Tom Swift Invention Books

Teenage inventor and scientist, Tom Swift, begins an all new series of adventures. In this first story he must find ways to tackle two seemingly disconnected problems: repair the fragile ozone cap over the Antarctic; and bring a vital supply of water to a small African nation on the verge of death by dehydration.Thwarting him on both fronts are the appearance of several unmarked, black MIG fighter jets that attack him and his projects without warning or provocation. But, who is behind them? And, why are the pilots seemingly willing to die rather than be captured?Never one to bring politics into anything he does, Tom finds that he is deeply embroiled in the political situation between his small nation and a neighboring nation's fiendish dictator bent on taking over everything, even if that means killing all of the people of the smaller country.These new adventures of Tom Swift bring the young inventor back to modern times rather than having him set a couple hundred years in the future as with several of the previous series. There are at least 15 books planned (11 already written and awaiting publication) with the possibility of as many as 18-20 in the series. They are written in a style that may be enjoyed by any reader from 9-10 through 100.

In this second adventure of the new series, young inventor Tom Swift is approached by the airline industry. They have a big problem… well, two problems. First, as people build closer and closer to airports, noise complaints continue to grow. And, rather than tell people to stop moving next to busy airports, several state governments have demanded that additional steps be taken to reduce noise. But, about every possible step has already been instituted. They need Tom's help.The other problem is the soaring price of fuel. So, is there any way Tom can also make jet engines more efficient? Again, just about everything has been done toward that.Design after design and test after test prove insufficient to meet one or the other requirement, and definitely not both of them together. Finally a chance encounter by his sister and girlfriend with a stranger brings a light to the end of Tom's tunnel, and he is off.Through all this Tom and Swift Enterprises have been the victims of industrial espionage. It all comes to a head when, one the very even of Tom's public announcement of a solution, his designs are unveiled by a rival manufacturer.

Volume 3 in this new series. The President of the United States, desperate to leave some sort of legacy once his term of office expires, has promised the nation that a great, new and ultra-modern freight-hauling bullet train system will begin to cross the country starting in just one year. The biggest problem? He hasn't started talking to any manufacturers or construction companies. Nobody has begun to design or build anything on a project that should take 10 years. Even when his advisors hatch a plan to split the work into dozens of manageable pieces, only a small handful of companies are willing to sign on. Tom Swift—knowing his company's strengths—believes that he can figure a way to dig the massive tunnels under the various mountain ranges on the western half of the country, and may even be able to build the locomotive engines. Things get underway but within weeks a few of the other companies begin to abandon their work, making it necessary for someone to take on more and more. To Tom and his father, that means Swift Enterprises.A rival company owner has it in for Tom, and a mysterious source of governmental sabotage is somewhere in Washington DC. With the lack of time and so many other things against him, is it going to be a mission impossible for the young inventor?

In this 4th novel in the series, Tom is asked to help save the crew of a sunken nuclear submarine, and then to recover the actual sub before it can be claimed as salvage and stripped of its top secrets by a foreign power. His successful efforts lead him to being requested to undertake a monumental task: locating and recovering the more than half-dozen "lost" nuclear submarines sitting on the bottom of several of the Earth's oceans. More than that, he must also find their nuclear-tipped torpedoes and reactors, some of which are no longer with their hulls, and recover them safely as well. With nothing available from his own company, it looks hopeless until the U.S. Navy loans him a holdover from the Cold War, a gigantic submarine carrier capable of holding and launching several attack class subs. He refits it for the mission, trains a half-Enterprises and half Navy crew, and sets out only to discover that saboteurs, spies, possible terrorists and even foreign governments are out to see him fail.But the ultimate danger comes later when they discover more than anyone could have ever believed!

