Customer Reviews

Chronicles of the Lensmen, Vol. 2

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard to believe I'm the first reviewer for this book considering the impact it's had on science fiction. Possibly because the combination of the six books into two volumes isn't as well known. Also that the book listed here has the plural version, Lensmen, in the title, while any original book of the series has the singular, Lensman. Note for anyone doing an Amazon or web search.

Personally I think the series starts to trail off starting with the second half. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the series, it's just maybe the datedness of the terminology used by Smith gets tiresome or I think just gets somewhat overused. The science is a bit oversimplified. Although the power of using an entire planet as a weapon is obvious, the little science given here and elsewhere stretches the imagination. But that's also what makes the series appealing. It's a large scale galactic conflict epic.

If you haven't read the entire Lensmen series--Triplanetary, First Lensman, Galactic Patrol, Gray Lensman, Second Stage Lensmen, and Children of the Lens--then you have missed out on some of the best that science fiction/space opera has to offer. Yes, it's dated. Yes, the science is thin to non-existant, but the plots, the stories are the reason for these books! Each one is a ripping good yarn. These books are the ones that I read on a rainy Saturday afternoon, when I don't want my villains too complex, and I don't need the heros to be too smart. I just want the good guys to triumph in the end, but still have enough of a "hook" that you pick up the next one to read it right away. It's like slightly sweetened popped corn, just salty enough and just sweet enough that you keep reaching for the bowl until you notice the bowl is empty, and the Saturday afternoon has gone by and it's almost 1:00 Sunday morning. By the way, don't worry about "Vortex Blaster", the seventh Lensman story. It has nothing at all to do with the other six. It is just a story about people who live in the Lensmen Universe.

This series and Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination" empassioned my desire for the stars and science fiction. Star Trek and Star Wars would not be the stories they are or have the impact they do without the forward thinking of EE Doc Smith and Bester.

These stories enthralled me as a youth and still capture my imagination 30+ years later. Volume 1 and 2 are "must haves" for any serious sci-fi fan and library.

The anime movie... well, it wasn't so hot. It did a disservice to the books. IMHO.

Book arrived faster than expected in excellent shape. Dust cover intact and in good shape. Price was better than expected for such a rare book.

"Doc" Smith is one of the pilars of modern science fiction, his Skylark of Space is probbly the first book considered a "space opera". The Lensmen series is, in my estimation, the basis for the Green Lanterns of DC Comics and current feature film. This book is in very good condition and was fast delivered. I recomend the book and the seller.

E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series should be required reading! Doc shows his age, but the story is timeless. I first read his novels at the tender age of 10 and have just finished them again, probably my 20th reading. Doc spins a story like no contemporary writer and his vocabulary although dated is such to transport the reader into the proper time and space (no pun intended).

I encourage all science fiction buffs to have this and all Doc's works in their library! Hopefully this series will never go out of print. Where is the movie? With all the comic book hero's getting movies this would be an epic on a scale to dwarf "Star Wars".

One of the best space epic/series ever. E.E. (Doc) Smith was well ahead of his time in the possibilities of future - space. A great read for young and old alike.