Customer Reviews

Triplanetary

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The "Cosmos Books; Reprint edition" is not the same as any previous release I've owned. It opens with the Rodger the Space Private story and does not include any of the Arisia/Eddore series setup material. No Atlantis, no Rome, no WWI, II, or III.
Oddly the back cover suggests that all that material is included. Half the page count is some obscure Smith yarn called "Masters of Space".
Since I particularly like the early saga pieces, I am really ticked off.

(This review refers to the volume copyright 2009 by Cosmos Books/Wildside Press; ISBN 978-0-8439-5949-9.)

I was born in the late 1970s, but I've always loved SF from earlier eras, such as early work by Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, etc. I've encountered many mention of the 'Lensmen' series, and had it on my list of 'classics' to check out. I'm quite capable of reading a classic piece in historical context -- I enjoyed "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", despite its somewhat dated style and science -- so I bought this book to get started with Lensmen.

I was quite confused when all the elements I'd read of -- Arisians, Eddorians, Boskone, even the Lensmen themselves -- were quite simply absent from this book. Was my memory wrong? Had I confused this story with something else?

No, it turns out, I was simply grossly misled by the publisher. This book doesn't contain any Lensman content, despite the claims on the cover. The first published Lensman story was "Galatic Patrol". "Triplanatary" was published prior to that, and originally had nothing to do with Lensman. After the success of the Lensman series, "Triplantary" was modifed to be connected to the Lensman world, apparently by prefixing and suffixing additional chapters. Those chapters ARE NOT PRESENT IN THIS BOOK.

The other story in this book, "Masters of Space", has apparently never had anything to do with 'Lensman', even retroactively. I can only assume it was just thrown in as padding.

The publisher flat-out lied. This is such a blatant misrepresentation I'm seriously intending to seek a return/refund on this book. I have purchased and own hundreds of books; this will be the first I've ever tried to return. Bad stories I've bought and kept; that's a risk associated with any book. This isn't a book I disliked; this is simply not the book the cover claims it is.

This is one of the most energe6tic books I have read. Yes, it is pure "pulp fiction" in the non-Quentin Terantino sense of the word, but it was a powerful page turner. Every page was super-charged, and every chapter left you wanting more!

E. E. "Doc" Smith is one of the giants of SF, and one of it's greatest popularizers. He doesn't have the finesse that Asimov of Heinlein. He doesn't have the aura of humor of Niven. Doc's strength is his raw energy. This book is like watching Yoda's fight with Count Dooku at double-time. He overwhelms at times..

Another one of Doc's strength is his mixture of science and gadgets. You are immediate placed in a world of sub-ether communicators, atomic weapons, tractor beams, spacer ships, space armor, and all the other props associated with old school SF. I now know where Roddenberry and Lucas got many of their terms and gadgets.

This tale is layered, and you can actually smell the intrigue and forces control other forces and nothing is what it seems. "Wheels within wheels" and "plots within plots within plots." At times it can be over complex.

Sometimes the action runs too fast, and I find myself panting for the characters. I realize this is pulp fiction, but I wish there was a bit more character development. At times it is almost a melodrama, or a morality play.

After reading the first chapter of the first book, I bought the rest of the series. I am excited to finish the series. I wish I had listened to my grandpa and read these books earlier.

Alright, so this is 1940's pulp science fiction, but after having read some of the others this is one of the best of that time period. Yeah, some of the ideas are now dated, but the author takes what concepts there are and writes LARGE. This is a classic epic battle between good and evil written not just on a intergalactic scale, not just on a universal scale, but on a multiple space-time continuum scale. Terms like "space-time continuum", commonly used in Star Trek and now steadfast in science fiction lexicon are used here and this is the earliest publication date that I can recall having read it. Sure Smith uses the term "ether" instead of just "space", but with the latest theory in science being that interstellar space is a seething soup of particles and anti-particles constantly forming and annihilating each other, who knows, maybe one day the term ether will come up again.

