Galactic Patrol

Doc Smith's "Lensman" series is one of those strange cases where almost everything the reviews say — both good and bad — is true. The key lies in the sentence found in so many of them: "I first read this when I was a kid". I think we all retain an affection for things we loved when we were young. Nonetheless, it would be a big mistake to think these books hold nothing for adults — I've introduced them to an adult friend who enjoyed them immensely.

Other reviews on the store summarise the plot adequately, but I should like to add some information I think may be helpful.

I, too, first met Kim Kinnison when I was a kid, in the original "Astounding" magazines that I inherited from my uncle.

Chronologically, the first Lensman story was "Galactic Patrol", from 1937-38. This was followed by the next three stories: Gray Lensman,Second Stage Lensmen and Children of the Lens. When publication in book form was mooted, Smith revised his earlier Triplanetary to fit into the lensman universe, and wrote First Lensman to form a bridge between that and "Galactic Patrol". Masters of the Vortex, another unrelated story, was likewise modified.

I personally feel that the four books representing Smith's original conception are the essential ones, and the others are disposable* ("Vortex", in particular, being a pot-boiler with virtually no relation to the others).

There's another problem with the books, although fortunately not an insuperable one. Smith's universe, although already huge at the outset of "Galactic Patrol", expands as the series progresses. Originally, the reader didn't discover the total significance of the struggles going on within it until the end of "Children". But the books (except, for some inscrutable reason, "Patrol") feature tacked-on and needless Forewords that give away the whole plot. I STRONGLY recommend first-time readers to skip these. Also, if you've never read Smith before, I'd recommend starting with "Patrol" — "Triplanetary" is not nearly as good, neither is it "really" the first.

Smith's dated (and sometimes banal) style has been an easy target, but it has some lovely moments as well:

"near them there crouched or huddled or lay at ease a many-tentacled creature indescribable to man. It was not like an octopus. Though spiny, it did not resemble at all closely a sea-cucumber. Nor, although it was scaly and toothy and wingy, was it, save in the vaguest possible way, similar to a lizard, a sea-serpent or a vulture. Such a description by negatives is, of course, pitifully inadequate; but, unfortunately, it is the best that can be done."

If you want mind-boggling adventure, ever-expanding vistas, BEMs and battle laid on with a trowel, you need go no further. For my money, the depth and invention of Smith's universe, and the sheer glee with which he unfolds his narrative, more than compensate for any deficiencies. These are books I will always love.

*Although "First Lensman" certainly has entertaining moments (as when Virgil Samms is almost deafened at a Rigellian construction site, because the Rigellians have no sense of hearing and can't understand what the problem is).

Galactic Patrol is the third book in the Lensman series by E.E. "Doc" Smith.

This is the first time we are introduced to Kim Kinnison. Kim is a main focus of the rest of the series. Galactic Patrol starts with Kim as a young man who has just graduated and will join the Galactic Patrol as a Lensman. He is given a near impossible task, but through perseverance, ingenuity and luck, Kim is able to bring home a captured space ship from the pirates of Boskone.

The Boskone Pirates threaten to destroy civilization. And because their technology is better they have a very good chance to crippling civilization so that it will never flourish. With the Boskone spaceship that Kim captures civilization has a chance.

E. E. Smith does a great job of keeping the action moving. In many chapters our heroes are in another near hopeless situation. Again and again the odds are stack against them. But they keep trying, and they are always able to pull a rabbit out of the hat to escape total destruction.

We see more of the Lensmen universe. We're introduced to Worsel and the two others who will become second stage lensmen, along with Worsel and Kim. E. E. Smith drops little details left and right flushing out a rich universe to make it seem almost real.

Like I said in my review of The First Lensman, if you enjoy Science Fiction and have never read the Lensman series, start with Triplanetary and then read the reset of the series. You are in for a great ride.

Galactic Patrol is the third book in the Lensman series by E.E. "Doc" Smith.

This is the first time we are introduced to Kim Kinnison. Kim is a main focus of the rest of the series. Galactic Patrol starts with Kim as a young man who has just graduated and will join the Galactic Patrol as a Lensman. He is given a near impossible task, but through perseverance, ingenuity and luck, Kim is able to bring home a captured space ship from the pirates of Boskone.

