Customer Reviews

Galactic Patrol

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Doc Smith's "Lensman" series is one of those strange cases where almost everything the reviews say -- both good and bad -- is true. The key lies in the sentence found in so many of them: "I first read this when I was a kid". I think we all retain an affection for things we loved when we were young. Nonetheless, it would be a big mistake to think these books hold nothing for adults -- I've introduced them to an adult friend who enjoyed them immensely.

Other reviews on Amazon summarise the plot adequately, but I should like to add some information I think may be helpful.

I, too, first met Kim Kinnison when I was a kid, in the original "Astounding" magazines that I inherited from my uncle.

Chronologically, the first Lensman story was "Galactic Patrol", from 1937-38. This was followed by the next three stories: Gray Lensman, Second Stage Lensmen and Children of the Lens. When publication in book form was mooted, Smith revised his earlier Triplanetary to fit into the lensman universe, and wrote First Lensman to form a bridge between that and "Galactic Patrol". Masters of the Vortex, another unrelated story, was likewise modified.

I personally feel that the four books representing Smith's original conception are the essential ones, and the others are disposable ("Vortex", in particular, being a pot-boiler with virtually no relation to the others). Although "First Lensman" certainly has entertaining moments (as when Virgil Samms is almost deafened at a Rigellian construction site, because the Rigellians have no sense of hearing and can't understand what the problem is).

There's another problem with the books, although fortunately not an insuperable one. Smith's universe, although already huge at the outset of "Galactic Patrol", expands as the series progresses. Originally, the reader didn't discover the total significance of the struggles going on within it until the end of "Children". But the books (except, for some inscrutable reason, "Patrol") feature tacked-on and needless Forewords that give away the whole plot. I *strongly* recommend first-time readers to skip these. Also, if you've never read Smith before, I'd recommend starting with "Patrol" -- "Triplanetary" is not nearly as good, neither is it "really" the first.

Smith's dated (and sometimes banal) style has been an easy target, but it has some lovely moments as well:

"near them there crouched or huddled or lay at ease a many-tentacled creature indescribable to man. It was not like an octopus. Though spiny, it did not resemble at all closely a sea-cucumber. Nor, although it was scaly and toothy and wingy, was it, save in the vaguest possible way, similar to a lizard, a sea-serpent or a vulture. Such a description by negatives is, of course, pitifully inadequate; but, unfortunately, it is the best that can be done."

If you want mind-boggling adventure, ever-expanding vistas, BEMs and battle laid on with a trowel, you need go no further. For my money, the depth and invention of Smith's universe, and the sheer glee with which he unfolds his narrative, more than compensate for any deficiencies. These are books I will always love.

Capsule Description: Old-fashioned space opera, filled with super-science, Good Guys and Bad Guys (as Bad as they get), far-flung settings, and battles on a scale unimaginable. Purple prose by today's standards, but written with energy and the true classic "Sense of Wonder". This series was and is one of the major foundations on which later SF was built. It inspired many later authors. I still find them great fun to read.

Review: "Doc" Smith may not (quite) have INVENTED the "space opera" (although offhand I'd be hard put to find one written earlier than the original drafts of The Skylark of Space), but almost no one would be able to argue against the assertion that it was Doc who DEFINED it and perfected that subgenre. And the series in which he did that was the Lensman series. Originally published starting with Galactic Patrol (though now officially starting with "Triplanetary", to which the above links), the Lensman series deals with a slowly-escalating war in a far-distant future, a war that has many levels (levels we don't penetrate for several volumes). The "Lensmen" are those who have been given the mysterious device called the Lens by the inhabitants of the even more mysterious planet Arisia. How the Lens is created, no one in the Patrol understands; but what it does is give the wearer perfect telepathy -- the ability to communicate mind-to-mind -- so that no language, howsoever alien, is a barrier to communication. It cannot be worn by anyone except its owner -- to touch a Lens that is not being worn by its owner, for more than a fleeting instant, is agonizing death. It enhances all of the wearer's mental capacities, giving him access to other psychic talents, and protects him against attacks by other psychically powerful minds. The wearer of a Lens is incorruptible -- though they can feel the temptation of money, power, drugs, or other lures, they will in the end resist these lures; they have the inherent ability to do this (it's not forced on them by the Lens, but rather the Lenses are only given to those who have this characteristic). The combination makes the Lensmen the only reliable policemen for a galaxy of a million species, a million languages, a million laws. The Lens is perfect identification, a badge that cannot be faked and a translator which won't fail. And such a reliable, incorruptible force is needed, because the threat that is waiting for the Galaxy is enough to make even a stalwart Hero quake in his boots.

