Triplanetary by E.E. "Doc" Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Honestly, I have to admit that I almost bounced off this book twice. The first, time, I wanted to read it to simply get to the fourth book which was considered one of the great Golden Age of SF books. I DID bounce the first time. Instead, I just hopped ahead and read what I consider one of the best Buck Rogers books of Buck Rogers books.

Of course, I don't know, even now, whether that's a good thing or not. It's cowboy stuff in space, white hats and black hats and big explosions, derring-do, and swooning maidens. Where real men are real men.

In other words, the perfect stereotype of SF of yesteryear, well into the genre's infancy and teenage years.

Ah, but I kinda wished I had stuck it out. And so I returned to the first book and once I got through some rather heavy-handed exposition, I was able to enjoy some rather cool ancient and modern and then future action. Indeed, this volume is a pretty great INTRODUCTION to the universe. That is, if you can get over the handwaviums and obvious cultural BS of Real Men being Real Men. Then again, maybe that kind of thing will be a bonus in today's climate. Who knows?

My personal take:

I've always been a pretty big fan of the mythos of Green Lantern.
Now, this pre-dates Green Lantern, to be sure, but DAMN, it's like I'm getting a whole mythos and setup FOR the Green Lantern and its Corps. Taking it this way, I'm actually really enthusiastic for the story. Show the heroes in their less-than-powered up states, give us a very solid grounding and showcase their actual heroism, and THEN give them the extra powers to deal with the truly bad baddies.

It's pretty classic storytelling, and it actually works.

Yes, this book is ACTUALLY pretty good. Science fantasy, to be sure, but FUN. And it's a bit more expansive and crossing much time and space than I gave it credit for. It's true space opera.

Color me impressed. I think I will go through the rest. It's very much on the same level as Conan, with the obvious differences. Solid and fun if not particularly sophisticated.



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