In this bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books, Alan Brown looks at the front lines and frontiers of the field; books about soldiers and spacers, scientists and engineers, explorers and adventurers. Stories full of what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions”: battles, chases, clashes, and the stuff of excitement.
Today, we’ll be taking a look at Galactic Patrol, the first adventure of Kimball Kinnison, Lensman and defender of the galaxy, one of the greatest and most influential heroes in the history of science fiction. If I had to describe this book with one word, it would be “exuberant”—if Doc Smith wasn’t enjoying the heck out of himself when he wrote it, I’ll eat my hat.
I somehow missed this book in my youth but am glad I finally got around to reading it. From the moment it was serialized in in Astounding in 1937 and 1938, the tale has been an influential part of science fiction history. It’s a rollicking adventure from beginning to end, full of action, twists and turns. That being said, it does have some flaws, and I’ll get to those, too…
Galactic Patrol is the first book specifically written to be part of the Lensman series, and as such, it is probably the best jumping-in point for new readers of the series. I’ve already reviewed two prequel books, the first being Triplanetary, a previously written story that was later modified to fit the series (you can find the review here). The second prequel is First Lensman, a book written to bridge the period between Triplanetary and Galactic Patrol, and to cover the founding of the Lensmen and the Galactic Patrol. In that review (which you can find here), I spent some time talking about the series, the order in which it was written, and recommended reading orders. Over the coming months, I will be reviewing the rest of the series, including Gray Lensman, Second Stage Lensmen, Children of the Lens, and finally The Vortex Blaster.
And I must again thank Julie from my local comic shop, Fantasy Zone Comics and Used Books, who found copies of the Lensman books for me, and made this series of reviews possible.
About the Author
Edward Elmer Smith (1890-1965), often referred to as the “Father of Space Opera,” wrote under the pen name E. E. “Doc” Smith. For more biographical information, I would refer you back to my review of Triplanetary.
As with many authors who were writing in the early 20th Century, a number of works by Smith can be found on Project Gutenberg, which unfortunately does not including a version of Galactic Patrol.
The Perfect Human
One of the implicit themes of the Lensman series is the perfection of the human race, and since the idea of what defines perfection raises some uncomfortable issues, I feel compelled to address them as they arise. The books are a product of their times, the early- to mid-20th Century, and reflect the prejudices of that era.
Galactic Patrol describes how the organization recruits a million 18-year-old young men as cadets every year. Of those, only fifty thousand enter their academy, and while many of those go on to careers in the patrol, only an elite 100 of those become Lensmen. These elite few are determined to be incorruptible, and granted the authority to act as judge, jury, and executioner in the course of their duties, without any checks and balances to restrain them. Lensmen also serve as the Galactic Council that rules the many allied planets and peoples of the galaxy. Now, I myself am the product of some pretty intense winnowing processes during my military career. And I have served with many others in a variety of professions who also went through intensive training and selection processes. Based on all my experience, I say with confidence there is no winnowing process in the world that can find a completely perfect or incorruptible person. While it might make for a more exciting fictional story, in the real world I would find the idea of a system built around “perfect” people to be a frightening prospect. It would take a near-magical device like a Lens to make this possible—but that also opens the risks of taking on faith the good intentions of the mysterious providers of those Lenses.
All the Lensmen are men, and all the ships, especially the warships, are staffed with men. While that sounds strange to most of us now, there are older people (like me) who remember going to sea as part of all-male crews, and a time when any other way of “manning” vessels was unthinkable (even the language we used reflected that gender bias). The only woman with a speaking role in Galactic Patrol is a nurse, Clarissa MacDougall, who treats Kinnison after some severe injuries, and then ends up on a captured hospital ship (to provide him with someone to rescue).
