"The Skylark of Space is one of the earliest novels of interstellar travel and is considered a classic of pulp science fiction. Originally serialized in 1928 in the magazine Amazing Stories it is often categorized as the first literary space opera, complete with protagonists perfect in mind, body, and spirit, who fight against villains of absolute evil. A fun, swoop through millions of light years and tons of adversaries."
"Kimball Kinnison becomes a Gray Lensman. This name comes from the simple gray leathers these superior lensmen wear that has no insignia of any kind. They are unattached to any organization and as such can attack evil however they feel it best to do so. New training by Arisia gives him the sense of Perception which he uses to track and then eradicate the vile but powerful forces of Boskonia that are everywhere in the Galaxy. The Patrol is facing great danger now but with lensmen like Kinnison, they may hold their own or with luck, prevail. This is the fourth in the Lensman series, following the Galactic Patrol. -"
"This book is the first book of the Lensmen series and contains the prequel. After the Lensmen books became very popular, 'Doc' Smith took a magazine series he had written14 years before and turned it into this exciting novel as a prequel explaining how the lensman came about. And exciting it is! He added six new chapters that explain the eons-long eugenics project of the super-intelligences of the Arisia. This alien race is breeding two genetic lines to become the ultimate weapon in Arisia's cosmic war with their arch enemy, the Eddore. The initial chapters cover the Kinnison genetic line during the fall of Atlantis and Nero's (Gharlane of Eddore) reign in Rome. These tales were inserted into the novel following the serialized release, along with chapters covering members of the Kinnison line in World Wars One, Two and Three. The final chapter of Triplanetary tells of the discovery of the inertialess drive that allows faster than light travel. Patrolman Conway Costigan and his friends engage in a space battle with Gray Roger the pirate gangster. This conflict is complicated by the arrival of the technologically superior, extra-Solar, amphibian-like Nevians, resulting in the first interstellar war involving humans. In this story Virgil Samms and Roderick Kinnison, two very important members of the eugenics project, are introduced. They will play the leading roles in the next story, First Lensman."
"This is a wonderful combination of far future science fiction with Conan like sword and sorcery; lots of blood, gore, honor and evil. The immensely powerful hero, Tedric, is a man's man who refuses to accept the cruel human sacrifices demanded by the 'god' Sarpedion and is set on destroying him. To do this he needs some secrets of metallurgy that future social scientists are willing to give him. He manages to overcome all obstacles until of course he meets the dazzlingly lovely Lady Rhoaan who stops him cold. A great story written by the incomparable E. E. 'Doc' Smith, author of the Lensman seriesm
This is the first of two connected stories written by the legendary E.E. 'Doc' Smith in the 1950's. Tedric was a smith (both blacksmith and whitesmith) residing in a small town near a castle in a situation roughly equivalent to England of the 1200s. He received instruction in advanced metallurgy from a time-traveler who wanted to change the situation in his own time by modifying certain events of the past. From this instruction, he was able to build better suits of armor and help defeat the villains of the piece. If you like this concept I recommend the follow up story 'Lord Tedric'"
"The best of science fantasy meets the best of science fiction as Tedric battles his way through two universes of adventure: In one universe...Tedric the Ironmaster wields the mightiest sword his world has ever seen - and swears to break the power of the evil god Sarpedion, or die in the attempt. This is the second in a series and takes place when Tedric, now a Lord, begins learning how to plan and observe instead of just rushing in to kill. In another universe...only Tedric's strength and daring stand between the dwindling power of the Terran Empire and total alien conquest. Brought from his own distant world by the mysterious Scientists, working toward an end he cannot know, Tedric brings the war-wisdom of his own past into a universe of starships and alien powers. But that is for future books in the series. On Time Track Number Two however, there was one little event that could be used to avert it—the presence of a naked woman in public. So, Skandos One removed the clothing from the Lady Rhoann and after one look, Lord Tedric did the rest! "
"The hero of the book is Neal 'Storm' Cloud. Although the story happens in the “Lensman” universe he is not a Lensman, having failed his Lensman's exam. Instead he is a nuclear engineer with an amazing mathematical mind. He is a high level genius and a lightning calculator. In his universe there is something we have apparently don't have in ours, self-sustaining vortices of atomic energy. These are like a small piece of the heart of a star. A churning vortex of heat and light that slowly grows while consuming whatever it is in contact with. In theory they can be blown out by a precise amount of explosives, placed at an exact spot in the vortex, at exactly the right time. The problem is, it takes the best computers available hours to calculate the factors needed, and only seconds are available to get the correct amount of explosives on target. Also, if you try to blow one out, but don't get the factors right, all you do is split the vortex into many separate vortices and scatter them far and wide, and soon each is as dangerous as the original. Although Storm Cloud, being a nuclear engineer and lightning calculator, should be able to calculate the factors and extinguish a vortex, in practice he can't. It would be very dangerous and Storm has a wife and kids, and putting himself in that kind of danger ties his mind up with worry so much that he just can't do it. This first story explains how a vortex destroys his home and entire family, leaving him with nothing to live for. Thus he can deliberately seek death by using his abilities to battle these vortices. An exciting and well told story."
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