Final Blackout
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
A land ravaged by war without end. Cities gutted by weapons of mass destruction. Countries laid waste by biological warfare. Governments ruined by greed, violence, and corruption. This is a world in the throes of economic decay and at the mercy of terrorists. This is Asia. This is Europe. This is America. This is Final Blackout.
Across this devastated, post-apocalyptic landscape marches one extraordinary soldier and his band of brothers. He is the Lieutenant, a hardened military strategist and a charismatic leader of men. The narrow-minded high command may have relieved the Lieutenant of duty, but not of his honour-and his crack unit of warriors remains fiercely loyal to him. Now, in a time of deception, desperation, and betrayal, they are headed into the ultimate battle against the ultimate enemy- their own treacherous leaders. But for the Lieutenant, a hero at the crossroads of history, it is time to do what is best for his country and for his men-to undertake one last act of courage and sacrifice ...the Final Blackout.
"As perfect a piece of science fiction as has ever been written." -Robert A. Heinlein
"Compelling... riveting... Hubbard's best." -Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
First published in Astounding magazine in 1940, Final Blackout is generally considered Hubbard's best science fiction novel. Set in a world ravaged by 30 years of war, it chronicles the rise, in England, of the charismatic leader, strategist and statesman known only as the Lieutenant. As a depiction of a blighted world, the novel is compelling, even riveting: as it increasingly concerns itself with the Lieutenant it loses some of its power, but it still remains a superior piece of pulp adventure writing. The book is also interesting as an early showcase of some of Hubbard's ideas on the condition of the world, and history's need for extraordinary individuals--ideas he later developed in Dianetics and Scientology. The volume also contains a preface by Hubbard written for a 1948 edition of the novel, and an adulatory introduction by science fiction writer Algis Budrys, in which extravagant claims are made about the novel and its author. An even more adulatory, unsigned profile concludes the volume. Caveat emptor. 100,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo.
