| Title | : | Skylark Three (Skylark, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0803293038 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780803293038 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 249 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1930 |
Featuring even more technological wizardry, alien worlds, and all-out action than its predecessor, Skylark Three is hailed by many as the imaginative high point of the Skylark series.
Skylark Three (Skylark, #2) Reviews
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2024 Solo Series Read
As I commented in 2019, this is a really fine example of Golden Age Space Opera, yes it is dated, both in terms of its science and also its language, but you have to remember it is now 95 years since it was published and it certainly does not feel that old. Amazingly sexism is not really present, Professor Seaton’s wife Dorothy is a consummate violin player even if she is sometimes scared of the adventures they have, but as a loving couple they see things through together.
A great story in which Seaton and Crane enlist the help of benign peaceful but ultimately older races in the universe to rid the galaxy of the dreaded Fenachrone. Some of these older races treat human kind as the newcomers and youngsters on the block but ultimately see the good in our race and help the Prof defeat the dreaded baddies.
A simple concept but well written and truly action packed
2019 Solo Series Read
So this is the second book in the series and carries on from where the first left off. DuQuesne is still up to his old tricks in terms of trying to stitch up Seaton and Crane. As usual he is never going to win as Seaton is at least two steps ahead him.
In this book Seaton and his allies are threatened by an evil race from halfway across the galaxy, he must amalgamated all the knowledge of his allies on Osmone and search out further knowledge from a mysterious race in the same multi Sun solar system. With all this knowledge he hopes to have the power to compete against the dreaded Fenachrone.
This book is again a rock n roll ride of a Space Opera and very nearly hits the 5 stars level, but not quite. Yes it is dated, but if one accepts that and one enjoys Space Opera, then it's a great book to read. -
Although the title of this volume is Skylark Three and would suggest that it is the third novel in the “Skylark” series by E. E. “Doc” Smith, it is actually the second book in the series. The “Three” in the title refers to the third iteration of the eponymous spaceship. From an early novella in Amazing Stories, this is an intriguing episode where an earlier science extrapolates intriguing possibilities. Skylark Three is ultimately based on an ethereal or aethereal cosmic theory (where there is an “ether” or “aether” comprised of electromagnetic density and elasticity between objects in space). The ultimate solution in this story involves manipulating the ether and it didn’t happen as I anticipated. As a result, I thought it was an interesting explanation.
It was so interesting that the famous John W. Campbell (whose famous apartments are now a special entertainment space above Grand Central Station and have appeared in at least one movie) wrote a letter to the author debunking the idea of an ammonia “cooling” system and using red paint to protect against UV radiation. He also disputed the author’s gravitational calculations. Where I was anticipating a pulp adventure, I was actually getting a taste of hard science fiction.
In this novel, DuQuesne goes off into space to find a counter to the superior defenses the protagonists had discovered and developed in the first story. The good guys, Seaton and Crane, discover that their allies on one of the green planets are dealing with a warmongering invader culture with superior arms and, as a result, Seaton and Crane set off to find a superior technology to nullify this threat. Naturally, one expects the two quests for superior technology and weaponry to dovetail. This perceived event doesn’t happen exactly as one might expect.
Reading these novels is fascinating to me because of the archaic words used. I won’t even try to explain the slang, as there are numerous phrases I’ve never read before. Probably the most innocuous of these was, “…we ain’t out of the woods, yet, by forty-seven rows of apple trees.” (p. 176) However, I had never read the term “coign of vantage” (p. 43) before (that I remember). It apparently can mean an advantageous viewing point. It was also entertaining to read a word I haven’t seen in decades, “You sniveling coward! You pusillanimous bookworm!” (p. 259).
There were also some phrases that I found particularly nice. I liked, “That’s one penalty fo being human. We can’t live in high altitudes all our lives—if we could there would be no thrill in ascending them so often.” (p. 45) I also liked his perspective on the possibility of a transcendent entity (usually known as “God”), “And whether we delve baffled into the unknown smallness of the small, or whether we peer, blind and helpless, into the unknown largeness of the large, it is the same—infinity is comprehensible only to the Infinite One: the all-shaping Force directing and controlling the Universe and the knowable Sphere.” (pp. 174-5) I also agree with his assessment that “You also know that ever folk-legend has some basis, however tenuous, in fact.” (p. 109) One might even allege that “Doc” Smith even anticipated the self-driving cars being developed today “…a ray serving a dboule purpose. It held the vessel upon its predetermined course through that thick and sticky fog and also rendered collision impossible, since any two of these controller rays repelled each other to such a degree that no two vessels could take paths which would bring them together.” (p. 262)
Unlike the distinguished science-fiction editor, the late Mr. Campbell, I was fascinated by the idea of building machines using the existing forces of nature (sort of a ‘30s era nanotechnology) and my only complaint was the apparent demise of a supporting character who, I believe, appears in a later story—in spite of being annihilated. Oh, well. I keep forgetting that this was also the era of film serials with cliffhanger endings and surprise flashbacks. Guess I’ll have to wait until later to judge. -
This is a book entirely devoid of irony. The heroes are upstanding corn-fed Americans, the enemies are dastardly conquest-fueled aliens, the day will be won with the intelligent application of SCIENCE!, and the dialogue is so corny that movie theaters can coat it in nasty ersatz butter sauce and sell it by the fattening tub.
