EE 'Doc' Smith ( )

When i was growing up, Smith and Asimov were sf for me. I read Smith's books and Asimov's Robot series long before I knew other sci fi books existed, probably because they were widely and cheaply available in these Panther editions, with their exceptional and fondly-remembered Chris Foss cover art. This particular book was seminal in my interest in sf, and cast my tastes forever in the "space opera" mould. Dont look for deeper themes or messages in this or any of Smith's books. They are pure, shoot-em-up space opera, essentially ideas transplanted directly from Wild West pulp fiction. Read today, they are a curious mix of space age technology and pre-war mechanics, amost a proto- steam punk. For instance, "computers" in this book refer not to IT, which didnt yet exist when Smith wrote it, but its Victorian sense of a human with exceptional calculating skills. Its a rip-roaring, fun read, just dont expect to strain your mental apparatus overly much. Helluva lot of fun though. ( )

This is very old time, traditional SF. Giant battleships with inertialess drives, repulsor rays, tractor beams, torpedoes, the whole works. Written in the very traditional 'space opera' style, where the good guys are clean cut, respectable and modest, and the bad guys are inscrutable aliens with evil designs. The heroes of the IPC are astronauts and pilots and heroes all in one. Simplistic by today's standards, (they don't even have computers) this is still great reading, just don't look for Vinge or Simmons style high technology. ( )