First Lensman

First Lensman is the second book in the classic Lensman series, picking up more or less where Triplanetary left off. The story follows the doings of the "First Lensman" Virgil Samms, an incorruptible paragon of bravery and virtue chosen by the Arisians to be the first individual to wear their super-science "Lens".

Virgil Samms has a dream. He wants to establish the Galactic Patrol and protect civilization from the forces of evil. He needs to have a symbol for the incorruptible men he wants to be in his Patrol. Finally, he is guided (by the intuition of one of his trusted subordinates) to Arisia, a heretofore off-limits planet where he is tested by the benevolent and telepathic Arisians who award him a "Lens". Those who wear a Lens, a show more super-science device that can only be worn by the truly virtuous attuned exclusively to its intended wearer that allows him to communicate telepathically with any being, become the focus of all the remaining stories in the series. Samms is charged with locating all "Lens worthy" individuals and directing them to Arisia to have the boon bestowed upon them. In a bit of sexism that firmly attaches the story to the 1920s, women aren't psychologically able to wear a Lens, but that's okay, because any Lens worthy woman will apparently have such highly developed "women's intuition" that they won't need one.

Once he has a cadre of Lensmen available to defend civilization, Samms uses them to combat drug traffickers. Oddly, despite the various evil designs being plotted against the Earth, including the attempt to politically take over the planet, threaten it with an invading fleet, and assassinate Lensmen, the Lensmen consider the trade in "thionite", a mind altering drug, to be the most pressing problem needing to be addressed. Since they are the good guys, breaking the thionite ring turns out to be the key to handling all the other threats, but it seems odd to be using the sorts of resources the Lensmen have at their disposal to try to break up what amounts to an interstellar coke smuggling operation.

On the way, though, the Lensmen visit alien planets and encounter bizarre life forms (and attempt to recruit representative members of many species as Lensmen), build a massive fleet, and engage in a satisfyingly massive space battle before winning the crucial election that ensures the creation of the Galactic Patrol and the safety of Civilization.

Although the perfection of the Lensmen is annoying at times, and the sexist attitudes of the 1920s crop up here and there (such as the amazingly easy dispatch of a a pair of supposedly dangerous female mercenaries), the story carries the reader through the action at a pace that never lets up. Just as one has to simply accept the benevolence of the Arisians to make the story work, one must also accept the goodness and incorruptibility of the Lensmen as well: otherwise some of their actions in the crucial North American election look a lot like voter intimidation.

First Lensman kicks the Lensman series in high gear, building the actual Lensman organization that will be the background for all the remaining books, while at the same time delivering an exciting story chock full of exotic aliens, evil villains, and space battles.

This review has also been posted to my blog Dreaming About Other Worlds. show less

The last book book I read of the series, and by far the weakest; it has none of the kludgy charm of Triplanetary, little of the vast scope of the subsequent entries, and it's a civil libertarian's nightmare to boot. The supermen start to gear up, basically; the series doesn't really get rolling in earnest until Galactic Patrol. Some good scenes, but the cadence doesn't work.

The introduction to my Ripping Publication says that "It ain't Shakespeare, but it is one hell of a Ripping Yarn:
"Politically Incorrect - Yes!
Technically Dated - Definitely!
Simplistic and Naïve - Maybe
Absolutely Ripping" - No! I am afraid not

This is the second prequel to "Doc" Smith's classic Lensman series and it tells the back story to the formation of the Galactic Patrol. Published in 1950 it adds nothing to the series; the story shudders along in fits and starts and the writing in places seems slapdash and incomprehensible. It is all those things that Ripping publishing claim it to be: Politically incorrect, Technically dated, simplistic and naïve and I would add; not even decent pulp fiction. A waste of time. A one star rating.

"Nobody does anything for nothing. Altruism is beautiful in theory, but it has never been known to work in practice."

In “The First Lensman” by E. E. Doc Smith

In many or most written SF, certainly in SF films, the canny audience member engages in a willing suspension of disbelief. The question for me often comes down to just a couple considerations--is it a bridge too far, just too many stupidities of too gross a scale for me to be able to buy-in? And am I enjoying myself on other levels--is it just so fun or cool or exciting, or are the characters and story just so damned compelling, that I can't help but have a good time? So, if I'm not offended by the stupidity, and the work in question as a narrative, then I'm happily able to show more suspend my disbelief and enjoy it.

Ok. it's only SF but..

