Pattern for Conquest

George O. Smith was a regular contributor to Astounding science Fiction and this novel length story was originally published in 1946, but repackaged as a novel in 1951. This is the first novel I have read by Smith and I almost gave up about a quarter of the way through because of the silly dialogue between the characters, which made up the majority of the text. Stellor Downing and Cliff Lane are two commanders of the Solar Guard, one based on Mars and the other on Venus. They are summoned to earth to spearhead an attack on a mysterious artefact some light years away from earth that is seen as a danger to earth's expanding civilisation. The artefact has been discovered by a race of small humanoid people from the planet Tlembo who are show more working with the earthlings. Stellor Downing and Cliff Lane are suitors for the same girl who happens to be the daughter of Co-Ordinator Kennenbec. The testosterone on show seems to have no limit as the two commanders try to outdo each other, hence some awful dialogue and sexist attitudes.

The novel is saved by a decent space opera story that kicks in, once Downing and Lane become forgotten characters. The assault force from earth must overcome a ruthless race of cat like people to destroy the artefact, but uncover a much more serious threat from another alien race the Loard-vogh who are planning to invade the solar system. Billy Thompson the commander of the Earth forces pits his wits against the aliens and the author Smith parades some hard science theories on interstellar space. There are space battles and inventive super weapons, but it is the psychological warfare between the races that makes this novel readable. Much of the dialogue in the latter part of the book is subsumed in the narrative, which was a relief to this reader who made it through to the end. There are plenty of Smith's science fiction novels out of copyright and available on the internet. 3 stars. show less

A story with many shortcomings, nevertheless a light and enjoyable read. If you don’t mind a bit of simplistic gung-ho space opera and are prepared to accept this on it’s merits as a product of it’s time, then great. If you are a trifle more demanding, well… you might not enjoy it. Tempering that though is a faint but detectable current of intelligence and some real food for thought, especially towards the end.

Complete review at: The Great Gnome Press Science Fiction Odyssey, and a close-up examination of the book itself.