How To Read E.E. Doc Smith (The Lensman Series)

The Lensman Series has some special challenges so in this video I'm going to give you a plan to how to read Edward Elmer Smith, also known as Doc Smith. Not to be confused with Doc Savage, of course.
So for those of you who don't know, the Lensman series was a set of stories that were typically serialised in Astounding Stories magazine between about 1934 and 1954. E.E. Smith was a Chemist and a food scientist who was originally from Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Smith wrote during the "classic" science fiction period, well before digital computers, and actually starting well before rockets or any real inkling of the possibility of space flight. He was also writing during the time of segregation and Jim Crow, and later a world war, so the social conditions in America were very different than they are today. More about that later.
The Lensman series is roughly comprised of six books, I'm not counting here the Vortex Blaster or any of the later books that Smith authorised before his death but did not write, such as New Lensman. The series is quite different in that each novel is basically complete and you can read them in any order.
There is a wide difference in the quality of the writing across the series. The worst book, which I cannot even maintain is still worth reading, is Second Stage Lensman. It has problems both in terms of the editing where the chapter titles don't even match up with the content, and then the plot itself is pretty bad. Triplanetary is also pretty bad, it's just too dated to be readable, at least I can't recommend that you do.
On the other hand, Galactic Patrol is well-written, Grey Lensman is better, and Children of the Lens is a science fiction masterpiece.
So, I would propose you start with Galactic Patrol, as it introduces the Lens and also the main character through the stories, which is Kimball Kinnison. If that book seems too dated, then start with Grey Lensman.
Now, my way is not to give out any spoilers, but we should talk about a few things. Probably the most important thing is that Smith was doing science fiction on a grand scale. So for example at one stage the forces of civilisation start using planets, and objects the size of planets but composed of anti-matter, as projectiles. They even blow up a sun as part of a tactical engagement. So in terms of technology Smith allowed his fantasy to expand into the gigantic. If you compare to contemporary, we have Star Wars with it's "Death Star" that is capable of destroying a planet, and I think in a Star Trek movie one of the villains destroys a star as part of his nefarious plan.
On the other hand, the books are essentially a story of an interminable war. From the beginning of Triplanetary on through to Children of the Lens, there is a continuous war going on, either a hot war with actual combat and space fleets blasting each other into oblivion, or a cold war with drug smuggling, gangs, propaganda, stolen elections, and crime, and human beings on Earth are only a small part of all that. So, almost all of the technology is armament and weapons and the stories certainly glorify war and combat.
The stories also rely on some fairly weak plot devices. So for example, in order to explain why there are no women Lensman, Smith has to resort to the idea that women are too frightened, just constitutionally, they can't stomach going to the ghost planet of Arisia, which is required in order to get a Lens.
The misogyny doesn't get any better in terms of relationships and you can tell Smith is much better writing about bombs and explosions than he is about sex. But, again, I think this is just a reflection of America at that time, and you could do a whole study of American society based on the scruples and projections seen in the fiction of that time period.
One thing Smith gets right is in his depiction of aliens. Smith's aliens are far more interesting and actually far more imaginative than the ones in Star Wars, for example. But I will let you find out about that for yourself.

[Mosux]

I read the entire Lensman series as a teenager, starting with Galactic Patrol and then ending with Triplanetary and FIrst Lensman. This IMO is the best order. Later, I read Second Stage Lensman in the original magazine form (at the UC Riverside library), as well as Children of the Lens (in my own collection of Astounding Science Fiction). Your review of SSL is too harsh. I enjoyed the story.

As for Triplanetary, and the series in general, if you read it with the frame of mind of someone in the '30's/'40's and suspend 21st century notions (and especially WOKE notions -- PLEASE dispense with the "misogyny" complaints!), you can enjoy it. Btw: Far from being "misogynistic", Doc Smith depicts the series' female protagonist (in Children of the Lens) as being capable of feats that NO MAN could ever do. Recognizing innate differences between males and females is NOT "misogyny".

[robwalsh]

The lens itself as a concept was well ahead of its time in sci fi. It heralded ideas of nanites, crystalline power sources, telepathic communication and greater sensory perception into the ether. You can also see the influence of the Galactic Patrol and the Lensman on a modern sci fi series like Mass Effect among others.

