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"
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Top reviews from other countries
Loy
It is one of my favorite Science Fiction book series
Reviewed in Australia on December 12, 2015Rab
Galatic Patrol@ E.E. Doc Smith
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2020