MacDougall’s presence brings up some other uncomfortable aspects of the story. During Kinnison’s treatment for his injuries, his boss, Port Admiral Haynes, is discussing his condition with his physician, Doctor Lacy. During their conversation, Lacy talks admiringly about the perfection of Kinnison’s skeleton. Then Haynes asks for medical files for the nurses who will be treating him, the doctor talks about the perfection of MacDougall’s skeleton, and you begin to realize that the two of them are playing matchmaker, bringing together good subjects for breeding (the concept of HIPAA medical privacy standards apparently does not exist in this society). This obsession with skeletal perfection reminds me of a book I found in the basement when I was young—a book owned by my grandfather, on the topic of phrenology. The now-debunked “science” of phrenology involved measuring features on people’s skulls to determine their personalities and tendencies. I started reading the book, brought it to my dad with a lot of questions, and received a valuable lesson on how scientific efforts can sometimes lead to dead ends and erroneous conclusions. Even today, people still unconsciously and erroneously connect physical appearance with personality and character traits. As a person born with squinty eyes, for example, I bristle at suggestions this is a sign of untrustworthiness.
The matchmaking senior officers, and their efforts to bring together Kinnison and MacDougall, also raise the controversial topic of eugenics, something I will address in future reviews of the series.
Galactic Patrol
The book opens with a graduation ceremony where (first in his class) Kimball Kinnison, with a hundred elite companions, receives his Lens, a device uniquely programmed to his individual physiology, which gives him mental powers that no one, as yet, fully understands. (No one except, of course, for the mysterious inhabitants of the planet Arisia, who have been providing those Lenses.) Just before the graduation, the new Lensmen are invited to a party with the Commandant, where everyone is provided their favorite cigarettes. Seeing these elite graduates encouraged to engage in what we now see as a vice is an amusing anachronism.
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To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
The Galactic Patrol is locked in a fierce battle throughout the galaxy with tenacious pirates who represent a mysterious place called Boskone, and while those of us who have read the prequel books know that the evil Eddorians are behind Boskone, that is not essential to the story in this book, so Smith doesn’t mention it. In fact, given the rapid pace of the narrative, very little is explained unless or until it is needed. There is no foreshadowing here to soften the narrative, or background given in advance to make the readers feel they are one step ahead of things.
Soon after graduation, Lieutenant Kinnison is offered command of a capital ship (reminding me of complaints about the new Star Trek movies, where Kirk was seen as improbably young for such an assignment). The ship is Brittania, an experimental vessel with a unique weapons system that could allow her crew to capture and board an enemy vessel. Their mission will be to capture a vessel to discover the secrets behind enemy weapon systems, but the Admiral admits the destruction of Brittania by her own experimental weapons is as likely an outcome as success.
The description of Brittania and her weapons shows that what we now call “technobabble” is nothing new to science fiction. Smith often leavened his descriptions of fictional devices with references to contemporary scientific knowledge, which might have made it more plausible back in the day, but now makes the descriptions feel very dated. So, it may be best for the modern reader to just take the descriptions as given without too much analysis and get on with the action.
Brittania finds an enemy vessel and is successful in capturing her. Sergeant vanBuskirk, from the Dutch-colonized heavy gravity world of Valeria, distinguishes himself in the boarding parties. With Brittania damaged, however, the patrolmen make multiple copies of their data, board lifeboats, and scatter, hoping that at least one boat can make it back with the information that could turn the tide of the war effort.
Kinnison is paired in his lifeboat with vanBuskirk, whose strength and determination will come in handy during their adventures. They are beset by pirates, but are able to capture the pirate vessel, and overhear transmissions from the mysterious Helmuth, who speaks for Boskone, and is leading the search for Kinnison and his shipmates. They land on a nearby planet to hide and find a friendly telepathic dragon creature named Worsel from the planet Velantia. Smith obviously enjoys creating strange aliens, and Worsel is delightfully peculiar, and an engaging character in his own right. He and his people are oppressed by the evil telepathic inhabitants of the planet Delgon. Without taking too much of a detour from his quest to bring his vital information home, Kinnison is able to help the Velantians develop a shield against the Delgonians, freeing their people from tyranny. And the Velantians reward Kinnison and vanBuskirk for their assistance by building a new ship to speed them on their way home. They are also able to contact some of the other lifeboats from Britannia and reassemble their old crew. They can’t make it all the way home, so they head for the nearest Lensman base on the mysterious planet of Trenco, whose entire atmosphere liquefies and falls as rain every night; the planet is also the source of the dangerous illegal drug thionate. The Lensman on duty is Tregonsee, a Rigellian whose barrel-shaped body is festooned with tentacles. You can tell Smith enjoying himself again here, with not only a strange alien but also a strange environment to describe to his readers.
