The Skylark of Space

I enjoyed reading "Skylark Duquesne" as a kid and still enjoy this, last, novel in the Skylark series. While some of the interactions and explanations are somewhat dated, it does not interfere with the enjoyment of this story.

Doc Smith pulls out all the stops and has Seaton and DuQuesne work together to rid the universe of the evil Chlorians.

The book is fast paced and the scale is HUGE!

While Seaton is still the hero of the series, DuQuesne takes on a complexity of character that is amazing. The resolution of the novel, and the series, is satisfactory.

It does help to read the rest of the series first. However, I recommend this book without qualification.

Sometimes we finish a book with disappointment, only to realize later that the disappointment was our failure to understand the writer. SKYLARK DUQUESNE is such a book for me, with the most jarring final sentence I can remember - a sentence so unlike the usual Doc Smith firecracker, I was for a long time angry and sad that the old boy had so badly "lost it" at the end of his life.

Yet I now smile at the idea that this space opera pioneer was still reaching for new high notes - and I think he succeeded. If you consider this book as the beginning of a new Duquesne cycle, rather than the end of the Seaton cycle, suddenly you see that Doc has left us with wonderful new possibilities to imagine. For, as the song goes, "the minute you let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better."

According to the introduction to this book, "The Skylark of Space" is the first "space opera" ever written. The story first appeared during the 1920's in the pages of "Amazing Stories," and was reedited in the 1950's by the author, E.E. "Doc" Smith. Smith went on to write other Skylark stories, as well as a few other sci-fi series. The introduction also calls attention to other themes in the story: the role of women in the sci-fi genre, the idea of manifest destiny, and the accuracy of predictions made in the story as opposed to real scientific development.
"The Skylark of Space" is entertaining. Of that there is no doubt. Scientist Richard "Dick" Seaton, during the course of mundane research at his government laboratory, accidentally discovers a new means of propulsion. Of course, no one at the lab believes him. Seaton then goes to his buddy Martin Crane, inventor and millionaire, for help. Together, the two begin to develop a spaceship using the new propulsion formula. The wily Marc DuQuesne, a fellow scientist in league with the evil World Steel Company, constantly undermines their plans in the hope of stealing the formula and making a fortune out of it. When DuQuesne abducts Dorothy, Seaton's fiancée, and flies her away on a second ship using the stolen formula, the hijinks begin. The characters end up uniting to face a host of spectacular space dangers. The characters, who use their wits and strength to great advantage, overcome black holes, hostile planets with weird animals, and a planet-wide war.
While the story is entertaining, the cheese factor here is off the charts. The story starts out well, but quickly descends into confusion and pure goofiness. The introduction stresses that the reader must suspend disbelief, but this is ridiculous. The characters are all models of perfection, and each difficulty encountered in space is overcome with seeming ease. The only thing missing from Seaton's profile is the gleam of his teeth when he smiles. The worst part of the book is the end, when the marriage of Seaton and Crane to their respective women dominates the story. Who cares? Isn't one of the goals of science fiction, at least in theory, to provide action sequences? There is action here, but not nearly enough to hold my attention.
This is probably essential reading for the diehard sci-fi fan, but all others should steer clear. A high intake of cheese like this can clog your arteries!

Smith had three great series, all equal in my meek little eyes. Men were men (brave, with an IQ greater than their considerable bench press.) It's pre computer, pre calculator (in Smith's mind, a computer was a talented man with a slide-rule! Kids, ask your parents what a slide rule is/was...)
Easy enjoyable reading. Get the series. Heck, get all of Doc's books!!!

This is sciece fiction in the grand old "Buck Rogers" style. Written in 1928 it is interesting to see it talking about atomic energy long before it was ever developed. It is also interesting to see the slang used in those days such as a great deed referred to as "A flash and a loud report" or a liar refered to as "A man with a paper nose". Campy to the max.

Pulpy Space opera Goodness...
The good guys are good beyond belief, the bad guys help out sometimes too...
But these remind me SO much of the old flash gordon, Matinee at the Bijou kinda stuff I cant help but LOVE them

This is another classic example of "Doc" Smith's early space opera-- Dick Seaton is the clean-cut, all-American scientist who accidentally develops an incredibly fast, amazingly powerful spaceship. Due to an accident brought about by his nemesis, the self-serving but honorable 'Blackie' DuQuense, Seaton and his friends (and DuQuense, of course) are catapaulted hundreds of light years from earth... the dated 1930s hero/villain and man/woman stereotypes will bring a smile to your face, as will Smith's preposterous pseudoscience. Another lost classic.

Another great installment to finish off the series. I have read these books three times and even though the language is from an older period it does not diminish the story. If they would only make a movie out of this series.

I first discovered E E 'Doc' Smith through a tatty second hand copy of this book. That introduced me to the more famous Lensman series (an influance on various modern day sci-fi, from Star Wars to Babylon 5). I read my tatty copy until it fell apart in my hands some years ago.
Anyone who loves a good heroic yarn will love this book. I totally recommend you try and find a copy. (If I don't find it first!)

A humble scientist's world is turned upside down when he discovers a rare and unknown chemical. This chemical is very potent and useful. Just a little bit can destroy an entire village. The chemical can also help build incredible ships to send people into space at incredible speeds! Sadly, a crooked company has caught wind of the discovery and will stop it at nothing to steal the chemical and take credit for its discovery for themselves.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very witty and clever. It took me a little bit to get into at first and I had to reread a lot of the first couple chapters a few times to make sense of it. Once it all became clear to me, I was hooked. I just had to find out what was going to happen to all the people involved in this! It is very unique! Especially for the time period in which it was written.

There were a few problems I had with this book. It kind of switched viewpoints without warnings. I mean after awhile it becomes more bearable and understandable, but at first, I was getting lost and confused. I had to reread quite a few times to see who's viewpoint I was in. It also took me awhile to realize that the two discoverers did not work for the greedy company. I had assumed that they did.

It was still an amazing read. I read somewhere that it was written in the 1920's. I'm so amazed I had never heard of it before now! I'm unsure if I'll read the rest of the series. I might one day if I come across them. I do recommend it to any science fiction lover out there. It's definitely a great piece of science fictional work.