''Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle; or, Daring Adventures in Elephant Land'' is a
young adult novel
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
published in 1911, written by
Stratemeyer Syndicate
The Stratemeyer Syndicate was a publishing company that produced a number of mystery book series for children, including Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and others. They published and ...
writers using the pen name
Victor Appleton
Victor Appleton was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and its successors, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books.
The following series have been published under the Victor Appleton and Victor Applet ...
. It is Volume 10 in the original
Tom Swift
Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. First published in 1910, the series totals more than 100 volumes. The character was ...
novel series published by
Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898.
The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group.
Today, through the Penguin Gro ...
. The novel is notable for inspiring the name of the
Taser
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
.
Plot
While Tom Swift is working on his latest new invention, the electric rifle, he meets an African
safari
A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...
master whose stories of elephant hunting sends the group off to deepest, darkest Africa. Hunting for
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...
is the least of their worries, as they find out some old friends are being held hostage by the fearsome tribes of the red pygmies.
Swift builds two major inventions in this volume. The first is a replacement airship, known as ''The Black Hawk''. This new airship is to replace ''The Red Cloud'', which was destroyed during his adventures in ''
Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice
''Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice, or, The Wreck of the Airship'', is Volume 8 in the original Tom Swift novel series published by Grosset & Dunlap.
Plot summary
Tom Swift & friends journey to the Arctic in his custom airship to seek for the l ...
''. This airship is of the same general construction as ''The Red Cloud'', but is smaller and more maneuverable.
Of foremost notice is Swift's invention of the ''electric rifle'', a gun which fires bolts of electricity. The electric rifle can be calibrated to different levels of range, intensity and lethality; it can shoot through solid walls without leaving a hole, and is powerful enough to kill a rampaging whale, as in their steamer trek to Africa. With the electric rifle, Tom and friends bring down elephants, rhinoceroses, and buffalo, and save their lives several times in pitched battle with the red pygmies. It also can discharge a globe of light that was described as being able to maintain itself, like
ball lightning
Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is reported to last c ...
, making hunting at night much safer in the dark of Africa. In appearance, the rifle looked very much like contemporary conventional rifles.
Homages
Sixty years later a
non-lethal weapon
Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional ...
delivering an electric shock was developed by
Jack Cover
John Higson Cover Jr. (April 6, 1920 – February 7, 2009) was an American aerospace scientist who was the inventor of the Taser stun gun.
Biography
Cover was born in New York City on April 6, 1920, and grew up in Chicago. His father was a profes ...
and marketed by
Taser International
Axon Enterprise, Inc. is an American Scottsdale, Arizona-based company which develops technology and weapons products for military, law enforcement, and civilians.
Its initial product and former namesake is the Taser, a line of electroshock wea ...
under the name "
Taser
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
", an acronym for ''Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle''. The middle initial 'A' is used to produce a word more pronounceable than "TSER", as no other name than "Tom Swift" is used for the book's hero.
2015 film
The cinematographic adaptation rights were acquired in 2007. ''Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle'' is a documentary film (later retitled "Killing Them Safely") about TASER International, the primary manufacturer of TASER weapons for law enforcement. The film premiered on April 17, 2015 in World Competition at the
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
. National USA release of the film occurred on November 27, 2015.
Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle
' (2015 film) as described in the IMDB website.
See also
*
Pulsed energy weapon
A pulsed energy weapon is any weapon that:
* uses pulses of electricity to fire a projectile, or
* operates by transferring electric current to its target.
These weapons often use large capacitors to build up a charge which is released when the we ...
*
Tom Swift
Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. First published in 1910, the series totals more than 100 volumes. The character was ...
*
List of Tom Swift books
All books in the various Tom Swift book series. All books are credited to the pseudonym Victor Appleton (or, in the case of the ''Tom Swift Jr.'' series, Victor Appleton II), while the character was created by Edward Stratemeyer for his book packag ...
References
{{reflist
External links
''Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle'' e-textat
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
1911 American novels
Tom Swift
American young adult novels
Novels set in Africa