E. E. Smith

3 books

sort era audiobooks

First Lensman
If you can grin at 1950s pulp dialogue and heroes who are incorruptible on purpose, watching Virgil Samms trek to Arisia for the first Lens, then fight drug rings and a rigged election, is honest fun. Come to it wanting scope and momentum, not subtlety.
The Skylark of Space
You get a wonderfully pulpy blend of laboratory tinkering and interplanetary adventure, with Richard Seaton’s inventive optimism set against DuQuesne’s cold ambition. The science can be gloriously hand-wavy and the prose dated, but the sheer momentum makes it easy to see why space-opera writers kept returning to it.
Triplanetary
You get unapologetic early space opera: Conway Costigan and Clio Marsden hurtle through interplanetary intrigue while civilizations become pieces in a much larger struggle. The science is gloriously dated and the prose can be blunt, but the scale keeps expanding until ordinary adventure feels cosmically important.

3 books

sort era audiobooks

First Lensman
If you can grin at 1950s pulp dialogue and heroes who are incorruptible on purpose, watching Virgil Samms trek to Arisia for the first Lens, then fight drug rings and a rigged election, is honest fun. Come to it wanting scope and momentum, not subtlety.
The Skylark of Space
You get a wonderfully pulpy blend of laboratory tinkering and interplanetary adventure, with Richard Seaton’s inventive optimism set against DuQuesne’s cold ambition. The science can be gloriously hand-wavy and the prose dated, but the sheer momentum makes it easy to see why space-opera writers kept returning to it.
Triplanetary
You get unapologetic early space opera: Conway Costigan and Clio Marsden hurtle through interplanetary intrigue while civilizations become pieces in a much larger struggle. The science is gloriously dated and the prose can be blunt, but the scale keeps expanding until ordinary adventure feels cosmically important.