The Boskone Pirates threaten to destroy civilization. And because their technology is better they have a very good chance to crippling civilization so that it will never flourish. With the Boskone spaceship that Kim captures civilization has a chance.

E. E. Smith does a great job of keeping the action moving. In many chapters our heroes are in another near hopeless situation. Again and again the odds are stack against them. But they keep trying, and they are always able to pull a rabbit out of the hat to escape total destruction.

We see more of the Lensmen universe. We're introduced to Worsel and the two others who will become second stage lensmen, along with Worsel and Kim. E. E. Smith drops little details left and right flushing out a rich universe to make it seem almost real.

Like I said in my review of The First Lensman, if you enjoy Science Fiction and have never read the Lensman series, start with Triplanetary and then read the reset of the series. You are in for a great ride.

Galactic Patrol is the third book in the Lensman series by E.E. "Doc" Smith.

This is the first time we are introduced to Kim Kinnison. Kim is a main focus of the rest of the series. Galactic Patrol starts with Kim as a young man who has just graduated and will join the Galactic Patrol as a Lensman. He is given a near impossible task, but through perseverance, ingenuity and luck, Kim is able to bring home a captured space ship from the pirates of Boskone.

The Boskone Pirates threaten to destroy civilization. And because their technology is better they have a very good chance to crippling civilization so that it will never flourish. With the Boskone spaceship that Kim captures civilization has a chance.

E. E. Smith does a great job of keeping the action moving. In many chapters our heroes are in another near hopeless situation. Again and again the odds are stack against them. But they keep trying, and they are always able to pull a rabbit out of the hat to escape total destruction.

We see more of the Lensmen universe. We're introduced to Worsel and the two others who will become second stage lensmen, along with Worsel and Kim. E. E. Smith drops little details left and right flushing out a rich universe to make it seem almost real.

Like I said in my review of The First Lensman, if you enjoy Science Fiction and have never read the Lensman series, start with Triplanetary and then read the reset of the series. You are in for a great ride.

Capsule Description: Old-fashioned space opera, filled with super-science, Good Guys and Bad Guys (as Bad as they get), far-flung settings, and battles on a scale unimaginable. Purple prose by today's standards, but written with energy and the true classic "Sense of Wonder". This series was and is one of the major foundations on which later SF was built. It inspired many later authors. I still find them great fun to read.
Review: "Doc" Smith may not (quite) have INVENTED the "space opera" (although offhand I'd be hard put to find one written earlier than the original drafts of The Skylark of Space), but almost no one would be able to argue against the assertion that it was Doc who DEFINED it and perfected that subgenre. And the series in which he did that was the Lensman series. Originally published starting with Galactic Patrol (though now officially starting with "Triplanetary", to which the above links), the Lensman series deals with a slowly-escalating war in a far-distant future, a war that has many levels (levels we don't penetrate for several volumes). The "Lensmen" are those who have been given the mysterious device called the Lens by the inhabitants of the even more mysterious planet Arisia. How the Lens is created, no one in the Patrol understands; but what it does is give the wearer perfect telepathy -- the ability to communicate mind-to-mind -- so that no language, howsoever alien, is a barrier to communication. It cannot be worn by anyone except its owner -- to touch a Lens that is not being worn by its owner, for more than a fleeting instant, is agonizing death. It enhances all of the wearer's mental capacities, giving him access to other psychic talents, and protects him against attacks by other psychically powerful minds. The wearer of a Lens is incorruptible -- though they can feel the temptation of money, power, drugs, or other lures, they will in the end resist these lures; they have the inherent ability to do this (it's not forced on them by the Lens, but rather the Lenses are only given to those who have this characteristic). The combination makes the Lensmen the only reliable policemen for a galaxy of a million species, a million languages, a million laws. The Lens is perfect identification, a badge that cannot be faked and a translator which won't fail. And such a reliable, incorruptible force is needed, because the threat that is waiting for the Galaxy is enough to make even a stalwart Hero quake in his boots.
The old-fashioned prose and simple characters often turn newcomers off from reading the series, but this is a wonderful set of stories. Doc Smith started the movement that led to everything from Star Wars to David Weber's Honor Harrington series. Give the old man a try, he's worth it, as long as you still like heroes who are Heroes and villains who give no quarter and no excuses for being as nasty as they come. Purists would insist that you start with Galactic Patrol and go on, since Triplanetary was originally not a Lensman novel and First Lensman was written after the others, and both always contained spoilers for the others, which revealed only slowly what was going on behind the scenes.