As you may have read, there are two races of immortals, one is classically good, the other classically, well maybe not evil, maybe better said `just doesn't care about anything but themselves'. Meaning if you're in their way walking down the street and it's easier for them to kill you, to get you out of their way, they will do that. However, if killing you is less easy, then it would be considered in poor taste by their society if they did so. So ultimately power, and only power, matters to the society of the Eddorians. The good guys, the Arisians, realize one day when first contacting the minds of the Eddorians, as their respective galaxies are colliding (I'm not making this up), that they would not be able to defeat them head on. Thus they quickly erase the memory of their contact from the Eddorians minds, and strive to remain unknown to them. However, they begin the mechanism, hopefully, of a way to defeat them; and that's to seed and train species on other planets that will one day evolve to defeat the Eddorians and eventually replace the Arisians as the most advanced species in this, and maybe any, space-time continuum. And this is where humanity comes in, yup, as just that species.

Triplanetary (which by the way stands for the inner planet confederation of Earth, Venus, and Mars) starts out with the Eddorians disappointment in early Earth's progress as a sufficient slave race (due to subtle interference by the Arisians), and thus is the cause of large disasters in humanities past as a form of punishment. Atlantis was lost in the past due to a nuclear war between its neighbors. The Fall of Rome, and World Wars I and II are also due to the Eddorians. The possibly most controversial part of the book, is the projected Third World War being due to the Eddorians. To Liberals, any WW III scenario that does not lead to the absolute and complete destruction of humanity is considered pro-nuclear-war propaganda. So any introduction by big shot SF critic John Clute is not going to have nice things to say. This book is not as bad as he makes it out to be. Sure, the last four books in this six-book series are supposed to be even better, which were actually written before the first two. Smith's first story "Galactic Patrol" was published in 1937, and he then continued with related stories from there. In the late 1940's and early 50's he collected them into the Lensman series. The first two books were then written as an introduction to the series. To many purists, the series doesn't actually start until book 3. Book 1 in criticized as giving away too much of the plot too early. Well, if you've read any reviews here then you already pretty much who and what the Eddorians and Arisians are, so that criticism is mute.

Wikipedia gives a nice background on the history of the Lensman series.

This is a review of the $3.69 Kindle Edition of Triplanetary. Be warned that all of the kindle versions of this book that Amazon currently offers are the original magazine version of the story and lack all reference to the Lensman series. Those elements were later added by Doc Smith in the 1940s for republication and seem to only be included in some of the physical book editions. The Kindle version does not have the first section containing the backstory of the Arisians and the Eddorians; does not include the fall of Atlantis nor of Rome, and does not include the world war(s). It begins with the space pirates in what would later be the third section of the book. I bought this for the Kindle expecting the final version of the book and feel I got burned because 1/3rd of the book was missing. A good yarn, but not yet part of the Lensman series.

If you're intending to read Doc Smith's classic "Lensman" series, then so you should; but you should definitely start, not with "Triplanetary", but with Galactic Patrol. Here's why.

Chronologically, the first Lensman story was Galactic Patrol, from Astounding magazine in 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, and many others it seems, 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.

"Triplanetary" is not as good as "Patrol"; and if you start here you may be disappointed - possibly enough to stop reading! Neither is it "really" the first book. But most importantly, you'll run headfirst into plot-spoilers that wreck the tension of the story.

When you've finished "Children", by all means go back and read this.

I wanted to read this book as I recently read a review on the Star Wars movies that stated this series was a basis for the Jedi Knights. In the end I enjoyed this book, but I found it slow in the begining although this is somewhat necessary as it provides the backdrop for the later books in the Lensman series.

E. E. Smith does a good job of using actual history (Rome, World War I,World War II), legend (Atlantis) a fictional basis for the universe and time as a whole. While written 60 years ago, the terminology/technology is not terribly out of date by today's standard of writing and science fiction in general. Looking at the other reviews Phyed-rautha says it very well.

I am not an avid reader (maybe a book every other month) and the fact I had difficulty putting it down leads to my high rating. I lower the rating (from 5 stars) due to the slow start.