Smith then gives us a glimpse of Helmuth at his Grand Base on the edge of the galaxy and shows how the blue-skinned humanoid is becoming obsessed with finding the mysterious Lensman whose captured information might shift the balance of power. Helmuth also tries to visit the planet Arisia and learn more about the Lenses, but is rebuffed by the seemingly limitless power of its inhabitants.
After assistance from Tregonsee, Kinnison makes it home—the patrol retools their fleet and tactics accordingly, and they take the fight to the enemy with great success. Smith has amazing faith in technology, and describes the patrol fielding new vessels, as well as retooling weapons and propulsion systems, in what seem to be a few short weeks. Kinnison is promoted to unattached Lensman, the highest rank of their organization, accountable only to Port Admiral Haynes. The unattached Lensmen are commonly known as Gray Lensmen because of their distinctive uniforms. And, although you might think Kinnison has already had enough adventures to fill a career, he then heads out for more. He helps a decoy ship defeat pirates. He suffers his first setback fighting a mysterious race of “Wheelmen,” and ends up in the hospital, being nursed back to health by Nurse MacDougall. (The two are always bickering, which is Smith’s way of indicating they like each other.) Kinnison decides he needs more training on Arisia, something no one else has ever attempted, and is rewarded with the ability to use his Lens even more effectively. I’ll dispense with further details here to leave some surprises for those who’d like to seek out and read the book for themselves. Kinnison takes the fight to the enemy again and again in a narrative that is so fast-paced and compact, the words “the end” are even worked into the final sentence.
If you are looking primarily for realism, nuance, or subtlety, then this book is not for you. But if you like battles, action and adventure (not to mention lots of exclamation points!), you will find much to enjoy between its pages.
Final Thoughts
Galactic Patrol is a thoroughly exuberant story, and a fast-paced read from beginning to end. The clunky feel of the prequels, where the narrative is heavily laden with lumps of exposition, is gone, and the action never flags. Our intrepid Lensman is thrown from one adventure to another, going from academy graduate to commanding officer to Gray Lensman, the highest rank in his organization, in what feels like the space of a few months. At times, the narrative might strain the reader’s suspension of disbelief, but those willing to give the story a chance are rewarded by a lot of action-packed fun.
It’s time now to share your own thoughts on the book: What worked for you, and what didn’t? How does this book stack up against others in the Lensman series? And how would you rank it with other science fiction adventures?
Alan Brown has been a science fiction fan for over five decades, especially fiction that deals with science, military matters, exploration and adventure.
I tried reading E.E. Smith when I was a teenager back in the sixties and found his writing terrible. I think it was one of the Lensmen. I remember the dialogue of being of the “Gee Doc I never thought of that!” variety.
I made it through the first three books, and then kind of gave up. Just too dated, even in the early 80’s, for teenaged me.
“, in the real world I would find the idea of a system built around “perfect” people to be a frightening prospect. “
In Heinlein’s The Number of the Beast the heroes, while gallivanting around the Multiverse, pop into the Lensman universe, realize where they are, and pop right back out, for pretty much that reason.
If you haven’t read these by age 12, it’s probably too late now.
That said, I found GP the weakest book of the “original four”. They do get better (especially when my favorite character, Nadreck, appears) .
I will say that I did like Pyramid’s cover art from back in the day…I was probably at the last moment when I could have read them unironically but there you go. I did find myself reading Jerzy Kozinski’s The Painted Bird at 13-14; now THERE was an education!
The bickering isn’t so much an indication that they like each other as that they are both incredibly strong-willed and are initially set at logger-heads by the facts of Kim’s hospitalization. Once they admit their attraction and align their interests with one another, they pretty much never bicker again.
The perfect nature (incorruptible, brave, driven, etc.) of the Lensmen is interesting as far as its evolution in the series goes. Here we have a human-run process that picks a 100 perfect people out of a million cadets (themselves presumably carefully selected from a larger population). Human processes are always fallible of course, so it’s reasonable to expect that the process is imperfect. We later learn that the Arisians take action if someone inappropriate *does* slip through, but that is a new thing due to enemy action so apparently we go through a long period where all of these Lens-candidates *are* incorruptible, etc. I suppose once you’ve got a core group of incorruptible telepaths running the system, it’s not exactly a human process as we’d recognize it any more, and can only be circumvented by high-level enemy action.
