Buck Rogers: A Life in the Future

The original Buck Rogers wasn't "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and wasn't written in the 1930s. It was "Armageddon 2419 A.D." and was written in 1919. It _WAS_ a profoundly racist and anti-Asian book by modern standards. With that in mind, Caidin's tale is actually rather well done. He kept much of the flavor of a dated book, while bringing it closer to the present day reader. If there's any blame here, it's on the publisher for trying to drag what should remain a period piece in literature into the contemporary. I assume, since TSR-now-WotC was the publisher, that it ties into a game somewhere. As a writer myself it always makes my teeth itch when reviewers, who should know better, attempt to drape the author in his characters. A good writer's characters may resemble himself in any detail or none. This is clearly the latter.

When I first saw the title of this book, I thought 'No way! Someone has tried to recapture the Buck Roger's space opera epic.' then I saw the author and took interest. Mr. Caidin has done a great job at updating this tale. Agreed, it is not a major work in terms of the brilliant work he's done in the past, but it is still a wonderful read. If you are a techie that enjoys a formula space opera, then this is a good, and fun read. Nicely done.