Thunderbirds: Operation Asteroids by John W. Jennison
- JetBlackDragonfly
- Feb 21
- 2 min read
For those who love the adventure TV series Thunderbirds, this is F.A.B.
Combining marionettes with scale models, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's filming process called Supermarionation excited kids with danger, heroics, and ingenuity. I love the whole process as well as the product. John W. Jennison wrote two original novels around the characters (Operation Asteroids and Lost World) for young adults and fans of the series, and I was lucky enough to find them together.
It's assumed you know these characters, known to the world of the twenty-first century as International Rescue. Ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy has built a secret base for his family on a private Pacific island. His four sons run the rescue operation with state of the art rockets, and every other device needed when disaster strikes.
John Tracy signals a distress call from their orbiting station Thunderbird 5. A granite mine has collapsed on the lunar base Mare Imbrium, with no air they have 3 hours to save the workers. Brothers Alan and Scott blast off with TinTin in Thunderbird 1, while Virgil, Brains and Gordon deliver The Mole in Thunderbird 2 to Australia where a Moon Base freighter is ready to launch. Lady Penelope and Parker also head to the Australian base, but are met by their evil nemesis The Hood, always ready to steal the Thunderbirds secrets and become Master of the World. Mid-flight to the moon, Virgil and Brains discover The Hood aboard. They are put under hypnosis, and the robot-piloted freighter veers past the moon into an asteroid belt a million miles beyond Mars. Scott and Alan take Thunderbird 3 to rescue them in an exciting sequence that leaves Virgil, Scott, and Alan marooned in space!
The second half of the novel gives fans a treat, taking place in the Tibetan mountain lair of The Hood, which we have seen little of in the series. Golden idol-filled shrines and ultra modern laboratories are built into the caverns of the summit, populated by android workers. Penelope and TinTin are The Hood's prisoners, and it is up to the gang (including a heroic Parker climbing through the jungles) to rescue them.
This is actually a solid adventure with excitement and surprises. For Thunderbirds fans, this reads better than a new episode, as every character is involved, including Grandma and Kyrano. TinTin and Lady Penelope do some heroics - especially when Penelope is hung by a wire over the bubbling lava pool of an active volcano!
The writing is much better than you would think, aimed at the young adult market rather than children. As a fan, I am thrilled to have found these novels by chance, and recommend this to anyone who remembers Thunderbirds. You will find this a treat.
John W. Jennison wrote six other Thunderbirds novels under different names, published by World Distributors.
My other Thunderbirds related review:
1966 / Hardcover / 202 pages
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