Everything you need to know about Smith's gender politics is shown in an early scene: the menfolk grapple with the fundamental forces of the universe and bend SCIENCE! to their will, while their wives knit and eat chocolates.
But Smith's sheer ernestness is enthralling. Issues of gender equality or ethics or characterization or anything resembling adherence to actual physics is blasted out of the way as the story rockets toward the inevitable genocidal showdown. Even his worst excesses of weirdly fetishistic details of the technology and science become so much roadkill in the path of this unstoppable monster. -
All the qualms I had with The Skylark of Space are present in its sequel to an even greater extent. The plot is predictable and boring, the dialogue is laughable, the characters are all one-dimensional, and the author devotes way too much time developing technologies and scientific theories to keep any semblance of an interesting story. Don't waste your time with this one.
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Wow did this one go all out. The Hero's kill so many in this story. Like mass genecide whole planets. It is getting a bit silly with all the new magic "force" science
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This was read for the World at War Challenge I am doing and fills in a square for a book first published in the years 1925 to 1930. Despite the title this is the second in the Skylark series. Of course the Seaton’s and the Crane’s reappear in this story as well as Shiro, Martin Crane’s servant. Also returning is Dumark and his wife Sitar, their Osnomian friends. Also here is Blackie DuQuesne, however he never crosses paths with Seaton and company. Instead our villains are a new race, the Fenachrone, who are determined to conquer the universe, believing it to be their destiny. Richard Seaton undertakes a quest to attain the knowledge needed to defeat this enemy and also has a new ship built for his use, the Skylark of the title.
I admit I am not sure about the science in this book. It may be possible but at time it does seem Smith is stretching things to tell a story. However I am not complaining as I enjoyed the story. It did at times seem to bog down for a bit as Smith explained what was going on. However as we are dealing with science that is going in new directions I daresay this is understandable. And of course once we get heading towards the climax then off we go at breakneck speed. What was not for a fan back then to love.
In summary if you wish to find out what Sci-Fi was like back in the day then you should give this series, and Smith’s work in general a try. -
Original: I got about halfway through this one and kind of gave up on this series. It's definitely not as good as the Lensmen series, which is little surprise since this was written first. It's main problem is the dialog. Nobody ever spoke like these characters. They sound like rejects from a campy 1930's film. The science part of the science fiction is very dated too and I find it a bit painful to read. I'd rather have less detail on the science fiction then this wildly inaccurate stuff.
New: I just listened to this on audio book (got for free from library). I stick by my review above, however, I'll upgrade it to 2 stars. The narrator gets the style just right to capture the characters, and listening to it is a lot easier than plowing through the endless pages of scientific nonsense with my eyes. -
Definitely a classic, and so very enjoyable, Skylark Three gives us another dose of unbelievable and fantastic science that is almost miraculous in it's application. The characters are still larger than life, too perfect, and pompous sounding... but this is still a fun story to read -- even when xenocide is being committed.
More so than in the first book the language and pseudo-science gives a dated feel to Skylark Three and seems to have been written for a younger audience. At the same time however, it is more consistent in style and narration yet something about it makes you feel the youthful enthusiasm E.E. Smith appears to have had in writing it. -
Storyline: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing Style: 2/5
World: 2/5
After finishing The Skylark of Space I remarked, only partially in jest, that Smith compressed nearly all of science fiction ideas - past and future - into a single, short text. He proved me wrong. What was left out of the first made it into the second, and we get another book of spectacular technological escalation.
