Masters of Space EE "Doc" Smith 9781484852644 Books
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Masters of Space EE "Doc" Smith 9781484852644 Books
E. Everett Evans (1893- 1958) was a science fiction fan and a minor science fiction writer, the author of the mild sf adventures, _Man of Many Minds_ (1953) and _Many Minds_ (1955). Evans started work on another sf novel in the fifties, _Masters of Space_. He finished a first draft of the novel, but died before he could finish a polished version. His friend Edward E. "Doc" Smith (1890- 1965) revised and polished the novel in a posthumous collaboration. It was first published as a two-part serial in _If_ in 1961-1962. It was not published in book form until 1976, some eleven years after Smith's death.Though Smith is generally listed as the senior author in the collaboration, most of the strengths and weaknesses of the novel have more to do with the original manuscript by Evans than by anything in Smith's revision. Smith polished, but did not drastically alter, Evans' original original novel (Evans, 2004).
The most obvious strength of this novel is the style. It is a bit less turgid and slangy and incoherent than many other Smith novels. The third planet from the sun is called "Earth" or "Terra," not some obscure nickname. The pages are not riddled with awful substitutions for the word "okay". Lines of dialogue are-- if not exactly dazzling-- at least readable. They give the sense of extended conversation. There are not quite so many phrases like "clear ether" or "blow my jets" or "I read you to the eleventh decimal place". Having read my share of Doc Smith novels, these improvements are not to be sneezed at.
However, when E.E. Smith was at his best (as with the Lensman stories ), he had some virtues to compensate for his stylistic flaws. He sometimes had a strong sense of story. Nobody could spin a space battle sequence or handle action better than Doc Smith. And he was also good with scientific doubletalk.
Evans, alas, seems to be good at none of these things. His basic story isn't really very interesting. His battles are few, far between, and quickly described. They generate no great suspense or drama. The amount of hard science in the novel could be put on the head of a pin.
We have a space opera that is a bit short on action and a bit long on sequences between characters in the form of conversations, arguments, philosophical discussions and sexual escapades of the Terran characters, who seem to have replaced a long-ago race known as the Masters of Space as top dogs in the Galaxy.
This sort of thing might work, if the characters were well-drawn and consistent. Unfortunately, such is not the case. For example, one of the characters is a Captain Sawtelle. We are _told_ that Sawtelle is a pompous, hidebound, bungler who needs to be put in his place. But aside from a bit of blustering early in the novel, Sawtelle doesn't _act_ particularly unintelligent. On the other hand, we are _told_ that many of the other characters have Phds. and are the cream of Terra's intellectual elite. But they _act_ like a band of immature adolescents, and it is rather hard to distinguish one of them from another.
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Masters of Space EE "Doc" Smith 9781484852644 Books Reviews
I really enjoy reading Science Fiction by E.E. "Doc" Smith. This is one that I had not read before so it was a good add to my collection. I really enjoy older Science Fiction.
I picked this one up thinking it was a 'Doc' Smith piece that I had previously missed. While it isn't by Smith, as a bit of space opera fantasy, it works nicely.
I have been looking for this book for YEARS. Read it as a young teen, when I picked it up a our local library by accident. Discovered the world of scifi and moved from there to Paranormal and future suspense. Can say the book is Very outdated but realize the amount of new science achieved in 50 years. It still can surprise us today.
I liked this for what it was. A bit dated in style as expected (think 1950s) but entertaining. Reminded me of the absolute nerd I was when I read this kind of stuff in the 60s.
E. Everett Evans died in the mid-1950s, leaving an unfinished space opera, MASTERS OF SPACE, which was supposedly completed by his friend E. E. Smith. It's a fairly rare book in its original hardback edition. This version is based on the text serialized in IF Magazine circa 1960.
It's hard to believe any trace of Evans' original survives, because what we have here is very pure "Doc" Smith. Probably Evans contributed no more than the basic plot framework, of an expedition of interstellar exploration encountering a whole planet of friendly androids who just burn to gratify the earthmen's every whim and desire.
