The Universes of E. E. Smith

Book excerpt: This is the definitive concordance to the epic "Lensman" and "Skylark" novels with which the late "Doc" Smith enthralled science fiction readers for so many years. Edward E. Smith stood unchallenged as the inventor and foremost author of science fiction interstellar stories on the grand scale. He was known as the man who opened the Galaxy to science fiction. He wrote The Skylark of Space in 1920, but the vastness of its concepts was so far in advance of the rudimentary science fiction of the time that it was not sold until 1927, to the newly founded Amazing Stories. This comprehensive concordance has entries for characters, places, events, and many other topics in the "Lensman" and "Skylark" novels. The entries range from only a few words for such minor subjects as "X-plosive" to almost six pages for "Kinnison, Kimball." Both scholarly and sprightly, it is intended for those with nostalgic affection for the "space opera" days of science fiction's early youth when intergalactic adventure was brand new. The book includes a bibliography by Al Lewis and black-and-white illustrations by Bjo.