This fifth novel in the Tom Swift Invention Series starts with a near tragedy. But, not one to let setbacks stop him, Tom Swift accepts a contract to help complete an important NOAA weather station in Florida that has lost its primary contractor. While investigating the site he and his best friend Bud are nearly killed in an explosion. Or, was it an attack? He sets about creating a safety and security system but encounters a mysterious submarine out in the Gulf of Mexico. It turns out that an old enemy is up to their old tricks and are willing to do anything to stop—or kill—Tom. He knows the old saying about how you can't do anything about the weather, but has never believed it. And so Tom works to invent a method for breaking up hurricanes before they can do any damage. But the typical mix of sabotage, strange circumstances and even being waylaid on a deserted island can't stop our hero. But, about that weather thing…

This 6th novel in the Tom Swift Invention Series brings back some of Tom's old acquaintances: his Space Friends. Since their first interaction several years earlier, Tom has tried to get them to provide details about themselves so he can assist them in their mission to visit the Earth. Until he makes a surprise advancement in how he "reads" their symbol messages, he has had frustration after disappointment trying to get them to tell him anything of substance. Now that he has an understanding he is horrified to find that their "masters" have declared their mission to our solar system to be a failure and will be recalling them, forever, in just a few short weeks. Now he races against time trying to develop both a vehicle and an environment capable of supporting them. Just when he thinks he has succeeded, disaster strikes. Not only is his new flying environment destroyed, but now the Masters insist the Space Friends won't be the ones coming for a visit, it will be them! Tom knows that can't be allowed and so he must work overtime to complete a new environment, be a diplomat and get ready for the visit.

In this 7th novel in the Tom Swift Invention Series, the planet Pluto suddenly disappears. It is there one minute and gone the next. Is this the start of an invasion, or something even worse? Tom Swift is called upon to investigate. For starters he agrees to refurbish and move the long-defunct Hubble Space telescope into a position where it might scan the now empty area. Finding nothing he builds an ultra fast space probe. But when that disappears as it nears the missing planet's old position, it raises even more questions. A second probe is flung far to one side by an invisible force. The only thing to do is to go out himself, and so Tom sets about building a new, giant and incredibly fast spaceship, The Sutter. Before he can launch it, Pluto—or something slightly larger—reappears and begins heading inward toward the Sun. The problem is that the Earth is going to be right in the way. If Tom can't deflect this paradox planet from its course, all mankind might perish. But what secrets can this planet hold? And, why does it suddenly slow down inside Jupiter's orbit?

In this 8th in the new Tom Swift Invention Series, Tom Swift finds himself involved in a galactic mystery. Something very much like a black hole has been discovered a dozen light years away, but nobody can say for certain what it really is... or if it will affect the Earth. The thing about black holes is they suck in light so they can't really be seen.Tom wants to go investigate. Even his quickest unmanned rockets can't carry enough fuel for such a trip. So a shortcut seems to be the only chance. His knowledge tells him that wormholes are more than a science fiction hypothesis, but how the heck can he go about locating one? Even if he finds one, how can he determine where it might exit? When an old video surfaces showing proof to and open and willing mind that wormholes exist and can be opened for brief periods, he also finds it takes the power of a nuclear bomb to do so. If he overcomes all issues, he and Bud may be on a one way trip. They encounter the anomaly—and it's a doozy—but they also find themselves face-to- uhhh, hands? Giant ghostly hands beckon them, but what can it all mean? With little air and no fuel, what can Tom do?NOTE: Although this book shares a common title with one of the Tom Swift Jr. books published in late 1971, it IS NOT that book. Nor is it that story.

In this 9th book in the Tom Swift Invention Series, Tom must suffer disappointment when a contract to build habitats for a Moon colony go to another, inferior, bidder. The result is a catastrophe, and Tom must mount a mission to recover the bodies of nearly a third of the colonists. When Swift Enterprises offers to build a protection system, that offer is rebuffed for no good reason. Angry, Tom decides to set his sights on an even more ambitious project: a colony on Mars! It will need to be huge and totally self-sustaining as no "quick resupply" system will be available. With a good understanding of the weak points of the lunar buildings he begins developing an inflatable habitat. He sneaks up to the Moon for a test and runs afoul of the company that built the fragile structures. He is even attacked by their rocket. Or, is it them? There are rumblings that Tom's old enemies, the Brungarians, are up to their old tricks and might be trying to sabotage Tom's efforts. Whoever it is, they seemed determined to stop Tom Swift!

