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Final Blackout [Hardcover]

L. Ron Hubbard (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Kindle Edition CDN $3.86   -- --
Hardcover --   -- --
Hardcover, October 2002 --   -- --
Paperback CDN $7.81   -- --
Mass Market Paperback --   -- --
Audio, CD, Abridged CDN $25.23   -- --

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002
London 1975. The World War is grinding to a halt. A malignant force more sinister than Hitler's Nazi regime has seized control of Europe and is systematically destroying every adversary...

In the heart of France, a crack unit of renegade soldiers has overcome all opposition under the leadership of one man, a hardened military strategist highly trained in every method of combat - known only as "the Lieutentant"...

Ordered by his superiors to return to British Headquarters, located in a vast underground fortress commanded by politically correct staff officers, "the Lieutentant" is torn between abiding by military codes and doing what he knows is right for his country...

Upon reaching embattled England, "the Lieutenant" and his men, freshly supplied and re-equipped, come face to face with both the incumbent forces of tyranny and a technologically advanced power in a climatic battle for freedom...

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

Product Description

From 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.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

L. Ron Hubbard's legendary writing career spanned more than half a century of enduring literary achievement and creative influence, encompassing more than 250 published novels, novelettes, short stories and screenplays in every major genre. Among his best-selling and classic speculative fiction trendsetters are "Battlefield Earth", "Mission Earth" and "Fear". --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Awful Pulp Oct 27 2003
By Tim Lieder
Format:Mass Market Paperback
You know one should be used to the Great Man takes on the system book by now. They are so numerous that they shouldn't even annoy anymore. Yet this book takes it to the extreme. The Lieutenant is the great one, the grand poobah, the rebel leader hero. Everyone else is either a loyal follower or an evil petty bureaucrat. Sadly Hubbard spends many pages reinforcing these thin characterizations.

Yes this book was written when he was young and it wasn't meant to endure. Maybe it can be read as a hokey 1940 pulp and a testament to the paranoia of perpetual war. It almost belongs more to the Vietnam era than WWII since all the generals and upper level military guys are selfish fools ready to sacrifice a million lives for their own glory (there's even the American Imperialists at the end) but I doubt the unadulterated praise for the Lieutenant would fly any better in Vietnam War America.

Either way it's a dull book full of cliches that would have been long out of print without Scientology.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Sci-Fi Mar 6 2003
By Patty MacDuffie
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is my favorite science fiction book of all time. The Lieutenant is an awesome character - today's leaders could surely learn a thing or two about leadership and honor from him! Great story, well written, suspenseful and makes you think.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Good read... Feb 20 2003
By Erik1988
Format:Audio Cassette
1) As always, Roddy McDowall is probably my favorite audiobook reader. He is what other actors should strive to be.

2) As a student of writing, most books recommend that the protagonist have failures caused by his/her own strengths and weaknesses. This was different and I'm not sure if the difference was because it was the abridge audiobook version. Here, every obstacle encountered was overcome. I liked it because the protragonist was this smart, unstoppable force even though this was a different flow than most fiction.

3) Here is where I'm divided...the only time the protagonist really, really speaks in the story (abridged audiobook) and lets us see some of him as a character, is all in the context of him preaching about government as an institution. I didn't quite like this but it seems to be very common amongst of the great writers of the early 1900's to use their writing as blatant platforms for sharing thier views.

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Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A 1940 classic by L. Ron Hubbard
"Final Blackout" is a story about a war ravaged Europe that a small band of soldiers wade their way through. Read more
Published on Dec 14 2002 by Richard J. Brzostek
1.0 out of 5 stars Let's Be Glad L. Ron Hubbard Isn't Running Things
"Final Blackout" was written in the 1930's, and it is an adventure story written for fascists, by a fascist. Read more
Published on Jun 11 2002
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Writing
This book is one of the greatest(in my humble opinion)post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi novels ever written. Hubbard is known for writing "quick reads"(other than BE... Read more
Published on Nov 16 2000 by Joseph Mikitish
4.0 out of 5 stars The end of the war that never was
This book in some ways reminds me of Fatherland in the fact that WW2 lasted longer (a great HBO movie btw) It also reminds me that WW 1 would have lasted probably into a good... Read more
Published on Jun 25 2000 by Matthew Dovell
4.0 out of 5 stars In my unbiased opinion, I rather liked it....
I am not a Scientologist, but I do like pulp fiction. FINAL BLACKOUT was an innovative tale for its time, and does a fairly good job standing on its own today. Read more
Published on Nov 27 1998
4.0 out of 5 stars This book gave me great life-like dreams.
This book was something I picked out at a bookstore when I was given a gift certificate. Reading it each night before I went to sleep gave me such realistic dreams, that I could... Read more
Published on Aug 23 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reading
Hubbard, in this book written BEFORE the end of the Second World War shows what might have been. This book was writen when he was very young and that is shown in the writing... Read more
Published on April 6 1998 by dap177@psu.edu
3.0 out of 5 stars Final Blackout for the Lt. in FINAL BLACKOUT was hilarious.
Okay guys, I regret to say that although I found the morals and certitude of the Leutenant admirable as well (there's a pun in that statement somewhere, I just know it), I found... Read more
Published on Feb 24 1998 by mvarela@snet.net
3.0 out of 5 stars Yet another Doomsday scenario....
This is a margainly interesting book about apocalyptic war. Its main attraction being that it is one of the first of the genre. Read more
Published on Nov 21 1997
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best
When you consider that this was one of the first things that L. Ron Hubbard wrote, way back when he was nineteen (I believe); you can't help but be astonished at its intelligence... Read more
Published on Sep 16 1997
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