Skylark of Valeron (The Skylark Series)

Rating:
Summary: The Master of Space Opera
Review: E.E. "Doc" Smith wrote space opera better than anyone before or sense. Leave your sense of disbelief behind and hop aboard the "Skylark" series! Personally, I liked "Skylark" better than Smith's other top series ("Lensmen") because it was just plain more darned fun, less pretentious, more focussed on heroic heroes and dastardly villans, not so much on cosmic concepts etc. In both series, Smith tries to top his previous book with even greater heroics (blow up a planet? a star? a galaxy?) which can lead to a problem in the later volumes. In "Valeron" Smith tries adding the fourth dimension (which makes his one-dimension characters two-dimensional, almost) which ends up being a lot of fun.

Don't read this expecting anything as deep as, say, "Star Wars" but do have fun!

(But I suggest reading the other books in the series first, starting with "The Skylark of Space"

Rating:
Summary: Weakest of series
Review: E.E. "Doc" Smith wrote space opera better than anyone before or since. Leave your sense of disbelief behind and hop aboard the "Skylark" series!

Personally, I liked "Skylark" better than Smith's other top series ("Lensmen") because it was just plain more darned fun, less pretentious, more focussed on heroic heroes and dastardly villans, and didn't reach so much to cosmic concepts.

In both series, Smith tries to top his previous book with even greater heroics (last time we blew up a planet, so this time we'll blow up a star and next time a galaxy!) This can lead to problems in the later volumes as he runs out of superlatives ... but have no fear! In "Valeron" Smith tries adding the FOURTH dimension to play in (which makes his one-dimension characters two-dimensional, almost.) It ends up being a lot of fun.

Don't read this expecting anything as deep as, say, "Star Wars" <g> but do have a good time!

(But I STRONGLY suggest reading the other books in the series first, starting with "The Skylark of Space" because the background will help.)

Rating:
Summary: The Master of Space Opera
Review: E.E. "Doc" Smith wrote space opera better than anyone before or sense. Leave your sense of disbelief behind and hop aboard the "Skylark" series! Personally, I liked "Skylark" better than Smith's other top series ("Lensmen") because it was just plain more darned fun, less pretentious, more focussed on heroic heroes and dastardly villans, not so much on cosmic concepts etc. In both series, Smith tries to top his previous book with even greater heroics (blow up a planet? a star? a galaxy?) which can lead to a problem in the later volumes. In "Valeron" Smith tries adding the fourth dimension (which makes his one-dimension characters two-dimensional, almost) which ends up being a lot of fun.

Don't read this expecting anything as deep as, say, "Star Wars" <g> but do have fun!

(But I suggest reading the other books in the series first, starting with "The Skylark of Space"

Rating:
Summary: a set of books that are fun to read
Review: i first read the skylark and lensmen books in 1959, i was 19 years old. i have saved them and reread them every 8 to 10 years and i enjoy them as much today as i did 43 years ago.

Rating:
Summary: a set of books that are fun to read
Review: i first read the skylark and lensmen books in 1959, i was 19 years old. i have saved them and reread them every 8 to 10 years and i enjoy them as much today as i did 43 years ago.

Rating:
Summary: THE SKYLARK SERIES
Review: I HAVE READ THE SKYLARK SERIES MANY TIMES FIRST AT AGE 14 AND NOW AT THE AGE OF 54 AND IT IS STILL AS FANTASTIC NOW AS IT WAS BACK THEN.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect hero, fun plot
Review: I read this book and the following series about seven years ago, but still find myself reflecting on it all the time. I'm not really even sure why; I think it may be because the story is just really neat (sorry I can't think of a big-word term, but I think neat describes it perfectly). The main character is so perfect, masculine, and brilliant, that it's practically laughable, but for some reason, he's a hero that I'd really like to get to know. The book is a bit sexist as well - the women are smart and capable, but are nothing compared to the men. Nevertheless, all of this aside, it's just a great, entertaining story. Really good for people who are interested in a "perfect hero" sort of story.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect hero, fun plot
Review: I read this book and the following series about seven years ago, but still find myself reflecting on it all the time. I'm not really even sure why; I think it may be because the story is just really neat (sorry I can't think of a big-word term, but I think neat describes it perfectly). The main character is so perfect, masculine, and brilliant, that it's practically laughable, but for some reason, he's a hero that I'd really like to get to know. The book is a bit sexist as well - the women are smart and capable, but are nothing compared to the men. Nevertheless, all of this aside, it's just a great, entertaining story. Really good for people who are interested in a "perfect hero" sort of story.

Rating:
Summary: Giant Computers do it ALL!
Review: If you're a computer geek, this is probably the best of the 4 books - I mean, just imagine a computer that's a mile in diameter and then think about how big a website THAT could host ;).

I don't know - the very first SF book I ever read was Skylark 3 (bought it at Woolco in Dover DE in probably 1972/73, maybe? anyway) so I'm a sucker for Doc's "style" anyway (and now you know why I'm not a published writer either - oh, wait, I am - but just boring programming books ;)).

Anyway - I'd have to recommend this book for anybody that likes blowing up planets and stopping time and ethereal omnipotent 6th dimension entities or just a really cool book that'll take you away from the troubles of the day.

So buy it already!

Rating:
Summary: Weakest of series
Review: Superscientist Richard Seaton is lost in intergalactic space. His archenemy Marc DuQuesne plans to kill Seaton and conquer Earth. Space opera battle and excitement? Well, no. In this, the weakest of the Skylark series, DuQuesne's plotting and scheming mesmerizes the reader, but Seaton is lost in conflict with three sets of increasingly boring aliens. The long-awaited showdown becomes an anticlimax. (Smith, to his credit, realized that his villain had stolen the show when it came time to write the next book.)