My mother was reading this book at our grandparent's holiday house. She mentioned some crazy space battles and pirates, etc. "What do they do with the prisoners?" I asked.

"They kill them." she said. I was a little taken aback at this, being about 7, but I thought, fair enough, and read it after she was finished.

A hell of a lot of fun.

There are quite a few more Lensmen now. They are all incorruptible heroes, or they would not be given the Lenses by the Arisians. Think hardcore take-no-prisoners Green Lanterns on a lot lower power scale.

Kimball Kinnison is a young officer, that has just graduated, gained a Lens, being of the right stuff and is given command of a ship with some probably dodgy new technology.

The pirate organisation the Eddorians influence has a name, Boskone. Kinnison's job is to infiltrate. He does, and barely escapes alive thanks to his talents and his Lens.

A bodacious redhead nurses him back to health, and tells him off enough to get his attention. You know what happens next.

A better prepared, trained, and upgraded Kinnison will venture forth as a more powerful type of Lensman to fight the Boskonians some more.

Guilt-ridden whiners or conflicted vigilantes need not apply to the Patrol. A classic of Space Opera, although obviously of its time.

"Galactic Patrol" is where the lensman series really begins to move. Be sure your seat belt is fastened before beginning to read this story. It is a terrific adventure story.

Now, I must admit to some qualifiers. First, I am a retired old (blank). I first read this book in the 1950's. The book was written in the 1920s or 1930s. Back then, Americans spoke differently than they do today. Also, attitudes were very different. Radio and movies were spreading throughout the culture, but at a respectable rate. An evening's entertainment sometimes was sitting on the porch swing and telling the kids stories of what life was like twenty years previous.

So, here we have a book that tells a story that spans interstellar distances. Question: Do we take it, as is? Or, do we insist on putting it up against 2008 standards of culture? I vote for the former. Thus, please put away your politically correct (bleep).

Enjoy an adventure wherein Kimball Kinnison battles pure evil (in the form of the Boskone organization [which has even purer evil behind it.])
The story is a very good one and Smith knows how to move a story onward!

I recommend this story.

Space Opera, from the days when writers were paid by the word, and operatic is definitely the word, action on the big, the vast scale, high drama, super weapons invented by a genius today, in mass production tomorrow and obsolete 30 pages later. Battleships the size of an asteroid disabled with a single hit, etc. But whereas Hubbard stayed a hack, Smith's writing, while never verging on literature, somehow transcends the genre conventions.
I first read this when I was about 13 or 14, and I can still read browse one for fill-in reading thirty years on. Like Asimov's Foundation (from the same period) this survives as a sort of celocanth of early SF. Totally dated, but still alive. Of the group (Smith, Hamilton etc.) Smith is about the only one still readable. Partly 'sense-of-wonder',(he can paint a great scene.), and the timescale he worked on, The other thing is he is one of the few writers of this type whose aliens are not 'people-in-rubber-suits' or red-indians-painted-green', cannon fodder for some proto-Rambo. Smith's better drawn aliens are like J.W.Campbell's definition, "..think as well as people, but differently." It's 'humanity-uber-alles' again (after all, these were run as serials in the 30's 40's Astounding) there are still moments where Smith can surprise you. In First Lensman, Virgil Samms realising that just because an alien doesn't have his FBI agent's view of the universe, doen't mean they are wrong. In the later books, my favourite character is probable Nandreck, though you don't get to see much of him. Nandreck is a very interesting entity for the period, a highly efficient agent/warrior, who finds personal violence most undesirable.
The earlier Skylark series is worth a glance (go for used copies)
The casual genocide of alien races is a symptom of the period, and the dialogue is even clunker than the Lensman books (Boy Scouts is Space!!!), but their one redeeming feature is the anti-heroic Blackie DeQuesne, far more interesting than Dudley Do-right Seaton and his pals. (Check out Harry Harrison's 'Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers' for an excellent parody of Smith's style)
Both the Lensman series (skip Masters of the Vortex, pure potboiler) and the Skylark series (esp Skylark DeQuesne) are a good way to pass a rainy weekend.