SPECIAL RETAIL VERSION: It begins with a request for a secret meeting with a man who won't reveal his identity. Normally, Tom Swift—young inventor—would just turn this over to his Security people, but something sparks his interest. Once he finally forces the man to open up, it is almost ridiculously easy to fulfill his requests. Tom tries to turn to other endeavors but is drawn into a more complex adventure that, surprisingly, needs that earlier invention. A mysterious rift is tearing its way from the Atlantic ocean into the Northeast states. Tom, with the assistance of his best friend Bud Barclay, and a diminutive scientist, embark on a project to not only discover what is really happening, but must come up with a way to stop it before things become catastrophic! It is one of Tom's hardest adventures as he battles the very ground we all walk on. Is taking on Mother Nature and the planet Earth just too much?

In this standard edition of the 11th novel of the New Tom Swift Invention Series—does not contain the bonus short story, "Tom Swift and His Aerial Firetruck"—someone is setting huge fires in an apparent attempt to draw Tom Swift into becoming involved in what looks like terrorist attacks. When a near tragedy and a request from a dear friend finally do prompt the young inventor into action, he discovers that an old enemy may be behind these fires, and it might just be part of a personal vendetta against Tom! As he tries to find a solution for fighting the fires—and hopes that the FBI might catch the perpetrators—Tom finds that the writings of his great-grandfather, the original Tom Swift, may hold the clues to the answer he seeks. An entire notebook tells the story of the trials and successes of his ancestor. But can modern technology do what he wants?For those interested in the back story, it may either be found in the enhanced edition of this book (see other listings) or as a separate novella.

In this 12th adventure in the new Tom Swift Invention Series, Tom Swift decides his 4-year-old space station, the Outpost in Space, is now too small. When you outgrow something that you need, you make it larger or you replace it. Tom's plan for a replacement is not just ambitious, it is almost impossible. He want to build a giant space station capable of rotating to provide its 1,000 or more inhabitants with near Earth-like gravity, room to grow, and incredible surroundings. Two problems are in his way: money and getting all the materials up there. When even his own government appears to condemn his efforts and threaten to cut off his supply chain, Tom must turn to an alternate source for his building materials—mining what he needs from asteroids. But he needs a way to transport raw materials to Earth and finished goods into orbit. The solution has never been tried except in science fiction. He decides to build a space elevator. But with so many challenges and even the United Nations looking like they want to take over the new station, he finds that he is just about on his own.

It has been a couple years since Tom Swift solved the mystery and overcame the aftermath of a loss of helium in the undersea mines he once discovered. Since then not much of anything has happened that might be considered newsworthy in Helium City. In fact, he and his friend, Bud Barclay, haven’t even traveled down there in all that time.Things are about to change!A deep thrumming vibration begins to make itself noticed in Helium City. As it comes and goes with no indication of its origin or meaning, Tom designs and lowers a series of probes meant to discover what is coming from deep inside or even under the giant cavern filled with liquid helium. They give some answers and ask many more questions.In order to explore the possibilities—and impossibilities—Tom and Bud undertake a new adventure that sees them being lowered into the cavern in a totally unique sphere.What they find shocks them both, but they try to make a bad situation better. What they get is a bad situation getting more and more out of hand!

In this 14th volume in the New Tom Swift Invention Series, Tom hope to improve on a small parlor trick he had come up with months earlier, when the U.S. Navy asks him to find a way to turn stealth ships into truly invisible ones.While it seems to be easier than he ever thought it might be, the young inventor is kidnapped, tossed from a moving truck and his test vehicle, a special read coupe, is stolen. Making matters worse, the thieves include an International terrorist, four rogue FBI agents and a Navy officer gone bad.Now, Tom must discover a way to see through his invisibility shield to hopefully get the coupe back. However, what happens if he succeeds? Does his ability to defeat his own invention mean it now becomes useless?

