The Sword and Laser discussion

Anyone else on here have read the Lensman series? Hubby and I discovered the series only after watching the botched Anime. The books are so very good, especially for the time period they were written in. Lensman is considered the first true Space Opera. It is what so much Sci-fi is based off of. You definately get that Lensman influenced Star Wars and Babylon 5. I love this series and I don't think it has gotten the attention that it should.
I am hoping that Strazyncki (Bab 5 writer and creator) can get the movie optioned. It is rife with great characters and the potential for some really awesome movie making.

I have not heard of it before just now. Sounds interesting though.

For anyone else looking for it here is a link to the series page on goodreads Lensmen Series

It really is a wonderful series. He also really tried to write in strong female characters and have to commend the author for that, given he started the series in the 20's and ended close to 1950. Women in sci-fi were not portrayed well and he did a decent job.

I've read the first two or three, many years after enjoying the anime (which, like a lot of anime, holds up a LOT better if you don't watch a terrible English dub - I'm looking at you, John Lasseter!). It is space opera, with a great deal of pulp adventure for good measure. Maybe it's just the circles I run in, but I'm the only person I know who hasn't read the entire series, and one of the few who hasn't read it multiple times. So my impression has always been that the Lensman series is solidly part of the SF canon.

If you enjoy Smith, you might also like Jack Williamson.

I read quite a lot of books by E.E. Smith, known more as E.E. 'Doc' Smith. Of these the Lensmen Series is probably the most well known, and the series does, as you say, establish a lot of the basics for what people view as the classic Star Wars type of story. But he wrote quite a few other stories as well, such as the Skylark Series. I think I read all the Lensmen stories in order. They were all very well written, at least they were to me when I read them a long time ago. And yes, he included good female characters in his stories, another thing that appealed to me.

Harold wrote: "which, like a lot of anime, holds up a LOT better if you don't watch a terrible English dub"

I would say that's true for most anime before early/mid 2000s. Nowadays it seems like the quality of English dubs is substantially better.

I have always been curious about this series. I am a big Green Lantern fan and hear that a lot of the inspiration for the concept came from Lensmen. The Silver Age version anyway.

I read the Lensmen series as a kid - it's what first got me into SF, but I haven't read them in a long time.

I'm currently reading The Skylark of Space which I've actually never read before (I called it as book of the month on another group here) and you can download for free if you follow the Goodreads link. This was Doc Smith's first book, and it claims a number of other firsts: first book about exploring the stars not just the local solar system; first book to utilise atomic energy (it was written in between 1915 and 1921 and published in 1928,long before the Manhattan Project even started); first space opera (sorry Lensmen, this beat you!)

Love the lensmen series. I bought the first three books of the series years ago when Borders (RIP) ran a promotion for Doc EE Smith's old works. They were great reads, and I see remnants of his ideas in more modern works. If you can find them, they are well worth the read. I think one of the books would make a great laser pick in fact. The best part, each book is so short they are almost impossible to lem!

Also loved the Lensmen series ... I read it in "reading order" (Triplanetery, First Lensmen, then standard series). The two "prequels" are definitely not up to par with the other books, but a fun romp.

It ain't deep, but its a lot of fun ...

The Lensman and the Skylark series are some of my favorite space opera and really where some of the first works that captured my imagination about space travel and scifi "science"...good stuff...

Great books, I added the first to the SF read poll a few months back, be sure to vote for it!

Thanks for the link Tim. I read some of Lensmen stuff as a kid. This is way better than some of the stories from the time.

Another Lensman fan here - read them in my teens and I've reread them several times :) Well worth a look :D

I'm another E.E. 'Doc' Smith fan who can trace his love of Space Opera back to the Lensman and Skylark books. Probably time to break them out for a reread and see how they hold up so many years later.

There was an old Anime movie called The Lensman. I loved it. Will check out the books.