I first read the lensman series as a young girl. My father was an avid science fiction reader and had the entire 6-book series, which I started to read in the early fifties. Back then, you didn't do book reports on science fiction books. They weren't considered "literature." Oh, the wasted time I spent on some of the books considered "appropriate" for a 10-year-old girl! I spent as much time as I could reading these wonderful lensmen books (as well as other great sci-fi writers). While the dialogue might seem old-fashioned today, the stories themselves are timeless. What a wonderful experience awaits the new reader!

The Lensmen series comprises the following books:

1 - Triplanetary
2 - First Lensman
3 - Galactic Patrol
4 - Gray Lensman
5 - Second-Stage Lensman
6 - Children of the Lens

Without exaggeration, the "Galactic Patrol" series is one of the greatest classic space epics ever written, it's one of the greatest archetypes of the genre as a whole, and virtually all of the modern masters of the genre have paid open homage to it.

Originally appearing as a series of pulps in "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine back in the 1930's & 1940's, and later re-published in 1948 with several new introductory chapters added to the front of Triplanetary (book 1), this series, along with the other great classics of the day (Flash Gordon, and John Carter of Mars) influenced an entire generation of readers, some of whom later went on to become Masters of the genre in their own right.

* The hit series Babylon 5, for instance, is a direct homage to the Galactic Patrol, and is very loosely based on it (re: Vorlons vs Shadows = Arisians vs Eddorians, Rangers = Galactic Patrol, etc.)
* Star Wars too, is an indirect homage to early Sci Fi pulp action tales like GP.
* Gene Roddenberry, in all probability drew deeply from this series for inspiration, when he created the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek.

Although few people seem to make mention of it today, the Galactic Patrol tales USED to be omnipresent back in the 50's - radio shows, product tie-ins, kids playing 'patrol' in their back yards, you name it. It was essentially the Star Wars of our parent's and grandparent's generation.

Galactic Patrol successfully combined the best aspects of several genres:

* ACTION/THRILLER: the heroes and villains alike are all 2-fisted hard charging lead-from-the-font types, and the pace of action is relentless.
* MELODRAMA: Classic period dialog, straight out of the 20's 30's & 40's. Perfect fodder from the golden age of radio ... chock full of exclamation marks and purple prose.
* EPIC/ADVENTURE: Wide eyed wonder on a grand scale, replete with hard science and bug-eyed monsters.

What more can you ask for ?

Sure, a lot of the science doesn't stand up to close scrutiny, and the male/female gender roles are a bit dated by today's standards, but who cares ? That's all part of it's charm. Besides, this is all about high drama, action adventure, and pure concentrated escapism. These are the sort of books you read when life has you down, and you need to get away from it all, to a world where the action is fast, the rewards are immediate, and where the good guys win in the end, against impossible odds.

Highly recommended.

This starts the Lensman series. Rather, it sets the stage, since the Lens hasn't actually appeared yet - but wait.

It has all the swashbuckling silliness you've come to know and love. It's filled with lines like:

"[she was] thrilled this time to the depths of her being by the sheer manhood of him ..."

Yes, that was meant seriously. Not to worry, though, this 1940s adventure story thrills her in a G-rated kind of way. Heck, I think that manly man in charge has spent his whole life swashing so many buckles that I'm not sure he's ever been on a date.

But, no matter, we have super-spaceships outdoing each other by the day, it seems, in a madly inflationary cycle. We have grey-skinned bad guys with mysterious connections to the Evil 77th-level Adepts of North Polar Jupiter. We have the mysterious, ugly, and funny-smelling beings from a distant sun who, in their transgalactic hunt for iron, decide that the easiest place to get it is from the structural steel of Pittsburgh, and from the red blood of its citizens. Fair's fair, so Our Hero destroys one of their cities to the last man (or whatever), woman, and child, plus part of another population center with poison gas. In the end, it was brusque apologies all around - no hard feelings, y'know, a man (or snake-necked, four-eyed fellow with tentacles) has gotta do what a man (or SNFEFwT) has gotta do.

This was written closer to the era of Flash Gordon than to the current day, by about a 3:1 margin, so it can only read as quaintly archaic. Laws of physics come and go at convenience, and relations between men and women hover between the neolithic and chivalric. Reading these books is a wonderful alternative to reading anything to think about.

//wiredweird