Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet

"Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet" is a Young adult fiction, science fiction novel written by Harold L. Goodwin under the pseudonym Blake Savage. The novel was originally published by Racine in hardcover in 1952 and reprinted in the United Kingdom later in the same year as "Rip Foster Rides the Grey Planet" (note the spelling of "gray/grey"). There were two subsequent American reprints under different titles: another hardcover edition as "Assignment in Space with Rip Foster" in 1958 and a paperback edition, as "Rip Foster in Ride the Gray Planet", in 1969. Under all titles combined, there were only approximately 100,000 copies of the novel printedFact|date=February 2007. The first edition was illustrated by E. Deane Cate and the 1958 one by Denny McMains. Goodwin is better known for other children's books he wrote, including the "Rick Brant Science Adventure Series for Boys". According to Project Gutenberg [http://gutenberg.org] , this novel is in the Public Domain in the United States.

Plot summary

Freshly graduated and commissioned Lt. Rip Foster is tasked with retrieving an asteroid made of pure thorium from the asteroid belt and bringing it to Earth for use as fissionable material. But the totalitarian Connies have their own plans for the asteroid.

Political allegory

The villains in "Rip Foster" are known as "The Consops." This is short for "Consolidated Peoples' Governments"- that the Planeteers of "The Federation of Free Governments" use. It is easy to see that "the Connies" is allegory for "the Commies", a term for Communists. The book reflects the times - it was written during the Cold War and the Korean War. The story emphasizes action and adventure, but hints at a geo-political situation not unlike that of the early 1950s.

List of editions

*Blake Savage. "Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet", Racine, Wisconsin, Whitman Publishing Company, 1952, 250p.
*Blake Savage. "Rip Foster Rides the Grey Planet", London, UK, Publicity Products Limited, 1952.
*Blake Savage. "Assignment in Space with Rip Foster", Racine, Wisconsin, Whitman Publishing Company, 1958.
*Blake Savage. "Rip Foster in Ride the Gray Planet", New York, Golden Press, 1969, 253p.

References

*Clark, Roy Peter. "Great Cosmos! Boyhood Memories Lead to quest for the Real Blake Savage". St. Petersburg Times, October 19, 1987. [http://www.rickbrant.com/Articles/bsavage.html Available online]

External links

*gutenberg | no=18139 | name=Rip Foster in Ride the Gray Planet
*gutenberg | no=20147 | name=Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet