Lensman Series
(1 to 6 of not really 7)
by E.E. "Doc" Smith
space opera
read -- yet again -- inJuly 2016
rated 8/10: really quite good
I've read this series so often... yet only reviewed the first book in the series! A terrible oversight... about to be corrected.
The Lensman series of one of my go-to books for when I want to just enjoy an adventure. When I want some unthinking enjoyment. When what I really want is, escapism. The Lensman books satisfy those wants.
This month, I'm trying to read books which have been nominated for a book award. After two books -- two attempts, I couldn't finish either -- I need a break. So I read Triplanetary. And kept on reading...
The Lensman series is like salted peanuts. Or like murders in Midsomer: one is not enough. It's all or nothing.
Except, that is, for "Masters of the Vortex". Supposedly the seventh in the series. More, a book set in the post-Lensman universe. I read it once but don't have a copy to reread. So this review is of Lensman books one to just six. The "real" series.
1. Triplanetary (1948)
Rated 8/10 -- but only as part of the series.
Triplanetary introduces the Lensman universe... Well, no, not quite true. It introduces the major conflict, then documents a series of major events on the way to the "present day" of the Lensman universe. It's a lot of fun, it's a solid logical progression on the way to Civilisation. There's a solid conclusion -- but it's hard to get caught up in the series of loosely related episodes. And it's clear that there's a lot more still to come.
2. First Lensman (1950)
Rated 7/10: well worth reading.
This is more of a single story: one man's efforts to create a universal police force. There is space travel, new planets, aliens -- and, at last, the Lens. There are also some of the funniest lines in the series...
This is not a comic space opera. But Doc Smith does like to poke satiric fun at society, in just a small way. He states, for example, that the elections near the end of this book are -- several hundred years into our own future -- the first ever completely honest elections in the entire history of North America.
3. Galactic Patrol (1937)
Rated 9/10: really, really good.
I guess -- from the copyright dates in the books -- that Patrol was written as a standalone book. Then was successful enough that the entire series was developed. Standalone?! It's hard to imagine... But I think it could be read -- and enjoyed -- all by itself.
Luckily I don't have to read it all by itself -- I have all six books. For which I am grateful. Largely because I enjoy the logical completeness of the entire series :-)
This book is possibly the most operatic of this space opera series... Fast spaceships, huge space battles, lots of good and bad aliens. Although an amazing number of alien planets have populations of "aliens" who are human to nineteen decimal places. Something to do with similar environments and Arisian spores, apparently.
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09sep21:
Yes... I wanted to read something that I knew I would enjoy.
Sure enough... I enjoyed the first few of the series.
Triplanetary in interesting mainly for its alternate explanation of some history.
Then the pace picks up... and the science takes off even faster.
I've just finished Galactic Patrol. I'm looking forward to finishing... yet again... the Lensman saga :-)
4. Grey Lensman (1951)
Rated 8/10: really quite good.
Lots of fast spaceships, more huge battles, lots of good and bad aliens. Yet the action is also brought back to the personal level. The Grey Lensman does a lot of individual hands-on work to defeat evil. Evil? We are beginning to realise that the "evil" people simply have a different view of correct procedure, a view that is based on the principle of, "might is right".
In Doc Smith's Skylark series we ended up with the universe divided between supporters of "democratic freedom" and drivers of "logical despotism". Both sides finally agree to disagree. In the Lensman universe, the author is fully on the side of democratic freedom.
5. Second Stage Lensmen (1953)
Rated 8/10: really quite good.
Aha! The planet of the naked women! What more can I say :-)
Oh, yes, the Grey Lensman gets the girl. Books 3, 4 and 5 have followed one particular person. Now, at last, he can -- at the end of the book -- retire. Retire to the simpler task of running the galaxy, that is. And retire to the essential task of raising a family -- for the next book, Children of the Lens...
Interesting... In that next book, the printer makes the same mistake that I almost made. The fifth book is named as Second Stage Lensman -- Lensman is singular. The front cover (and other books in the series) name it as Lensmen, plural. Because there are four "L2", second stage Lensmen...
Three of the L2s are non-human. They play vital roles. They are good characters, clearly defined, as likeable in their own ways as the human L2. The non-human L2s -- no longer alien, just non-human -- have their own adventures. But the single human L2 is still the central hero of the book.
Speaking of funny... The hero acts as a writer of space opera. And makes fun of the genre. While packing this book with references to adventurous space wildcats, grizzled old space hounds and the down and out space louse. Doc Smith follows the conventions -- with a smile.
6. Children of the Lens (1954)
Rated 7/10
... but would be 6/10: read to pass the time -- if read by itself.
This is the grand finale of the series. An excellent wrapup made up of a hodge-podge of adventures. There's too much to do and too many characters demanding a share of the main action. The weakest book in terms of plot, logic and cohesion. Yet still a lot of space opera fun and adventure.
The humans are still the central characters. It is the humans -- the children of the Lens -- who must save Civilisation. Yet the aliens are not forgotten.
It's quite clever, really. Each of the non-human L2s is matched with a "child". (They are young adults, after a twenty year hiatus between this and the previous book.) So the non-human L2s do what they do best. And their best techniques are used -- and improved upon -- by their matched (but human) child. A positive sort of "closure" for the three non-human L2s... as humanity becomes the dominant force (for good) across the entire civilised universe.
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And so, I read the Lensman series, yet again. And enjoy it, yet again. And that is the basis for my rating: my own enjoyment.
I hope that you enjoy the Lensman series! I hope that my rating standards help you decide whether to read other books, or not.
And now I really must try to read some more of those books which are vying for the annual literary book award...
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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Talk low, talk slow and don't say too much." … John Wayne
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