@5: According to Mentor, in First Lensman, that’s all part of the plan, or at least the visualization of the Cosmic All. Virgil Samms is explicitly directed to trust his judgment, that he is only going to make one mistake, and that it won’t be his fault. According to the logic of the books, the selection process is self-verifying, because the Lens itself can’t bond to somebody who doesn’t deserve it.
Of course, we have to take Mentor’s word for that, and a modern reader can’t help but wonder whether Mentor might be wrong, or have some other agenda. It certainly doesn’t make any sense, as measured against real human institutions. But, if you start down that road, the casual mass murders committed by the Lensmen become harder to accept, and you probably don’t want to be reading these books. So, for me at least, I can really only deal with them by accepting the narrative claim to perfection at something like face value.
Something like 1% of people are sociopaths, whom I suppose we might take to be perfectly corruptible people. By symmetry, you might hope for 1% of people to be perfectly incorruptible “anti-sociopaths”.
If only we could identify them.
It would be a lot easier if we had access to some kind of telepathic device, as the Galactic Patrol does…
(IIRC, it is impossible to lie with a telepathic Lens. I suspect that here Smith is giving too little credit to self-deception, but it is not an implausible effect of telepathy to make conscious lying difficult, and this would again make a lot of things easier.)
Frankly, if you have a bunch of telepaths, and don’t use them to reduce your trust issues, you really are misusing them…
The Lensmen do quite a bit of winnowing, both by experience and by telepathic scanning. (It’s kind of implicit in just how much the Commander knows about all the candidates’ backgrounds and their reaction.) Plus the Arisians are backstopping the whole process, as Kinnison figures out later on. (“Haynes, just how long ago did you start getting candidates for the Lens go missing…?”)
But part of the whole setup of the series was “What if you really have an incorruptible police force?” and the books do address the issue. Samms doubts that anyone could survive without being corrupted by the power necessary to make the Galactic Patrol work; Kinnison spends some time wrestling with the ethical issues of his abilities. The Arisians are explicitly a deus ex machina to make it work, but Smith is not clueless about the issues.
(Eugenics, well, there’s a later discussion.)
I read Galactic Patrol at age 12 or so, and loved it, and sought out the rest of the series, and still re-read them. ‘Exuberant’ is a great word for the books, by the way. The prose is not exactly the preferred style of today, but I don’t think it’s bad in and of itself. Like a lot of Golden Age SF, there’s more value on plot and action than on characterization or rich symbolic phrasing, but that’s not a condemnation either. And if we blame him for some things, we might give him credit for others, such as inventing the whole idea of the peaceful multispecies Civilization, or defining sexual equality as one of its major characteristics…
As for Galactic Patrol itself, we do get quite a lot of good action — the Delgonians and Helmuth are, even by today’s standards, pretty impressive villains. There’s some care to avoid silly successes — for instance, Kinnison’s care when boarding the first pirate vessel to make it all look like an accident, which is (partly) foiled by Helmuth’s precautions against just such a thing. Kinnison succeeds at some things, and fails at others (e..g, the first attempt to probe the Wheelmen’s base), and has to work out the limits of his abilities instead of just pulling them all out of a hat. It’s a good adventure. And it leaves some room for readers to discuss the issues hovering around the background, too — the sort of worldbuilding that leads us to still be reading and arguing about things a lifetime after the books were written isn’t all that common.
@7 The Arisians explain that no one can lie through a Lens. “We are telling you that no one can lie through a Lens. And you can believe us because no one can lie through a Lens.”
The Arisians are the spiritual ancestors of the Aes Sedai in their ability to lie through their ectoplasmic teeth without actually lying.
These are by the way some of my favorite books especially in the later ones where the women stop being screaming kidnap victims and actually kick donkey (First Lensman, with the very strong character Virgilia Samms was, as you noted, written after).
There was an in-universe explanation for giving Kim the Britannia – traditional approach to solving a problem, plus ship uniqueness.