First in the crushing (but fair) load of the Patrol academy, then in the early promotion to the left seat of the coolest spaceship around, then on to the the heart of The Evil Empire, via its lower intestine. Kimball Kinnison finishes first in everything, whether or not there was a second place.

It's 1930s science with a 1950 copyright date. That means, for example, that a milliwatt was an inconceivably small amount of power back then. Just for the heck of it, "Doc" Smith, went a thousand times beyond the conceivable, down to the microwatt range. Chicos and chicas, that is just so lame today. As of this writing (not next years!), the capacitative regions within DRAM chips store millions of times less energy that Smith's instruments could notice. In fact, I overheard a serious proposal recently to do milliwatt-range connections from current cellphones direct to the comm satellites directly, as long as the minimum number of GPSS/comm satelites were all in the sky at one. That's nanowatts received at the satellite, or less.

It was written to be big, bold, and all about the way men and women are supposed to get along. It's not actually wrong, but charmingly antiquated on all counts. I love it.

//wiredweird

I found this space opera in college during the 70's and fell in love with sci-fi. I have been searching for years copies of the Lensman series. I was so happy to find them on the store. So disappointed with spellings and random punctuation on my fire. Struggled through 3 books and can't face another word. Please remove this travesty until someone edits these old classics

Before Star Trek, before Star Wars, before all the other Space Opera's, there was E.E. "Doc" Smith's LENSMAN (or History of Civilization) series. Make no mistake about it: this is THE classic sci-fi work! Galactic Patrol is the first novel in the series which chronicles an epic struggle between Good and Evil -- and Mind and Matter, incidentally, if you want to look for a deeper meaning. OK, chronologically, its the third, but it was the first one written, suitably revised for inclusion in the series. If you want to get started in Sci-fi, this is the series for you. If you want to start the younger generation, it's even better! Written in the 1930's, it's long on action, but the love affairs and language are mild by today's standards, perfect for young readers. (although the vocabulary is pretty advanced). It's strong on family values and democratic ideals, but don't make the mistake of thinking it's preachy or sentimental. Just good, solid, Outer Space adventure throughout. I first read these novels in the eighth grade, and I've read them fifteen times since; my original copies have long since disintegrated. The Lensmen novels truly rank with Tolkien as one of the classics of Sci-fi/fantasy genre. Do yourself a favor and read this series.

There should be an age warning on this book: "Not for mature audiences." It is part of the Lensman series, probably the first extended space operas. I thought it was wonderful when I first read it, and would have given it five stars. However, I was about 13 at the time, the store didn't exist, and people were saying that there would never be a need for computers in the home. Most adult readers will find the prose, and particularly the dialogue, painful to read. The characters are less developed than in contemporary comic books. Still, if you know a young teenager who likes science fiction, you could make him happy by giving him this book. I'm not so sure that would work if the teenager is a girl; this series..., very much relects the prejudices and stereotypes of the times in which they were written.

This is a classic of ore-Golden Age science fiction. It's a shame that the Kindle version is so terrible. It looks like someone scanned a printed version and ran OCR against it. No proof-reading, no re-formatting -- the only way I persevered was by knowing the book by heart from reading my physical book.

Before Star Trek, before Star Wars, before all the other Space Opera's, there was E.E. "Doc" Smith's LENSMAN (or History of Civilization) series. Make no mistake about it: this is THE classic sci-fi work! Galactic Patrol is the first novel in the series which chronicles an epic struggle between Good and Evil -- and Mind and Matter, incidentally, if you want to look for a deeper meaning. OK, chronologically, its the third, but it was the first one written, suitably revised for inclusion in the series. If you want to get started in Sci-fi, this is the series for you. If you want to start the younger generation, it's even better! Written in the 1930's, it's long on action, but the love affairs and language are mild by today's standards, perfect for young readers. (although the vocabulary is pretty advanced). It's strong on family values and democratic ideals, but don't make the mistake of thinking it's preachy or sentimental. Just good, solid, Outer Space adventure throughout. I first read these novels in the eighth grade, and I've read them fifteen times since; my original copies have long since disintegrated. The Lensmen novels truly rank with Tolkien as one of the classics of Sci-fi/fantasy genre. Do yourself a favor and read this series.

