The Black Dragon

This book is the first in another series of Tom Swift books. In this case, Tom's buddy is Rick Cantwell and the story opens with Tom testing a hoverboard that uses superconducting materials. The test goes awry and this introduces the premise that Rick is a daring tester, who "tests till it breaks." The story also introduces Xavier Mace, who is also known as the Black Dragon. Mace is true to the mad scientist/evil genius role, stopping at nothing to defeat his worthy opponent. In this story, Tom's father is cast as a strong leader, almost dictatorial at times, yet he does let Tom go his own way. It concludes in the predictable manner, where Tom destroys the Black Dragon's lair and he gets away, vowing revenge. A potential future love interest for Tom is introduced in the form of Mandy Coster. The mutual liking starts a bit slow, as Tom is caught up in his inventing and is a bit of a verbal klutz around her. At the end, Tom saves her life when he stops some wayward machinery, and she rewards Tom with a hug and a kiss. With modern technologies such as computers, holograms and high temperature superconductors, this book is technically up do date. As the first book in a new series, it does a good job introducing the main characters and the villain is a powerful one.

The Black Dragon is the first in a 90s series of Tom swift books. They have moved to the California coast and a few names have been changed, but the story is very fun, with Tom still coming up with an invention or two to get them out of trouble. I recommend it to any Tom Swift fan or anyone who enjoys good clean science fiction on a younger level.