Smith seemed to have believed that the minor character development of his first was sufficient to cover this second, and there was little to distinguish the characters here from robots or from each other. It was as if the adventure story was wanted but the presence of adventurers was an afterthought. That adventure story, however, was more coherent than in the first Skylark book. There is a plot, revealed near the beginning, that Smith mostly sticks to until the end. There were some surprising moments of real technological trouble shooting and social-theoretical musings. One can see how these themes would be picked up in later generations and turned into hard science fiction and speculative fiction. Whatever small differences between this and the first though, they are of a consistent identity and are prime examples of classic pulp science fiction. This is a story for good ole' boys and a call back to the golden age. Back to an era when women delighted in being adornments and civilized white men, on a whim and despite their ignorance, were entitled to decide the fate of millions. Back to an era where entire civilizations could be judged from the characteristics of a few representatives and genocide a reasonable solution to threats. It is not so much that I object to such stories or characters like this. I have a real sympathy for books being understood in their time. It is astonishing, however, to read portions like this and realize that Smith was completely oblivious:“Do you remember, Dick, that I hailed you once as Columbus at San Salvador?” asked Margaret unsteadily from Crane’s encircling arms. “What could a man be called who from the sheer depths of his imagination called forth the means of saving from destruction all the civilizations of millions of entire worlds?”
There is not an ounce of irony in that; no self-awareness of what it says about our characters. Hence why this is a book for the good ole' boys who want to gallivant around the universe playing hero without any concern for untoward repercussions. -
Skylark Three is the second in the Skylark series, named after the third Skylark spaceship. (In
The Skylark of Space, Seaton and Crane build the Skylark and go on space adventures; on the planet of Osnome they rebuild the ship into Skylark Two.) Responding to requests for aid from the Osnomians, Seaton, Crane, their wives and Crane's Japanese man-servant Shiro head out into space where they run into a scout cruiser of the supermen of Fenachrone. These guys want to conquer the galaxy and kill everyone who is not like them.
To stop them Seaton goes on a tour of planets looking for superior science and technology to beat them. He finds it on Norlamin, a peaceful planet of scientists, far advanced beyond other planets, due to their great age as a race. They do not have the mysterious metal X which they call Rovolon, so haven’t been able to put their theories into practice. Seaton has lots of it. They team up!
There’s some interesting stuff here about frequencies and orders of forces, Seaton having to leave a gap in his shields at one frequency to see out. There’s some even more interesting stuff about how the Norlaminians are so advanced as to be too pacifist to fight Fenachrone (though they build the weapons to do so). Their society, runs on (fairly) strict time limits, so that when the bell for the time of work sounds, they stop for the day, and go on to exercise or pleasure or something.
They’re still kind of sexist though, so some things haven’t changed in the thousands of years since they were equivalent to circa 1930.
Read This: For pulpy space adventure with – just – a bit more thought put into the use of forces, rays and automation than the usual.
Don’t Read This: If crazy genocidal space wars are not your thing. -
This book is the second part of the four-book “Skylark” series. I started reading it straight after “Skylark of Space”. From the first book it doesn’t seem as if Smith originally intended this to be a series, but I guess that the first book (or at least its serialisation in a magazine of the time) was successful enough to prompt a follow-up.
The formula is similar, but this time the challenges are even bigger and the responses of the heroes, particularly Richard Seaton are even more superhuman. We get the now-familiar gosh-wow travels to new planets and races, sprinkled with Smith’s meritocratic, manifest destiny philosophy, followed by a lengthy tooling and training montage before some ethically questionable genocide.
In the first book, the primary antagonist (Marc DuQuesne) was a kind of evil twin of Seaton, with the same background and skills but less compassion (not that Seaton has much). In this book, DuQuesne is still around, but with all Seaton’s power-ups he is much less of a threat, and is effectively sidelined by the end of the book. Unfortunately, this removes much of the opportunity for moral reflection. The book polarises into a universe of “good” (i.e willing to embrace Seaton as “overlord”) and “bad” (i.e determined to win at the expense of all others) races. As the book progresses, the “bad” are exterminated, down to the last individual. This, apparently, is something worth celebrating at the end of the book. -
In this sequel to The Skylark of Space, Dick Seaton receives a visit from his friend and ally Dunark, ruler of the planet Osnome where much of the action of the previous book took place. He requests Seaton's help to deal with a new threat to his home planet.
On the way there however a new menace emerges in the form of a new alien race, the evil Fenachrone, super strong and ruthless beings who are bent on conquering the galaxy. Realising that they lack the ability to take on a stronger and technologically superior enemy, Seaton and his friends tour the other planets in the "Green System" of which Osnome is part, looking for a more advanced race who might be able to help them.
Much of the book reads like a travelogue as they tour the planets of the Green System, meeting various races (including the porpoise-like men of Dasor) until they find the ancient intellectual people of Norlamin who are able to provide the necessary knowledge which is used to build the mighty warship Skylark Three that takes the fight to the enemy.
