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    The Skylark of Space
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    The Skylark of Space
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    The Skylark of Space
    Ebook344 pages4 hours

    The Skylark of Space

    By E. E. Smith

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Perhaps it is a bit unethical and unusual for editors to voice their opinion of their own wares, but when such a story as "The Skylark of Space" comes along, we just feel as if we must shout from the housetops that this is the greatest interplanetarian and space flying story that has appeared this year. Indeed, it probably will rank as one of the great space flying stories for many years to come. The story is chock full, not only of excellent science, but woven through it there is also that very rare element, love and romance. This element in an interplanetarian story is often apt to be foolish, but it does not seem so in this particular story.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateNov 28, 2014
    ISBN9781257430901
    Author

    E. E. Smith

    Edward Elmer Smith, also known as E. E. "Doc" Smith, (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965) was an American author and a pioneer in the science fiction genre, particularly known for his space opera series. He played a significant role in shaping early science fiction, especially in the realm of space adventures and interstellar conflicts.

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    Reviews for The Skylark of Space

    3.5/5

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    • 3/5
      When I was ten, this guy's books were all the rage (though to be honest, the Lensman series were more highly thought of). I guess it marks a transition from the 19th-century greats to the classic era of pulp SF: the spaceship owes much to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, and the humanoid aliens are close to the Martians of Edgar Rice Burroughs, but one can see foreshadowings of the work of A. E. van Vogt and others. There is a liberal dose of superficially plausible scientific mumbo-jumbo, but the laws of physics are cavalierly broken on page one. The slang is woefully dated, the sexism not quite as bad as I remembered (the hero's girlfriend is allowed some pretty robust contributions to the action), and the gung-ho enthusiasm with which our man assists a race of ultra-Darwinian eugenics experts to bomb their neighbours to subatomic particles is not easy for an educated adult reader to swallow. My favourite bit is the passage where the Kondalian prince Dunark tries to describe Tellurian culture: "Their government is not a government at all, but stark madness, the rulers being chosen by the people themselves, who change their minds and their rulers every year or two. ... They do not seem to care, as a nation, whether anything worth while gets done or not, as long as each man has what he calls his liberty. ... The tenets of reason as we know reason simply are not applicable to many of their ideas, concepts, and actions."But what do we make of the Kondalian culture? "They have no hospitals for the feeble-minded or the feeble-bodied; all such are executed. ... Before the first marriage each couple, from lowest to highest, is given a mental examination. Any person whose graphs show moral turpitude is shot."Nice.It's a piece of SF history which I'm glad to have read, but I don't feel the need to enshrine it on my shelves any longer.MB 8-iii-2013
    • 1/5
      Reading this book, today, is the equivalent of watching an episode of Mystery Science Theater, with my mind providing the sarcastic commentary. There is a gosh-gee, me smart strong male, you clever beautiful woman feel to this that might be amusing if it was ironic, but read plain it is just laughable. And some of the writing, I have to wonder, "Could Doc Smith have written that without intending it to be a joke?" Such as when Seaton is inside his spaceship, the Skylark, and puts his hand on the cental support beam inside it: "Resting one hand caressingly upon the huge member..." Maybe this wasn't a double entendre back in the day, but it just screams phallic symbol now. When you get towards the end of the book, you also have to contend with Seaton's seeming affability about murdering strangers on a whim (it just feels right to him), and his admiration of a race that not only kills their own weak, but anyone they perceive to be lesser than them, on their way to becoming closer to god. This is eerily prescient, coming a little more than a decade before World War II, and is just creepy to read in hindsight.Finally, if I never hear the phrase, "You're a blinding flash and a deafening report" again, it will be none too soon.
    • 1/5
      Another example of early science fiction that was popular merely because it was the only science fiction. This middle period of science fiction keeps disappointing me. This is after Wells published his greatest works, but before the Golden Age of science fiction. The 1920s with Lovecraft (more horror I know, but he was writing sci-fi), Burroughs and Edward E. Smith is the lowest point of sci-fi in my view. Even ten years later you are getting brilliant works like Brave New World and Out of the Silent Planet.
