I'm an independent writer with a love for science fiction and cosmic horror! Check out all of my free works here, and if you like what I'm doing, I'd love it if you'd check out my longer works.
I'm finally getting around to finishing the Skylark series! Even though Skylark of Valeron had a pretty definitive ending back in 1934, apparently lots of readers, including Frederik Pohl, wanted more Skylark, and in 1965, Doc Smith agreed. He serialized the new book, Skylark DuQuesne, in IF Worlds of Science Fiction and collected into a book in 1966.
It was Smith's last book before he passed away.
Like a lot of Smith's stuff, the book starts with a crazy revelation--the method Seaton and company used to keep DuQuesne and the bodiless intelligences out of trouble turns out to have a fatal flaw, and probably won't last very long. This kind of reframing or even retconning is a pretty common element in Smith's sequels, so it wasn't too jarring. In fact, the reason given and the logic behind it is subtle but surprisingly sound.
I felt like it was time for a return to the good old pulp adventures of E.E. "Doc" Smith, so I gave Skylark of Valeron a read!
This book starts with a somewhat hasty rewrite of a scene from the last book: Remember when DuQuesne appeared to... die? Well, as you may have expected (and as you definitely expected if you've read enough Smith), it was a ruse! DuQuesne is alive and well and is hatching a dastardly plot, as is his wont.
The adventures of Richard Seaton, Martin Crane (again, not the guy from Frasier), Dorothy Seaton, Margaret Crane, and a handful of alien friends continue!
In this book, DuQuesne takes a very back-seat role. He goes on a quest to find something to take out Seaton once and for all, and has not a whole lot to do in this book.
Our four heroes are planning to leave Earth to stay safe from the expected attack by DuQuesne, and just as they're about to leave, old friends Dunark and Sitar from Osnome arrive on Earth, and thus begins a great adventure that ends up discovering some new alien races, some friendly and some very unfriendly.
Seaton and crew solve some big problems and fight some crazy battles! And, of course, in standard Doc Smith form, there's a bunch of new tech development to be had.
It's a fun book in the typical Doc Smith mold, with tons of dialogue and slang, big but simple battles with massive energy beams and fields, and rather lackluster tech upgrades.
A large chunk of the second half of the book is largely a giant montage of devising new tech with some fun moments. If you like that sort of thing, you won't mind it, but if you find that sort of thing infuriating, you may want to watch out.
We get some fun new tech, like the educator from the last book with new functions, matter-to-energy conversion of uranium, higher-order projectors and detectors leading to faster-than-light communications, a new "zone of force" with "pencils" everywhere, a cool look at automation, and finally a name for metal "X:" Rovolon!
We get some fun references to real science, too, like nitrogen iodide, platinum sponge (yes, it's a real thing), Millikan cosmic rays, neutronium, and calculations using the motion and speed and acceleration of Earth to answer a real question.
Another little bit that made me happy was when one of the characters talked about the "utter economic waste of continual war."
The Lensman series was a lot of fun, so I decided to pick up E.E. "Doc" Smith's Skylark series! This first book, Skylark of Space, was serialized all the way back in 1928, and, like many of the Lensman books, expanded later on for a standalone release in 1946.
Where Lensman started out as a pretty simple cops and robbers series, Skylark is even simpler:
Richard Seaton (our hero) discovers a new metal which enables rapid conversion of copper into energy and motion. While he's working with his wealthy friend Martin Crane (not the guy from Frasier) on this metal, rival amoral scientist DuQuesne is seeking to get rid of them and monopolize this miracle metal for himself.
After several failed plots to kill Seaton and Crane and steal the metal, DuQuesne ends up kidnapping Seaton's fiancée and running with her out into space.
The chase that ensues involves visiting several planets, the first of which is curiously reminiscent of what Smith would later call Eddore in the Lensman series, and the second of which forces Seaton and Crane to insert themselves into a war between two nations.
Thus, we get some minor intrigue and a hell of a lot of action.
As you probably expect, DuQuesne is thwarted in the end, but escapes to continue to be a thorn in our heroes' sides.
The book is a fun read, nothing too heavy. It's full of Smith's unique dialogue and slang, as well as a decent amount dedicated to his peculiar perspective on how to write romance. It's even pulpier than Triplanetary, which was pretty darn pulpy, and fun and engaging while not being deep. It doesn't ask a lot of questions.
The characters are relatively static with a mild to moderate case of superman syndrome, and the science aspects are fairly vague but occasionally interesting, such as Smith's detailing of different alien races and how they react to various wavelengths of light.
It's short and action-packed, and the sequel is, somewhat confusingly unless you've read this book, called Skylark Three. I'll have to give that one a look, sometime.
I read Skylark of Spacehere. You can also buy it on Amazon.