[erikpaterson]

I've started with reading triplanetary and plan on reading the series in its entirety. Flaws and all.
With respect to Doc Smith 🙏

[WendyP]

Great series. Have read it over and over again 😄

[samuelmillerick]

I've just recently read these. I would be slightly dubious about jumping in with Children. Without the background of earlier books this would be confusing. I would also advise any reader to skip the introductions in which unnacountably the entire plot is spoiled (Why Smith would do this I have no idea. My only guess is that he assumed that any reader buying the book would have already read the magazine version.). I agree that Triplanetary can be safely left till the last if read at all.

[stuartprior]

Hi, I enjoyed your review and totally agree that Vortex Blaster is really a unnecessary add on at the end. I first read the series back in the early 70''s so I was about 13 I guess. I read in order from Triplanetary onwards I did enjoy Triplantary but I would almost class it as a pre-equal so 1st and last serve as bookends so to speak. It is definitely a series of his "time" for treatment of women and possibly race, I can only remember one African American which was in First Lensman. Chris, Kim's wife did in fact become the only women Lensmen *the Red Lensmen" and Smith did explain that the Lens were "Sex based / Related" and that Kim and Chris were required to launch the next stage of human evolution and humanity to eventually replace the Arisians. Virgil's daughter was in fact going to be presented for a Lens but the Arisians explained the sex thing. Smoking good, Space Axes good and no Quarter given to the evil forces LOL . I still read every few years as Space Opera is a guilty pleasure I indulge.

[sherlock]

I have read all of E.E. Doc Smith's books and loved all of them. I still listen to them in audio book form.

[christophermoebs]

My father introduced me to E E Smith back in the 60swhen they were reissued. Then I read them again about 20 years ago. Better than Star Wars lol!

[gsilverfish]

Thanks for this--I got introduced to Lensman via the anime movie (I understand a lot of Lensman fans don't like that at all but hey, I loved it!) and was really excited to discover some really old, really worn Smith paperbacks in my high school library... that is, in their discard event! They were dumping all of them and I figured I was just the 16 year old to save them. Unfortunately I pretty much read them in the exact opposite of this reading order and found them really unapproachable, gave up during Second Stage Lensman and ended up passing those poor books to someplace else (they were so worn and library-marked I am sure they ended up trashed). But it's something I've always thought about trying again (it's been over 20 years since then!), so I really appreciate the suggestions on where to start.

[wmeisel]

Thank you for this video. I have tried over the years to read these, but never saw honest advice on the order and which ones to skip. This was very helpful.

[dgkcpa]

Interesting take on the series, but I must take issue on a couple of points.

First, Smith never indicated that women could not and did not get lenses because they were too frightened to go to the ghost planet of Arisia. Rather, he let Jill Samms, a character in First Lensman, explain it as follows:

"Women's minds and Lenses don't fit. There's a sex-based incompatibility. Lenses are as masculine as whiskers—and at that, only a very few men can ever wear them, either. Very special men, like you three and Dad and Pops Kinnison. Men with tremendous force, drive, and scope. Pure killers, all of you; each in his own way, of course. No more to be stopped than a glacier, and twice as hard and ten times as cold. A woman simply can't have that kind of a mind! There is going to be a woman Lensman some day—just one—but not for years and years; and I wouldn't be in her shoes for anything."

Second, while the dialog is dated (in the same way as dialog from old movies is dated), the ideas were cutting edge, even today. According to Wikipedia, Smith expressed a preference for inventing fictional technologies that were not strictly impossible (so far as the science of the day was aware) but highly unlikely: "the more highly improbable a concept is—short of being contrary to mathematics whose fundamental operations involve no neglect of infinitesimals—the better I like it" was his phrase. Smith was widely read by scientists and engineers from the 1930s into the 1970s. Literary precursors of ideas which arguably entered the military-scientific complex include SDI (Triplanetary), stealth (Gray Lensman), the OODA loop, C3-based warfare, and the AWACS (Gray Lensman).