Like its predecessor, this book is an enjoyable, light weight read, This time with more space battles and new alien races as well as the spectacular settings. One inconsistency that annoyed me a little was the time taken traveling from planet to planet - in the first book it is established that their ships can travel hundreds of light years in a matter of hours, yet it takes days or weeks for them to move between the planets of the same solar system.
Other than that, an enjoyable piece of classic space opera. -
It's difficult for me to rate this book "honestly". I read it once as a child, once as a teen and again a few years ago. I was thrilled as a child in the 60s, intrigues as a teen in the early 70s and amused as an adult in the mid 2000s. Wow! I missed all that misogyny and hidden bigoty/prejudice as a child and teen. Or was it simply that's how everyone (in my limited world) thought at the time and therefore it didn't catch me?
But is it a rip-roaring space opera? Oh, yes. A fun (if not necessarily good) read? Yes. And much of what E.E. "Doc" Smith write about became working elements in the technologies I patented and codin methods I developed (example: "Never forget that it is a waste of time to do the same thing twice, and that if you know precisely what is to be done, you need not do it personally at all. Forces are faster than human hands, they are tireless and they neither slip nor make mistakes." - Rovol to Seaton in Skylark Three). -
The Skylark Three is the second of four novels in Smith's Skylark series. The three in the title refers to the third spaceship they built. Like most Smith novels, it moves along with a lot of action. Overlord Seaton of the Central System deals with interplanetary war between the planets of the system. Then the monstrous Fenachrone race is introduced, and they threaten the whole galaxy with conquest. Only Seaton can stop them! If you ever wanted to know what pulp fiction of the classic age of science fiction is like, this series is a good place to start. Smith is regarded as the "Father of Space Opera", and this is where he started.
I read this as part of a collection "The Works of E.E. "Doc" Smith" -
Skylark 3 is interestingly enough the sequel to Skylark 1. There is a Skylark 2 spaceship in between the two, but it is useful in so far as it takes Seaton et al to the aliens who help them build Skylark 3. The good guys come across a rather nasty alien race, the Fenachrone, who want to take over the universe and eliminate all the other races. Everyone agrees that is not an optimal outcome, so they build Skylark 3 and arm it with 5th order rays and do a good job of xenocide on the Fenachrone.
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I listened to this from Audiovox as read by Richard Kilmer. A fun story, but it drags at times with expounding on imaginary science.
Once again, the treatment of women was embarrassing, but I know that was a 1920's prevailing opinion.
If I go on with the series, it will be because the next book is called Skylark Duquesne. He supposedly dies in this book, but he's too great a villain to let go. -
The second of Doc Smith's Skylark novels, Richard Seaton and Martin Crane, together with their wives, are back in space on their ship Skylark Three. They end up going to the planet Osnome which is being threatened with a war by another planet, but then an even worse threat appears, the reptilian Fenachrone, which forces the erstwhile enemy planets to join forces to defeat them. A great pulp space opera read from the early 1930's.
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This book was OK. Once again it was quite an interesting plot but Smith is certainly keen on planetary genocide which is not particularly politically correct but I suppose it was a sign of the times. There was also a long part of the book that concerned the acquisition by macho Earthlings of a fantasy science that was clever but that has no basis in physics and that I found quite boring.
Despite all this I enjoy the series sufficiently that I will finish it - eventually. -
Continuano le avvincenti avventure intergalattiche iniziate nei primi due libri; è un ciclo godibile, anche se mostra l'ingenuità degli anni in cui fu scritto, Mi ha lasciato solo un po' deluso il finale: si vede cosa farà l'antagonista, ma nessuno sguardo di come affronteranno il futuro i protagonisti.
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Well, this one is really bad. Part of it is the lack of DuQuesne who is more nuanced than pretty much any Smith character that I’ve read. I actually enjoyed his new ally too, but they are in very little of this. Instead, there are new random lame villains, and our heroes spend most of their time spewing technobabble and making the titular Skylark Three ship. I hope the next one’s better…
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Confusing title for a second installment aside. It continues the trend of being an enjoyable, if slightly low tension space opera. The lead characters has a bit of a Mary Sue thing going on but given the style of the book. Though he seems suspiciously ok with genocide.
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Wasn't as good as the first one in the series. It did keep my interest but was a bit slow at times.
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Reluctantly gave up on this book at the 70% mark. The story started out interestingly enough, but got bogged down in page after page of boring technology development and pseudoscience jibber jabber.
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I cannot improve on what Johnny said. I was also a big fan of John Campbell and was upset when he debunked Doc.