I came to Smith by way of Heinlein’s biography in Expanded Universe and snatched up everything he wrote that the SFBC put out; then hit the used book stores to find the rest that could be found. Yes, by today’s standards he is a sexist pig (my goodness; read “The Galaxy Primes”); but if you can accept Mark Twain’s language in Tom Sawyer; you should have no issues reading “Doc”.
@9 Dr. Thanatos
If I was going to create a magical prohibition on lying, I would have the oath go “I shall not speak or withhold speech with the intent to deceive or mislead others”, not “I will speak no word that is not true”.
Or you could just not have a magical prohibition on lying at all; that would be better than a “ban” that turns every member of your order into an obsessive rules lawyer who refuses to just say anything directly.
Great books. They are earlier SF, and include examples of what not to do when writing, similar to Burroughs (crazy coincidences, trying to outdo what you last wrote).
But they are Fun. And early can also mean original. Qadgop licking his way into a ship? Yeesh.
@@.-@ My favorite paperback cover is the one on the left above, with all the space suited figures attacking. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find mention of who the artist was.
@12
I especially like the scene in Second Stage Lensmen where Kinnison is standing over the body of Gharlane and demanding an explanation of why there was (what appeared before his senses to be) an Arisian in Boskone headquarters. “Hmm…Let me see” said Mentor. “I seem to recall an Arisian who went nutso a billion years or so ago and left the planet. It’s been a while so it’s not surprising that this doesn’t look like him. Mentor should have been a used car salesman…
@13 Qadgop is one of my heroes. How many modern authors can parody themselves so well?
The Lensman series is one of the two most formative series of my childhood (the other being the Oz novels by Baum). Yes, they’re old-fashioned, clunky, all sorts of things by the standards of today.
But almost every one of the “worn out cliches” that show up in Lensman were very new. Some of the things Lensman does were never done before (as far as I know, for instance, it’s the first time there’s a multi-species “federation-style” civilization shown where it wasn’t “humans have conquered everyone”. In Civilization, you can be a human or a literal 4th-dimensional indescribable monster who lives at cryogenic temperatures or a winged, fanged, multi-eyed dragon and you’re all treated the same and all valued the same, even if you have some pretty divergent values.
My Arenaverse series is, to a great extent, a really huge salute to Doc Smith’s work, trying to make something with that same titanic “sensawunda” for this era.
Alan – my version has that artwork! Slightly different paperback (Jove edition), but with that fantastic artwork of space-figures attacking. Just looked through it now and couldn’t find artist credited anywhere sadly.
This book is a cracking adventure tale and I am not ashamed to say I loved reading it. Just sometimes one is in the mood for such an exuberant (perfect word, by the way!!), adventure-filled, exotic, wholesome story…and this fits the bill almost perfectly.
I owned the Panther Books versions of this series and I absolutely adored the cover art. It didn’t always seem to relate that closely to the books, but I thought it was absolutely fantastic and still do.
Obviously that wasn’t the whole book, and it’s been many years since I’ve read it, but I do recall enjoying reading those books many times as a teenager – probably 13 to 15 years old. I didn’t know much about the concept of space opera at that age, but did enjoy the adventures of Kimball Kinnison. But I definitely think that what I liked about them was their energy and the pace at which the books went by.
What I did like though about the books was that no matter what the species or how different they might be from humans, if they had a lens then they were treated exactly the same as any other lensman. Which definitely seemed to be a different take from so much else of what was out there.
I loved these books, flaws and all, and still revisit them every few years. Guilty pleasure? Maybe. But pleasure nonetheless.
As Rothfuss says, “Anyone can love a thing because. That’s as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something despite. To know the flaws and love them too. That is rare and pure and perfect.”
So while they may be dated, and some people’s idea of terrible writing, I cannot in all honesty disown them for that. Unrealistically perfect people? Outdated science? Well that’s why it’s called fiction, I suppose. I still enjoy them.
(Besides, if I don’t say nice things about the books, Qadgop the Mercotan has threatened to pay me a visit…)
I had a friend in college named Cynthia who for some reason was not a fan of our hero Quadgop.
For the record, we did let him know that while she was in fact human, no one who valued their own health and safety would refer to her as a wench.
I read and loved the Lensman series as a boy.
The Lensman series precedes in many ways the current love by many of Marvel science fiction films.
