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Title: The Skylark of Space by E. E. Smith, Vernor Vinge, O. G., Jr. Estes ISBN: 0-8032-9286-4 Publisher: Bison Bks Corp Pub. Date: January, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.45 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: In The Beginning...
Comment: ... There Was Doc Smith. "The Skylark of Space" was first written somewhere around the turn of the century. Some modifications were done to it before its publication in 1928, and in the 1950s Doc did some updating, but the vast majority of the story remains unchanged. "Skylark" was a revolutionary story of its time, featuring super-science, far-ranging adventure (it may be the very first story to take place beyond the bounds of the Solar System), and (for its genre) well-developed characters. Dated in many ways by today's standards, "The Skylark of Space" is still a hell of a yarn, and the spiritual ancestor of every great space adventure written since. Buy it and read it. It's a piece of SF history.
Rating: 5
Summary: Careening recklessly through space was never so fun!
Comment: For someone like me, who grew up on old Tom Swift books often purchased at antique stories, Doc Smith is the paragon of lightspeed adventure. Not particularly keen on technical accuracy ("After all, Einstein's theory is just a theory," one character says upon discovering that he's traveling many times the speed of light) and full of predictibly stalwart or nefarious characters, Smith still manages to spin a great yarn. The main characters seem to exhibit a joyous recklesness remniscient (for me, at least) of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's trilogy. The "testing" of the flight systems and nuclear-powered bullets, in particular, are quite memorable.
If you're looking for gritty realism in characters or technical accuracy in technologies, you probably won't be able to enjoy this book. But for those who wish to put their brains in neutral and have a jolly good time, I can think of few books better than The Skylark of Space.
Rating: 4
Summary: Smith Sizzles
Comment: Brilliant scientist Richard Seaton builds the first (many times) faster than light spaceship and travels the universe with a band of friends. Along the way he saves a race of aliens, helps decimate another, rescues his girlfriend and thwarts the misdoings of his arch rival Marc DuQuesne.
This is the first E.E. Smith book I've read and I must say that for the type of book that it is, The Skylark of Space isn't too bad. Think old school comic books. It has high adventure, a smart/strong/handsome protagonist, a loyal sidekick, gee whiz technology, an extremely evil bad guy, and pretty girls. For a large part of the book, the story is fairly interesting. Smith moves the action along quickly and provides a respectable amount of tension to the drama. Even though I knew everything would turn out fine in the end, I still wanted to know how Smith would accomplish it. At a short 159 pages, it was a quick and fun diversion.
The Skylark of Space is not, however, without issues. Many of them are given: flat, completely unreal characters, rigid gender roles, featherweight science, wildly campy. I won't fault the book for these sorts of things. It's a product of its time that targeted a specific audience.
What I do want to point out is that Smith treats war very lightly. Although this book was completed in 1920, Smith revised it in 1958. It's surprising to me that even though Smith had seen the effects of two world wars, mass destruction of life is a very casual act in his book.
For those of you who aren't already huge Doc Smith fans, you'll probably enjoy this book if you know what you're getting into. Understand that it doesn't hold up very well under careful (or even casual) scrutiny. But, for what it is, Smith wrote a great book.
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Title: Triplanetary: A Tale of Cosmic Adventure (Lensman Series, Book 1) by Edward E. Smith, A. J. Donnell ISBN: 1882968093 Publisher: Old Earth Books Pub. Date: December, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Skylark of Valeron (The Skylark Series) by Edward E. Smith ISBN: 0425089533 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: April, 1986 List Price(USD): $2.95 |
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Title: Galactic Patrol (The Lensman Series, Book 3) by Edward E. Smith, John Clute ISBN: 1882968115 Publisher: Old Earth Books Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Skylark Duquesne by E.E. "Doc" Smith ISBN: 0425091481 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: June, 1986 List Price(USD): $64.50 |
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Title: Second Stage Lensmen (The Lensman Series, Book 5) by Edward E. Smith ISBN: 1882968131 Publisher: Old Earth Books List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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