Finally, Smith's writings were indeed a product the times, but also the result of a lot of hard work as well. As he described it, writing was harder work than bricklaying, and didn't pay as well. (He'd done both.) How you read it is up to you. I'd start with Galactic Patrol first, and follow the story through Grey Lensman, Second Stage Lensman (which is excellent), and Children of the Lens; then go back and read the back story novels Triplanetary and First Lensman to fill in the gaps. The Lensman and Skylark Series are both great reads, all the more so considering times in which they were written.

[stevetheduck]

Lensman reading order. I would include Triplanetary for it's forewords of the endless war between Arisia and Eddore, the many generations leading to the main protagonists' 'blood-lines' of the later books, the introduction of the technological arms race that characterises much of the series, the mentions of 'attractor beams, blasters, screens and shields, drives, warping ships', etc. that give SF it's nomenclature of devices, etc.
Then the books in order of the main story up to Children of the Lens.
Vortex Blasters is a separate idea, Tedric etc. are other novels not part of the series, the Skylark series is a separate series entirely sharing some similar concepts. New Lensmen series I have not read, can't say.
Female Lensmen: a total of six in the series I can recall, including Red, Black and the four girls.

[maxfan]

The thing that interested me about the books is that, for a series based on a multi-generational war between two superpowers, a major portion of the strength of the Bad Guys is in organised crime. Instead of enormous front lines separating the two superpowers, the Bad Guys have bases salted all through the planetary systems of Civilisation to permit industrial scale drug smuggling. I don't remember any other SF series with a setting quite like that (though I'm sure people will list some for me!).

The war is presented as much as a guerilla war, and a war on crime, and a struggle for hearts and minds, as it is a military struggle. In that sense it sort of parallels the multi-faceted nature of the Cold War.

I read the books at school back in the 1980s, then found the complete series at a second-hand book sale a few months ago. It's been interesting to read them again with 40-odd years of reading experience. I think many of the underlying concepts across the series hold up well (for example, the aliens of Civilisation, the Lens itself, and the nature of the conflict), but the characterisation and awkward sexism...not so much.

[stephenm]

A lot of current sifi is borrowed from Smith. He was ground breaking in every sense. Starting with the Skylark series, I grew up with science fiction thanks to my future father in law Scott who was an engineer with Westinghouse and later with NASA.

Don't get too weenie and PC with your review. He talked about strong women at length.

[vilstef]

Doc Smith was very respected by Asimov and Heinlein among others.

Another SF author who had terrific aliens was Robert Forward. His aliens are so much better than his humans, I'm more than a bit put off rereading Forward!

[cliffwoodbury]

sounds like new authers need to get to it and keep it the same while making them understandable, modernized, and enjoyable because they probably have great concepts and great concepts should never be wasted. And when the new revamped books come out they should come out paired with the originals so readers won't forget the originals.

[mickbrown]

I came across Second-Stage Lensman first out of this series (though not my first 'Doc' Smith book) I think - that or First Lensman, so I'm fond of it, but I'd suggest starting with Galactic Patrol, then reading Grey Lensman (to resolve the cliffhanger Galactic Patrol ends on) and Second-Stage Lensman, which forms a neat little trilogy and once you're invested in Kim, Clarissa and their crew any issues in the last book will matter less and it comes to a satisfying conclusion. Then you have a prequel duology and a sequel if you liked them.

[StephenBoothUK]

I first read the books out of internal chronological order simply due to difficulty getting hold of them, new or proper second hand book stores were out of my financial reach. I had to rely on finding them in charity shops. Now I have a complete collection I prefer to read them in internal chronological order. I find the assertion that Triplanetary is unreadable disturbing. I have no trouble reading it and following the story between time periods at all.

[garymcgregor]

I first found Smith 30+ years ago in a used book store, and the book I found was "Galactic Patrol". One of my favorite sf books!

[rsmac]

Okay, so this is an older video, and what I'm about to say may not be super relevant but here it goes. When I was a kid, probably about 11-12, I found Triplanetary on my Dad's bookshelf, and I tried so hard to like it. I mean I tried to read it like three separate times, because I liked Sci-Fi and I had read similar books and I remember feeling so disappointed that I couldn't make it through. I forgot the name of the book and I had forgotten the title, but through random happenstance I found your video. Now, about 25 years later, I finally have closure because of you. It wasn't just me, it was an objectively difficult read and somehow that feels liberating. Anyways, thanks!