Unlike in Evans' previous novels, such as MAN OF MANY MINDS and ALIEN MINDS, which have no female characters whatsoever, here we have an interstellar expedition staffed by equal numbers of male and female scientists, all of whom are at the peak of physical perfection. As in almost all of Smith's novels, the earthlings step into a war between their new friends, the androids, and an emotionless race of hideously inhuman creatures, the Stretts, who ultimately plan to conquer all "civilized planets."
An unusual touch is that the only way the hero can figure to win the war is to have all the expedition scientists be reborn as androids. Smith has considerable fun with the various consequences of this transformation. As in most Smith space operas, the war is basically over once the earthmen develop various preposterous supernatural powers to the fullest... but there are still a number of space battles, where the adjectives required to describe colossal explosions and related consequences of deploying high-tech weapons soar far into the purple.
I read the whole, fairly short novel in a single sitting, and I enjoyed it, but I enjoy everything written by "Doc" Smith. If you don't like "Doc," you won't enjoy this at all, because it is 100% pure-quill "Doc." Produced in the late 1950s, it really comes intellectually and culturally from the 1930s.
Doc Smith was the Grandfather of this genre. To bad he did not do a hundred of them.Even though he was the Grandfather of this. He remains the best that ever was or ever will be. These are the Greatest Story's ever written.
dray
I read and loved E. E. Smiths books decades ago and this one is one of the best. The style and pacing are a little dated but still excellent even after all these years. Fast paced and well plotted with very good character development. Smith is one of the classic masters of science fiction. Buy it even if you read it years ago, its worth the price. My old original copies got lost or fell apart in my various moves, so an ebook is a deal.
John Jordan
E. Everett Evans (1893- 1958) was a science fiction fan and a minor science fiction writer, the author of the mild sf adventures, _Man of Many Minds_ (1953) and _Many Minds_ (1955). Evans started work on another sf novel in the fifties, _Masters of Space_. He finished a first draft of the novel, but died before he could finish a polished version. His friend Edward E. "Doc" Smith (1890- 1965) revised and polished the novel in a posthumous collaboration. It was first published as a two-part serial in _If_ in 1961-1962. It was not published in book form until 1976, some eleven years after Smith's death.
Though Smith is generally listed as the senior author in the collaboration, most of the strengths and weaknesses of the novel have more to do with the original manuscript by Evans than by anything in Smith's revision. Smith polished, but did not drastically alter, Evans' original original novel (Evans, 2004).
The most obvious strength of this novel is the style. It is a bit less turgid and slangy and incoherent than many other Smith novels. The third planet from the sun is called "Earth" or "Terra," not some obscure nickname. The pages are not riddled with awful substitutions for the word "okay". Lines of dialogue are-- if not exactly dazzling-- at least readable. They give the sense of extended conversation. There are not quite so many phrases like "clear ether" or "blow my jets" or "I read you to the eleventh decimal place". Having read my share of Doc Smith novels, these improvements are not to be sneezed at.
However, when E.E. Smith was at his best (as with the Lensman stories ), he had some virtues to compensate for his stylistic flaws. He sometimes had a strong sense of story. Nobody could spin a space battle sequence or handle action better than Doc Smith. And he was also good with scientific doubletalk.
Evans, alas, seems to be good at none of these things. His basic story isn't really very interesting. His battles are few, far between, and quickly described. They generate no great suspense or drama. The amount of hard science in the novel could be put on the head of a pin.
We have a space opera that is a bit short on action and a bit long on sequences between characters in the form of conversations, arguments, philosophical discussions and sexual escapades of the Terran characters, who seem to have replaced a long-ago race known as the Masters of Space as top dogs in the Galaxy.
This sort of thing might work, if the characters were well-drawn and consistent. Unfortunately, such is not the case. For example, one of the characters is a Captain Sawtelle. We are _told_ that Sawtelle is a pompous, hidebound, bungler who needs to be put in his place. But aside from a bit of blustering early in the novel, Sawtelle doesn't _act_ particularly unintelligent. On the other hand, we are _told_ that many of the other characters have Phds. and are the cream of Terra's intellectual elite. But they _act_ like a band of immature adolescents, and it is rather hard to distinguish one of them from another.
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