Authors: Jack Hagerty & Jon Rogers
Publisher: Apogee Books
Binding: perfect bound
ISBN: 9781-894959-70-4
Pages: 298 (+ appendix and index)
The Saucer Fleet is the much-anticipated follow-up to Hagerty and Rogers' 2001 tome: Spaceship Handbook. Like its predecessor, The Saucer Fleet takes both a studious and entertaining look at some of the most recognizable flying saucers that have appeared in popular culture. Richly illustrated with photos and film stills, high quality line drawings and color schemes, The Saucer Fleet is heavy on eye-candy, in addition to the well written text.
The preface and opening chapter provide historical context of flying saucers, from their technical origins within the US and German militaries. Post-WWII tensions and the inevitable onset of the Cold War only heightened peoples' paranoia about strange discs in the skies as a threat to the uneasy peace between east and west. Sightings of "flying discs" were rampant
The following chapters cover flying saucers from selected cultural sources, with an emphasis on the science fiction film genre. Films cover include The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, This Island Earth, Forbidden Planet, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, as well as the Lost in Space and The Invaders television programs. Two further chapters review the Twin Earth comic book serial and the now-defunct Flying Saucers theme ride at Disneyland in the 1960s.
Each chapter commences with a historic overall of each saucer, followed by a summary of the story's plot, then moves onto the technical details of each craft. Hagerty and Rogers have summoned an impressive number of contributors to bring unrivaled detail to the reader's attention, including many anecdotal, often humorous, stories from studio execs, special effects men, script writers, technical consultants, among others. Additionally, hundreds of photos and dozens of high quality line drawing illustrations enhance the text throughout.
The Saucer Fleet is an immensely entertaining, high quality publication that will appeal to the sci-fi fan in all of us. It can be purchased directly from the publisher.