The fifteenth (!) novel in the New TOM SWIFT Invention Adventures series.Just two years ago Tom Swift and his best friend, Bud Barclay, journeyed through a wormhole and nearly lost their lives investigating a black hole phenomena. After returning Tom sent an unmanned reconnaissance probe back there to keep an eye on things.The time has come to replace it before it “dies.” But, when he does the first of the videos sent back reveal something so startling that Tom isn’t certain what to believe. The probe shows him something Tom knows had to be in the past.What might it mean? The first thought he has is some sort of time fluctuation has occurred. He is hesitant to refer to it as “time travel.”But, what if that is exactly what it is? Is it something that can be replicated and used on Earth. Or, can the source of the phenomena be taken from its location back to Earth? Tom can only imagine the possibilities and sets out testing in until a personal tragedy forces him to try something radical.It isn’t for the weak at heart, and it isn’t something he wants to do, but he must.

Book 16 in this new series sees the young inventor presented with a problem that may or may not happen in a locale so far away it could be meaningless.Or, it could turn deadly!Haley's Comet is swinging back in for its next appearance, only this time it will pass very close to a newly identified planet far outside the orbit of Pluto. Eris is larger than Pluto and even possesses a small moon. So, with the possibility that Eris could influence Haley's trajectory, and if it goes one way it will come too close to the Earth on its pass in a few years, Tom must find a way to get out that far, and fairly quickly.His solution. Simple. Harness a black hole, ride it out past the edge of the solar system and see what happens.Only themission becomes much more diffecult when Haley's smashes into Eris and the planet begins to break up.Now, there will be far more potential deadly pieces of the former planet to deal with unless Tom and his crew can find a way to rebuild it.

In his 17th adventure, Tom finds himself battling something his scientific knowledge has not prepared him for: personal tragedy!Already having conquered several of science fiction’s more difficult problems, Tom Swift is faced with a crisis that will test his abilities nearly to the breaking point.An incredibly close person has been stricken with an inoperable tumor inside his head. The tumor will kill him in months, or an operation might do it sooner. At the very least, standard medical procedures would leave him with brain damage.When Doc Simpson proposes an impossible task, Tom, who is mentally fatigued almost to the breaking point, finds that he must rally if there is anything to do to save the man. But the Doctor himself refuses to consider the treatment Tom has in mind when he finds out that what the inventor proposes is more like a living video game that serious surgery.Will it be possible to convince him to let Tom—an unskilled surgeon at the very best—perform the life-saving procedure?And, can Tom rally his emotional and physical strength long enough to make the operation a success?

In novel 18 of this series, Tom Swift gets the call to put his inventive brains to work for Hollywood. A producer for one of the studios wants to resurrect the old movie series that featured a hero using a flying rocket pack. But, when Tom convinces him that roaring flames and something looking like a pair of fire extinguishers isn't going to work, he agrees to set his serial in the near future. That just leaves Tom with the task of creating a wearable, flyable backpack that can fly for a half hour at a time, be absolutely safe for the stunt man to pilot, and look really incredible.Forces are at work to steal such a technology from both Tom and another company in California that tried making something like it a year earlier. And, it turns out to be an old enemy of the Swifts behind it all.Now, with pressure put on him by the US Government and constant nagging requests to get the backpack delivered to the movie set, Tom must satisfy many people, keep the plans and actual device safe, and still get his and Bud's wife out to Hollywood to meet some stars.

In the 19th adventure, Tom is asked for a double-header. Canada wants a version of his bullet train and Europe wants a high-speed cargo transportation system.Both point to similar solutions and each one brings him a new enemy, one political and one deadly dangerous.Canada ought to be easy, but government interference makes it nearly impossible, and just how the heck do you get a thousand tons of cargo across the ocean without using ships?All this and more await you in this novel.

The colonists on Mars have been living in peace and relative comfort, until it is discovered that one of the two small moons racing overhead, Phobos, seems to have dropped in altitude and is continuing to come closer. Since this was not suppose to be at a rate of more than a few inches a year, but is in the hundreds of miles, this is a great worry to them. And, to Tom Swift. He arrives on Mars and uses his repelatron-powered ship, The Challenger, to push the moon back up into position only to find that it starts coming back down. An investigation on the surface of Phobos shows that it has a higher gravity than it should, and the only reason Tom can figure is that the former Space Friends must have planted one of their gravity generating stones somewhere. But, where? And, once he finds it, how can he go about digging more than a hundred feet onto a moon that is barely held together and is composed of rocks and dust gathered over more than a million years. One false dig and the entire thing could break apart. The Space Friends are of no help as they have all but disappeared. So, Tom sets out to do the impossible; replace Phobos in its rightful position once and for all times so the colony can go back to being safe.