In many ways, the Lensman series harkens back to the earliest type of storytelling.
The series provides clear good and bad characters with obvious clues as to who is good and who is bad.
The review notes rightly that there is no winnowing process that can eliminate bad people.
Yet the Lensman series makes it clear if one has read them all that in the Lensman universe there is no such winnowing process.
Rather, any Lensman can recognise even as a newborn those males who have the incorruptible virtue that makes them Lensman material.
That idea — that individuals exist with perfect character — is one found in humanity’s earliest stories and found in a variety of religions.
In many ways, the Lensman series is a religious series, with an explanation of the purpose, origin and destination of humanity, and with guides that explain that unfolding story of humanity.
The power of the Lensman series derives from its many appeals to deeply held beliefs in virtue and that humanity has an ultimate purpose, as well as to the struggles of its wholly righteous hero as he takes all of humanity towards that ultimate purpose.
@21 I never thought of the Lensman series as having aspects of religious allegory, but that is an interesting perspective.
Just finished reading “Galactic Patrol”, and while entertaining at times; felt I would have enjoyed it much more as a 13 year old boy about 80 years ago! At least I didn’t have to search it out, had the entire E.E. Smith library as part of 31 boxes of SF & fantasy that were given to me – but also couldn’t read it continuously, just too dated – co-read another more modern book to relive my frustration with “Galactic Patrol”! At least I had warning, I’d read “Skylark of Space” before; but I don’t remember finding it such hard going.
Was thinking after I’d finished it that it could almost be one of the early robot books, for all the personality the Kimball Kinnison shows; cardboard doesn’t quite describe him:) Still, worth reading just for the exposure to one of the original classics which helped create the SF genre; but I’ll probably give it at least a year rest before reading another in the series;)
#22 AlanBrown:
As I read those who dislike the series, the criticisms seem to be that Kimball Kinnison is too flat a character, much like the actual religious hagiographies of saints, incarnations of the Buddha, etc. depict individuals are are essentially entirely good and striving to be even better.
I also see criticisms that the story itself is too pat in its coincidences and unrealistic elements. That too is highly redolent of any actual religious hagiography.
Coincidences reinforce the Providential nature of events that surround the Saint.
Kimball Kinnison is leading all mankind to a new and more glorious stage through his actions and those of his family, with his children who even surpass him in their Cosmic and Transcendant importance.
He is entirely motivated by selflessness and the good of all sentient beings, and is the key figure in all of Cosmic history.
Religious tales may not appeal to all reader — many prefer a picaresque hero.
Kimball Kinnison is more ancient than that in his appeal.
His perfection and incorruptibility is his defining feature — he is incapable of being tempted or stubborned.
He possesses absolutely perfect virtue and character, and the only question is how the evil fiends will seek to destroy him, and whether they may succeed.
The reader knows that Kinnison has perfect character, yet one also knows that Kinnison is mortal and so can be physically destroyed.
Nitpicking. Either it’s a typo or a memory lapse, but the Trenco drug was thionite, not thionate.
The Marvel Avenger series are puerile by comparison. So I don’t understand the criticisms.
I hope Strazynski is able to do something with the Lensman concept.
Randall Garrett parodied Galactic Patrol in 1949. He claimed that Doc Smith loved it. It was Smith who suggested renaming the Dauntless the Dentless.
Backstage Lensman contains passages like this:
“On Leanonabar,” Ginnison continued, “I got a line through Banjo Freeko, the planetary dictator, but only after I blew up the mining industry on his planet and killed a few thousand innocent people—regretfully, of course. But I do that all the time. It revolts me, but I do it.” “What boots it?” Woozle asked. “You got your line, didn’t you? You humans are so squeamish.”
And this:
Unfortunately, the Bergenholm, while it could completely neutralize inertial mass, never quite knew what to do with gravitational mass, which seems to come and go as the circumstances require.
And this.
At Banlon’s order, all twelve Boskonian ships fired at once toward the center of their englobement, where the apparently helpless Patrol ship floated. Beams, rods, cones, stilettos, icepicks, corkscrews, knives, forks, and spoons of energy raved against the screens of the Dentless.
https://epdf.pub/randall-garrett-backstage-lensman1790c3f0f23dc8387bf0e076ce2b9ca260824.html