lthough Triplanetary is the first in a series of six Lensmen books, it's actually one of two novels devoted to back story. As the foreword to this volume explains, the original Lensmen series was only four books long and began with Galactic Patrol. Triplanetary and its sequel First Lensmen were retrofitted to the series so that E.E. "Doc" Smith could explain to readers the grand machinations that lay behind the main plot in the four core books.
Triplanetary itself (portions of which originally appeared as a series of stories in Amazing Stories in 1934) is broken up into 19 chapters, divided into three sub-books titled "Dawn," "The World War" and "Triplanetary." "Dawn" tells the story of two mighty races, the noble Arisians and the evil Eddorians, who first met two thousand million years ago when two great galaxies collided. The Arisians saw right away that the Eddorians were bent on subjugating all life in the universe, and they also knew that they themselves could not ultimately destroy the Eddorian threat. Instead they used their great mental powers to erase all knowledge of themselves from the Eddorians' minds, giving themselves time to breed a new species capable of dealing with the Eddorian menace.
"Dawn" and "The World War" examine the efforts of the Arisians as they allow various civilizations on various planets to grow into maturity, only to let the Eddorians strike them down. Eventually, when a particular species reaches a certain stage of development, the Arisians will step into the limelight to prevent the Eddorians from interfering, giving that species the leeway it needs to grow into the race that will one day destroy the Eddorians. "Triplanetary" picks up the tale at this point, detailing the creation of the Triplanetary Service, an organization of men and women who will one day form the great Galactic Patrol.
Wow! Bang! Pop! Zow!
The Lensmen saga--originally published by Fantasy Press between 1948 and 1954--is widely regarded as the grandest space opera story ever told, a rollicking, non-stop adventure of sweeping proportions and epic scale. Triplanetary eventually lives up to those praises, but first readers will have to plow through some of Smith's slightly less action-packed back story (which includes several semi-autobiographical chapters). In fact, the first third of the book is a hodgepodge of these stories, which range from mini-adventures to out-and-out exposition.
Once Smith finishes setting the stage--at the end of page 101--the main story begins in earnest. That's when readers meet Conway Costigan, a James Bond-esque adventurer who is the consummate man's man, an accomplisher of daring good bolstered by impeccable moral standards. It is here that the space opera really starts, and from this point until the end of the novel there's no mistaking who wears the white hats (Costigan and crew) and who the black. In Smith's world, the good guys are all good (despite the occasional "hard decision" they may have to make) and the bad guys are all bad. The stakes are always high, the villains ever greater in number and the heroes driven to new heights of impossible bravery and wondrous accomplishments.
This is the space opera readers have heard so much about, and Smith's writing is more than up to the task of telling the story. He continually piles on the adjectives, pitting obliterating zones of force against shrieking beams of destruction as hurtling spaceships flicker hither and yon, piloted by burly young men out to save the universe from ultimate evil. The good characters are an amiable and able group that readers will like instantly, and the whole story is just plain fun to read. And while the science is fast and loose, and the plots often equally so, the pace of the story is so relentless that it's hard to notice any quibbles. The biggest problem with this book is that, once it gets going, it's hard to put down.