There should be an age warning on this book: "Not for mature audiences." It is part of the Lensman series, probably the first extended space operas. I thought it was wonderful when I first read it, and would have given it five stars. However, I was about 13 at the time, the store didn't exist, and people were saying that there would never be a need for computers in the home. Most adult readers will find the prose, and particularly the dialogue, painful to read. The characters are less developed than in contemporary comic books. Still, if you know a young teenager who likes science fiction, you could make him happy by giving him this book. I'm not so sure that would work if the teenager is a girl; this series..., very much relects the prejudices and stereotypes of the times in which they were written.

This is a classic of ore-Golden Age science fiction. It's a shame that the Kindle version is so terrible. It looks like someone scanned a printed version and ran OCR against it. No proof-reading, no re-formatting -- the only way I persevered was by knowing the book by heart from reading my physical book.

Ever seen Star Wars? This is the book that probably had the biggest influence on it. "Doc" Smith is the real father of space opera, and his stories are nothing short of astonishing-- especially since many of them deal with fairly advanced subjects, and yet they were written in the 20s and 30s! This is good, pulpy fun-- you'll have a great time joining our hero, Patrolman Kimball Kinnison, as he joins the ranks of an elite fighing force for peace and justice, the Lensmen, and begins to unfold a galaxy-wide criminal conspiracy that is as old as time itself. Don't expect the complex moral issues of today's science fiction-- the good guys are lily-white and good as gold, and the bad guys are the blackest of the blackhearted. Loads of fun for just about any kind of reader.

OK...First, you have to remember when these books were written -- late 1940s and 1950. Once you get past the references to "future technology" that is so old it is not used anymore, the story is great. I re-read this series at least once a year just because I like the characters and the story line.

This must be one of the worst science fiction novels I've ever read,
and the fact that everyone else here has given it five stars indicates
one of three things:
i. I am a lousy judge of books.
ii. The others are lousy judges.
iii. The others are all 10 years old or under.
Let me explain.
E. E. Smith deserves 5 stars for originality; when these books came out
in the late 30's they set the standards for all space operas to come.
I gave him one star for literary quality, since today I no longer can
(or wish) to judge them according to their originality.
Lets begin with language. Smith uses long and complicated sentences,
which seem like they've come right out of the operating manual of my
my Sony dvd player. Cumbersome would be the best word to describe his
linguistical efforts.
His characters are 2 - no, wait, 1 - dimensional - no, wait, they
even have fractional dimensionality. They are not stereotypes. Stereo
would imply too much complexity. There are no moral conflicts, no
real drive for the hero - he's simply doing what he does because its
his JOB! - no fleshed out personality.
The "big" plot is fine, but it progresses in a way that reminds me of
Saturday morning cartoons: good guys fight bad guys with big ship,
bad guys fight good guys with bigger ship, good guys fight bad guys
with bigger ship, etc. This is acceptable in a 30-minutes show aimed
at kids, not in a 4-novel series!
Even the theme of the book itself is morally repugnant - eugenics.
But I won't spoil the ending (of the last book) for those who want
to go and bash their heads against the wall of Smith's literary
incompetence. It isn't "fun". This is masochism.
I'm all for a good space opera every now and then, but please, this one
is redundant. I grant it its place in the SF hall of fame, and I hope
it stays there, and away from me. I can't say how sorry I am I wasted
4 whole days of my life reading this series. If you're looking for
good science fiction, try Philip K. Dick or Stanislaw Lem. NOT Smith.
(By the way, if I didn't make myself clear - I don't like this book.)

This series (the whole Lensman series, not just this book) is on my all-time favorite science fiction list, along with Heinlein and Asimov and Orson Scott Card and some classic short stories I have in a WONDERFUL old anthology (circa 1940-1950) I found in the closet of a house I was renting in Taiwan (funny how some of life's best things enter your life!). Classic!!!

Great story in the tradition of Epic Science Fiction - the huge disappointment though was the Editing! Atrocious doesn't begin to describe how badly this version was edited. Disgraceful - and anyone who actually paid for this should get their money back, no questions asked!

DEFINITIVE science fiction! This is one of my favorite books-- vintage space opera, and tons of fun. Written in 1937, this is the first book of the series(others are set earlier chronologically, but were written later). Lots of space-battle mumbo-jumbo, plenty of fighting, great alien characters, and original vocabulary.