Kimball Kinnison, gains a “sense of perception,” allowing him to perceive nearby objects without using the standard five senses. He can “see” through solid objects, for example. That does involve interaction with inanimate matter, of course; but the interaction is all one way—he can’t affect the things he perceives.

...is Kimball Kinnison’s quantum data idea perceiving nearby objects without using the standard five senses that far fetched? Kimball can “see” through solid objects, for example. That does involve interaction with inanimate matter, of course; but the interaction is all one way—he can’t affect the things he perceives. Too bad we don’t have any Black Holes. Imagine if you had a pair of entangled photons, kept one and sent the other off to the black hole, then the remaining one would "resolve" itself - it's wave-function would collapse - when the first one reaches the horizon. And that could give you some information about the horizon. But if the first photon passes through the horizon without incident, then you could get information from within, which probably violates several important theories about this kind of stuff. Maybe. What I’d give to read what Doc Smith would make of Back Holes...

Anyway, some of treatments I’ve been reading in contemporary SF books dealing with Black Holes have no excuse. Nowadays the theoretical body of knowledge is vast. It’s difficult to find a SF novel dealing with the latest views about black holes related to Planck objects and compact surfaces. There’s where the meat is. There is nothing inside a black hole, everything gets smeared on the surface. So no wormholes and no quick jump to another planet, just a kind of file compression for matter and energy.

(*someone-waving-in-back-and-shouting: “you lost me at OK!”*)

(*another-one-waving-in-back-and-shouting: “Wouldn't work - entanglement would break down as the photon fell into the back hole. Nothing other than Hawking radiation gets out, including light. At best what you'd get would be an entangled photon that forever seemed to be frozen in space, doing nothing. Remember, Einstein's relativity.”*)

Me: “And how many photons would you need to entangle to get useful information from the edge of a black hole anyway? Billions?”

(*another-sceptic-snoozing-in-back!: ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz...........*)

(*the-same-another-one-waving-in-back-and-shouting: “Only kidding..! Wish I could grasp some of this malarkey as all I seem to be able to do at parties to empty them is turn my eyelids inside out and gurn.”

Me: “I agree. But then I'm as thick as a Planck, Constantly.”

(*another-one-waving-in-back-and-shouting: “I like the idea of zooming off into space, accelerating to near the speed of light for a few days, then coming back to Earth to find that several hundred years have passed and that your 100 euros invested in Nat West is now worth 10 000 000 euros. Or not.*)

(*the-one-snoozing-in-back-just-woke: “Thanks for spoiling the fun, Manuel! You're the frigging scientist, but I always thought the better means of space travel was going to be something like the Spacing Guild of "Dune" uses where they "fold" space. Are any scientists working on that?”*)

Me: “I am in NO way a scientist, but can't someone here work out a formula for this? Mix in entertainment factor over reality over production investment over other 'sciency stuff'. See, I told you I was no scientist, but I love those mad looking scrawls on blackboards...*)

(*another-one-waving-in-back-and-shouting: “Wait, so there's no benevolent aliens who might have parked a wormhole besides Saturn so we crazy, self-destructive primates might find another planet to exploit as capitalism rapes and ruins Mother Earth? That sucks.*)

Nb: For those of you who don’t know, “First Lensman” was the last one to be written. show less

This is one of most pitiful pieces of shit I have ever read. That it was written at all I consider an insult to me personally. Half-realised, unbelievable scenes exist together in a mess of badly used words. The Phantom Menace springs to mind. I'm not joking, it really does.

Triplanetary has a American democratic bias and you can see that the series is about the conflict between ideologies, yet here the Patrol are thoses behaving in an execrable way and the elected guy is presented as the baddie. WTF?!

And when you realise that all the 'heroes' don't just have European names, but that they are all white, and the one black character is deeply honoured to open the Lensman's car door... well... I just don't like the man's politics

A team of specially selected men armed with an alien-made "lens" that allows direct mind-to-mind communication with any sentient race work together to explore the universe and create a intergalactic team of peace officers.

This book isn't bad, I just found it hard to follow in places. The writing is fine, if a bit dated (read misogynistic). It was way to political for my taste. The climax of the book is the tense reportage of a continental election.

Another great example of the old fashioned 'space opera' genre. This is true space opera. Giant spaceships with ray guys, implacable alien foes, noble heroes, the whole thing. These are easy and quick reads. If you like unrealistic space adventure and space warfare, this is for you. Note 'unrealistic' - this is space opera, not hard scifi.