Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823
EAN num: 9780586039496
Format: Import
ISBN number: 058603949X
Label: Panther
Manufacturer: Panther
Page Count: 176
Printing Date: 1974
Publishing house: Panther
Sale Popularity Level: 2647628
Studio: Panther
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E. E. "Doc" Smith's four book "Skylark" series of novels that began here with "Skylark of Space" invented and defined the classic "Space Opera" genre, to which stories like E. E. "Doc" Smith's later "Lensmen" series, the "Perry Rhodan" "Bookazine" series, Star Wars, and Star Trek all owe their inspiration.
Like all good stories, "Skylark of Space" succeeds because the author is honest with himself about the goal of his story, which in this case is to tell an interesting yarn without letting finicky details, such as scientific accuracy, get in the way of the fun.
The book's main characters include our hero, the brilliant scientist Richard Seaton, his fiance' Dorothy Vaneman; his best friend, tycoon M. Reynolds Crane; and his unapologetically Machiavellian nemesis, former fellow government scientist Marc C. "Blackie" DuQuesne. They are all well painted as vibrant, interesting people. Their interactions, strong and quirky personalities, and even their human failings, are all believable, interesting, and easy to identify-with.
As you make guess, our hero starts out by stumbling upon some great new discovery, in this case a seemingly limitless source of power. He then proceeds to cook up a whole suite of inventions based on it: such as a faster than light space drive; incredible weapons; and new, non-polluting and safe electric power plants which he builds with help of his friend Crane for (of course) the good of humanity. Brilliant, incorruptible, pure of heart, and with a charming (though a bit naive) personality, Richard Seaton is the prototypical All-American hero. He is quaint, idealistic and simplistic to our 21st century eyes, but nevertheless fun to read about. Give him a white hat and put him on a horse, and you have the hero of those old Western TV shows of the 1950's.
As the baddie in this story, Marc C. DuQuesne is impressed with Seaton's scientific genius, but has total disdain for his idealism: seeing him as naive. He feels Seaton's willingness to freely contribute from his discoveries for the benefit of humanity is a foolish waste of resources on those who will be unable to use it wisely. Throughout the book, he makes temporary alliances of mutual advantage with various human and alien baddies in his attempts to eliminate Seaton from the picture and take control of Seaton's discoveries and power.
The good guys win out (because their hearts are obviously pure): uniting all of humanity. In the process, Seaton wins-over various previously warlike alien races, who in turn provide their own scientific knowledge and technologies to Seaton in support of his goals of peace, prosperity and happiness for all.
While this very optimistic view of the human spirit is a little dated and quaint in our eyes, the story is very much based on the American certainty that hard work, a good heart, and a good mind will always win out in the end. An attitude that underlies American culture as much now as it did back in the late 1920's, when this book was very first published. (Although that certainity is now expressed in more nuanced, complex ways: often with more than a bit of irony.)
"Skylark of Space" a great and fun ride. Sit back and enjoy it with the certainty that the good guys will always win out in the end, despite facing odds that are heavily stacked against them again and again throughout the tale!
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I discovered E. E. (Doc) Smith in the late 1950's when I was a teenager. I, finally, had qualified to get into the adult section of the library (legally) and was hunting down science fiction stories. About 2/3 down one aisle, very near the bottom shelf, I spotted "Skylark of Space". I opened to the very first page and was hooked. Doc Smith became my second most favorite author, subsequent to Robert A. Heinlein.
This is space opera at its finest.
Richard Seaton 'discovers' what, apparently, is a new element with some astonishing properties and moves quickly to 'research' those properties and use them. However a rival, Marc DuQuesne, suspects something and being a not so nice fellow, decides that he can rule the world, by using the wonderous properties of this new element. The two men are nearly equally matched in brains and creativity. And, we begin the "Skylark" series of novels that, in many ways, is fairly mind-blowing.
I got this book home and devoured it in a few hours, the subsequent day. At the very first opportunity, I was back at the library, looking for other books in the series.
Doc Smith wrote this series in the 1920's and 1930's. Some of the attitudes and some of the author's ideas are, now, outdated. Fortunately, that does not get in the way of enjoying these books.
I recommend this story, as strongly as I can. It is, sort of, mind candy!
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A get into space opera, if you like, with some of your standard Smith elements, good good guys, sneaky bad guys, and lots of blowing stuff up. It is not too bad, but certainly isn't the Lensman series, by any stretch, and the fact that it is an earlier work probably shows. Still, pioneering sort of stuff for the time, but shows a bit more of the late 19th century type influences, I think.
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It's a wild ride across the galaxy, making it a safe place for all right-thinking beings who look pretty much like us. Brilliant Seaton, wealthy Crane, a beautiful if ineffectual babe for each, and an oriental houseboy who lives to grovel, all zooming from one star system to the next. Oddly enough, every where he goes, Seaton is heaped with honors - at least by the people that don't get blown to subatomic smoosh for being un-neighborly.
Since Earthman Seaton is so vastly superior to every other interstellar race in intellect, creativity, and all-American-ness, the bad guys out there are temporary annoyance. As a result, any villain worth the effort must also be from Earth: thus, we have Marc DuQuesne, as brilliant and mighty as Seaton, and as bad a bad boy as Seaton is a good boy.
The original copyright on this book is almost 80 years old now. Back then, attitudes towards women and non-European cultures were neolithic by today's standards, as were other beliefs. For example, one of the highest leaders on one of those planets is both the primate of the church and commander in chief of their military. Today, the idea of a despot of the state religion, in control of that army and destructive power - well, we just can't see it as the concentration of rectitude that Smith made it out to be.
But that was then, in that optimistic time when WWII was still so far in the future. It's like nostalgia for a time I never experienced, seeing that moral simplicity and technological optimism. I'm glad the racism and naivete are gone today, but I wonder how much else we lost in shedding them.
//wiredweird
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I think I'd give this 5 stars, just for being the original... if it WERE the original. E. E. Smith did some serious re-writing on this one, sometime during the 1950s. In this version, Greedo shoots first.
Okay, that's a joke, but the Star Wars fan-boys get what I mean. I didn't want something revised, with mushroom clouds and television sets. I wanted something written in 1915. I think that's when Smith claimed to have started "Skylark of Space".
Anyway, it's still a fun story, and since it sets you up for "Skylark 3" and "Skylark of Valeron" (both better written and more engaging), it's important reading. I think I'm like a lot of people who read something this old-- I'm trying to fill in the cracks in my understanding of the progression of sci-fi. It's an entertaining history lesson.
I can still glean what the untouched book must have been, but I wish I could actually read the original version. If you can find that one, read it. If you can't, read this one.
***UPDATE*** I've just discovered that Project Gutenberg has the original "Skylark of Space," taken from the 1928 Amazing Stories, available as a FREE html download. It includes the original cover and interior artwork. So what are you waiting for?
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