In book 24 of this new series, Tom Swift runs afoul of several flying vehicles including a recent Venus Probe sent to study seismic activity on the super hot second planet. What he does not realize is he will be drawn into a rescue mission when the designers fail to take into consideration many things that go toward keeping a tall structure upright. Before he can even plan a rescue Tom and Bud Barclay must wrestle a small jet down to the ground when someone tries to knock them from the sky. Then, he and another pilot take a test flight that ends in Tom being a crash victim in an unfriendly country where he is rescued by a resistance organization but not before the government there declares to the world that the is dead! Finally, when the mission to Venus looks to be handled by a robot, it soon becomes clear that it will take a human touch. And, we all know that means Tom Swift!

This is the history-making 25th book in this new series.Tom Swift has been involved in many projects in his 28 years, some horrifically dangerous and some very tame and fun, but he has never been involved in trying to make the impossible, possible, and never has he worked with a "UFOs exist" man who might actually be onto something!Until now.When a very rich man comes to Tom telling him of the almost crippling lack of land on which people might build without deforesting large areas or ripping out growing fields, farms and ranches, Tom cannot argue the point. He'd even been involved building underwater growing environments before. Land was what we have and we cannot build any more of it.Or, can we?The man sets forth a challenge: build a city in the sky. Not something up on poles but an honest to gosh floating city.The city part is easy; the floating part may take a crackpot idea to work!

In book 26 of this new series, Tom Swift is requested to head a project for a consortium of nations in developing and flying a new type of mission into space. He finds himself designing a brand new vessel, one that likely needs to fly into the sky, through space at incredible speeds, and plunge into the thick atmosphere of the only other blue planet in our solar system, Neptune. There are several things going against him starting with all he unknowns about the distant planet and its blue ocean that appears to be mostly liquid methane. How in the world, or out of it, can you get through something that might be absolutely solid once you get under the surface. Then, how to you withstand the pressures from a compacted, nearly frozen liquid that is thousands of kilometers thick? To top things off, one of the nations funding this project insists he bring back several tons of what they believe will be priceless methane diamonds. If he refuses, or if they believe he is holding out on them, there might be political and economic repercussions!

In the 27th novel of this new series, Tom is now back from his adventure on Neptune and had a small mission to accomplish before he feels the previous one is complete. His small unmanned test submarine was lost on its deep sea test in the region of the Mariana Trench south of Guam , and now he wants to go get it back. Nothing is as easy os it sounds, and he must find a way to get Yamato II down to Earth before it can be used.Even when he succeeds (and you just know he will) what he finds deep under the Pacific Ocean will change his way of looking at the world.But, dare he reveal what he and his small crew encounter? Or, could it cause a frenzy of activity from many seafaring nations to try to get down to see what it is for themselves?But first, he must get his new space submarine, the Yamato II, back to Earth so it can be used at the incredible depths he intends to get down to.

In the 29th novel of this series, Tom Swift decides to "dust off" and see if he can make an early dream come true. At the age of sixteen he had built a small jet he called his Nuclear Hyperplane. It was anything but either of those things. Now, nearly sixteen years later he believes he might do something to make that dream come true. He sets out to design an aircraft that might travel at five times the speed of sound.Because he is award that he cannot continuously spend without bringing some sales into Swift Enterprises, he plans to build a hypersonic passenger jet capable of getting half way around the world in about three-and-a-half hours. It is an ambitions plan.It comes to the attention of at least two unfriendly entities, both of whom try to ruin his plans; at least one believes that killing the inventor is the way to accomplish this.By taking things in little steps, he inches closer and closer to his dream, but can he manage to do it while remaining safe?