The old-fashioned prose and simple characters often turn newcomers off from reading the series, but this is a wonderful set of stories. Doc Smith started the movement that led to everything from Star Wars to David Weber's Honor Harrington series. Give the old man a try, he's worth it, as long as you still like heroes who are Heroes and villains who give no quarter and no excuses for being as nasty as they come. Purists would insist that you start with Galactic Patrol and go on, since Triplanetary was originally not a Lensman novel and First Lensman was written after the others, and both always contained spoilers for the others, which revealed only slowly what was going on behind the scenes.

Volume three of the Lensmen books really takes-off. The two previous books seem to be mere back-story for this one book. I was caught up in the emotion and pace of the book. Every chapter is its own novelette. In fact, sometimes I believe that the story can be too quick and too terse at times.

Smith has quite an active mind. It reminds me of Zeus giving birth to a full-grown Athena from his head. This series has an overwhelming ambient. Not only are the props and gizmos there, but also the social and political connections. There are layers and depths to the story he tell, it is as layered as Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and Herbert's "Dune" series. You feel that you are in a real world, and not just look at a painted background.

I confess that these stories are dated in some ways. There is the quaint 1930's and 1940's slang that you see in old Bogart and Hope/Crosby movies. There is a bit of naiveté about human nature, even thought there are drug dealers and pirates. Some of the science is dated, such as ether theory and cultural progressions. Despite these things, the story holds its own, and compares to anything new in print.

Many people complain that the characters are flat. I see their point. Kimball Kinnison's marriage isn't on the rocks, nor is he about to be kicked off the force, and he certainly is a loony-but-crafty vigilante like Batman. But he is an admirable character, and is someone I admire, despite being fictitious. Then again, Jean Valjean is also fictitious, but what a piece of fiction!

Admittedly, the Lensmen seem to be flat because they are so morally virtuous. But you wouldn't describe their lives as boring. Kinnison can barely catch his breath as he zips across the galaxy catch the drug runners and the pirates. Kirk, Petard, and Skywalker eat his inertialess dust. Kinnison isn't flat, but he is ideal. These books are modern-day morality plays, and serve the same function as their medieval counterparts; they instruct and set a pattern for our behavior in the so-called "Real World."

This Old School Sci-Fi is essential reading. I wish I had read it earlier. It is essential Sci-Fi reading, along with Wells, Verne, Asimov, Herbert, and Bradbury

By the way, I have been keeping track of the names, and am surprised at how far Smith's intellectual seed has been sewn. Here is a list:

Lensman LaForge = Geordi LaForge (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Mauler ships = Darth Maul from "Phantom Menace"
Planet Bennett = Jack Bennett and Bennett Family from "The Bionic Six"

Before Star Trek, before Star Wars, before all the other Space Opera's, there was E.E. "Doc" Smith's LENSMAN (or History of Civilization) series. Make no mistake about it: this is THE classic sci-fi work! Galactic Patrol is the first novel in the series which chronicles an epic struggle between Good and Evil -- and Mind and Matter, incidentally, if you want to look for a deeper meaning. OK, chronologically, its the third, but it was the first one written, suitably revised for inclusion in the series. If you want to get started in Sci-fi, this is the series for you. If you want to start the younger generation, it's even better! Written in the 1930's, it's long on action, but the love affairs and language are mild by today's standards, perfect for young readers. (although the vocabulary is pretty advanced). It's strong on family values and democratic ideals, but don't make the mistake of thinking it's preachy or sentimental. Just good, solid, Outer Space adventure throughout. I first read these novels in the eighth grade, and I've read them fifteen times since; my original copies have long since disintegrated. The Lensmen novels truly rank with Tolkien as one of the classics of Sci-fi/fantasy genre. Do yourself a favor and read this series.