    • 4/5
      Doc Smith sets the stage in [The Skylark of Space] for a saga that spans the universe, that pits Dick Seaton vs. Marc DuQuesne, good vs. evil, in a struggle for the very survival of mankind.Seaton discovers a workable space drive in the mysterious and rare element, "x", which liberates the atomic energy of copper while in the field generated by the "whatsittron" of DuQuesne in the laboratory next door. Evincing a peculiar blind spot, Seaton does not even think to include DuQuesne in the discovery, but goes off to develop the spaceship with his friend, M. Martin Crane.DuQuesne plays second fiddle to no one and conspires with World Steel Corporation to sabotage Seaton's spaceship, steal all the available "x", and build his own spaceship from Seaton's plans. When they fail to steal all the "x", DuQuesne kidnaps Dorothy, Seaton's fiance, to extort the rest as ransom. She resists her captors on board DuQuesne's spaceship and, in her struggles, sets it on an uncontrolled trajectory towards the center of the galaxy. Seaton and Crane give chase, rescuing Dot, capturing DuQuesne, and finding Peg, Dot's erstwhile companion in kidnap. They go on to discover a planet chock full of "x", and another planet, Osnome, chock full of copper, which they need to fuel their return to Earth.On Osnome they meet and befriend the green-skinned Kondalians, Prince Dunark and Princess Sitar. The Kondalians are warlike down to their primitive roots, but adhere strictly to their own code of conduct. They believe in a First Cause, giving them sufficient moral foundation for Seaton to marry Dot and Crane to marry Peg under their auspices. The Seatons and Cranes return to Earth loaded with plenty of "x" and marital bliss. * * *The reference by Kondalians to a First Cause suggests a kinship with human thought going back to Plato and hints at a philosophical framework for the saga about to unfold. The awe experienced by the space travelers in the presence of the unending stars leads Margaret to say, how unbelievably great this is. . .vastly greater than any perception one could get on Earth. . .and yet. . .there is something in man as great as even all this. . .Contrasting with the causal or cosmological argument is the amazing synchronicity that we see around Seaton, beginning in a relatively small way: the discovery of "x" itself, the juxtaposition of the "whatsittron" to activate the "x", Seaton's friendship with Crane, wealthy beyond all imagination, who can fund the spaceship out of petty cash, Dorothy's "random" trajectory leading to the "x" planet and to the Green System of Osnome. Seaton is both brilliant and lucky.Just one word on the science behind this science fiction tale. Seaton explains the faster-than-light-speed space drive in the best scientific tradition: Einstein's theory is just a theory, and theory must be adjusted to fit the observed facts!The story of Skylark is not in the whizz-bang technology, but in the contrast in character between Seaton and DuQuesne. Seaton is the beneficent scientist, making his discoveries for the good of mankind, cooperating with other like-minded people, tolerating and even admiring the green-skinned people of Osnome. DuQuesne is in it only for himself and will go to any lengths to ensure that he wins out in the end. Given DuQuesne's disposition, Seaton was probably fortunate in not bringing him into the partnership. But DuQuesne, like the Kondalians, has his own immutable code of conduct. When, as a captive, he give his word to "act as one of the party", the Seatons and Cranes can trust their lives to him (and do).DuQuesne's innate methods, however crafty and unrestrained, are ineffective against Seaton's genius, cooperative spirit, and good luck. Seaton wins this round.
    • 3/5
      Not as much fun as his Lensman series, in my opinion. They're diverting for an afternoon, but I'd recommend the other series.
    • 4/5
      I like the Skylark series, even though it becomes a bit too much at the last. The first one, this one, is great. I love Dick Seaton. Each step along the way is more-or-less reasonable...and they end up way way out in space and with no idea of the way home...
    • 3/5
      As you might expect, this is solidly in the dated, sexist, adolescent escapist fantasy mode. The men are handsome and brilliant, and the women are plucky (without ever going beyond needing a real man to rescue them when the going gets tough) and beautiful. The aliens are bug eyed monsters or human clones (dipped in green paint). The most interesting character is DuQuesne, who is brilliant, ambitious and completely amoral, yet honorable in his own perverse way. Too bad he disappears for long stretches at a time, despite being cooped up in a relatively small spaceship with the four good guys. Still, the action, especially in the last 50 pages, is reasonably entertaining, and you have to acknowledge that some of the basic ideas being addressed in this novel are still driving the imaginations of science fiction authors and readers 80 years later (e.g., Star Trek: Voyager).