Tom Swift IV is the unofficial name of a series of juvenile science fiction adventure novels, the fourth to feature a protagonist named

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 ...

. The series ran for thirteen titles from 1991 to 1993, and were published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

imprint Archway Paperbacks; like the previous three series, the series was written under the pseudonym

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 Apple ...

. Unlike the previous series, it was not created by the

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 ...

; by this time, the Syndicate had been sold to Simon & Schuster, who created the series in response to the successful, more mature spin-offs of Syndicate properties

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Crea ...

and

The Hardy Boys The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens. The series revolves around teenagers who are amateur sleuths, solving cases that stumped their adult counterp ...

Background

Premise

Daring, resourceful Tom Swift, Jr. is the teenage son of gifted scientist Tom Swift, Sr. and Mary Nestor. However, Tom is also gifted scientist and inventor in his own right, as is his sister Sandra. Tom, Sr. is the head of Swift Enterprises located in the

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...

town of Jefferson, California (a departure from previous series, which were set in upstate New York), which is also where the Swifts live. Like the third series, an ethnically diverse cast of characters is featured, though the Swifts themselves are still

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

. Akin to the ''Files'' and ''Casefiles'' series, this series uses more violence and action. For example, in ''The Negative Zone'', Tom blows up a motel room to escape the authorities. Also unlike previous series, this series shows that Tom's genius can sometimes be problematic and dangerous; many of his inventions have unintended and negative consequences. In ''The DNA Disaster'', Tom inadvertently causes

Devolution (biology) Devolution, de-evolution, or backward evolution (not to be confused with dysgenics) is the notion that species can revert to supposedly more primitive forms over time. The concept relates to the idea that evolution has a purpose (teleology) and ...

with his latest invention.

Production

In 1985, the

was sold to

after the death of

Harriet Adams Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (December 12, 1892 – March 27, 1982) was an American juvenile book packager, children's novelist, and publisher who was responsible for some 200 books over her literary career. She wrote the plot outlines for many boo ...

three years earlier. Shortly afterwards, the publishers launched spin-offs of mainstays

and

with ''

The Nancy Drew Files ''The Nancy Drew Files'', or the ''Nancy Drew Case Files'', is a detective fiction series started in 1986 and released by Simon & Schuster, New York. It is a spin-off of the original series of novels featuring Nancy Drew, with a greater emphasis ...

'' in 1986 and '' The Hardy Boys Casefiles'' in 1987. These series were aimed towards a more mature audience, and were successful; at their height, the series published a new title every month. In 1990, Simon & Schuster decided to launch a fourth Tom Swift series, to capitalize on the success of the more mature spin-offs. However, unlike the ''Files'' and ''Casefiles'' series - which were handled by book packager Mega-Books, the new ''Tom Swift'' series was handled by Byron Preiss Visual Publications. Like he previous two Tom Swift series, this series' protagonist is Tom Swift, Jr., the son of Tom Swift, Sr. and Mary Nestor. However, this series combined elements from both ''Tom Swift Jr.'' and the 1980s ''Tom Swift'' series in making their new Tom Swift. Ultimately, the new ''Tom Swift'' series struggled to match the success of its counterparts, even when a crossover spin-off of its own with the ''Casefiles'' series was launched. The series ended in 1993, with thirteen titles and two cross-over books being printed.

List of titles

The Hardy Boys/Tom Swift Ultra Thrillers

This was a spin-off crossover series with '' The Hardy Boys Casefiles'', similar to the '' Supermystery'' series (which was a crossover ''The Hardy Boys'' had with ''Nancy Drew''). The Hardy Boys'

Franklin W. Dixon Franklin W. Dixon is the pen name used by a variety of different authors who were part of a team that wrote The Hardy Boys novels for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (now owned by Simon & Schuster). Dixon was also the writer attributed for the ''Ted ...

pseudonym was the only one attributed to this series, though it was produced by Bryon Preiss. # ''Time Bomb'' (August 1992) # ''The Alien Factor'' (June 1993)

References

{{Portal, Children and Young Adult Literature Tom Swift Young adult novel series Juvenile series Children's science fiction novels