This series (the whole Lensman series, not just this book) is on my all-time favorite science fiction list, along with Heinlein and Asimov and Orson Scott Card and some classic short stories I have in a WONDERFUL old anthology (circa 1940-1950) I found in the closet of a house I was renting in Taiwan (funny how some of life's best things enter your life!). Classic!!!

At last a re-print ! Hard to believe it ever went out of print, unless it could be that the Politically Correct Thought Police forced it out. Yes it is a little 50's, and yes, Men are men a la 'John Wayne's true grit' but maybe we need some real men for a change. I don't dig the femme-fatal or Bimbo images of women, but note that they are rarely defensless, or safe, and always teh men respect the women with awe ! The ideas and imagination are awesome and unbeatable. This is the series that inspired BABYLON 5 and the epic saga of the Shadows and Vorlons on ? Check out the Full lensman series :- 1. triplanetry, 2. First Lensman, 3. Galactic Patrol, 4. Grey Lensman, 5. Second Stage lensman, 6. Children of the lens and 7. Masters of the Vortex. Also check out 'Skylark' series by same author, and the potumously written 'lensmen' series written by David A Kyle under license from the Smith estate. (Book 1 The Dragon Lensman)

I read and loved this and the other Lensmen books when I was a boy in the 60's. I still grab one occasionally and read it cover-to-cover.

Note that the main characters in this series are men, who are really MEN (even the aliens). They're unconquerably tough and nauseatingly noble. Most of the women introduced are, well... bimbos, to be blunt. They look ravishing and giggle a lot. And until the last book, the main female character comes to the forefront of her powers through some driving "feminine life force," and not because of her deeds or intelligence. Of course, she's also a "babe," or should I say, a "seven-sector callout."

Still, the books in this series are science fiction classics, the precursors to Star Trek, Star Wars, and all the rest. If you can ignore the blatant downsides I just mentioned, I highly recommend the whole, extremely enjoyable series to everyone. They are a must-read for anyone really interested in scienc! e fiction.

Ever seen Star Wars? This is the book that probably had the biggest influence on it. "Doc" Smith is the real father of space opera, and his stories are nothing short of astonishing-- especially since many of them deal with fairly advanced subjects, and yet they were written in the 20s and 30s! This is good, pulpy fun-- you'll have a great time joining our hero, Patrolman Kimball Kinnison, as he joins the ranks of an elite fighing force for peace and justice, the Lensmen, and begins to unfold a galaxy-wide criminal conspiracy that is as old as time itself. Don't expect the complex moral issues of today's science fiction-- the good guys are lily-white and good as gold, and the bad guys are the blackest of the blackhearted. Loads of fun for just about any kind of reader.

"Galactic Patrol" is the third book in the Lensman series, but it is a collection of the first Lensman stories ever written. This material was published in "Astounding Science Fiction" from September of 1937 through February 1938 before being published in book form in 1950. This series was nominated for the Hugo for best all-time series in 1966.

It is the story of Kimball Kinnison, from his graduation into the Galactic Patrol, through his first mission which was more likely to end in death then success, on to his promotion to a Gray Lensman, and his location and destruction of the Boskone command base in our galaxy.

The science in this story is this book's greatest weakness, but that is made up for by the fast pace, interesting characters, and engaging situations. If you are looking for something light and very entertaining to read, this is a great place to start. Sit back and enjoy.

I was in English, in the 7th grade when I found this book. Since it was much more interesting than the teacher I read it- and all the other volumes. This series makes "Star Wars" look like a kiddy story- and this was orginally written back in the late 50's early 60's. I've been praying they'd do a reprint for the last 5 years as I've worn out my orginal copies. But do yourself the favor and start from the first book "First Lensman" before you read this on. Have fun!