenobot wars would end and hopefully learn more of our
galaxy's history. As I knew I would, I received giant doses of both.
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