LENSMAN FAQ (updated version 3, 7May93)
Gharlane of Eddore
Well, since a couple of folks have been asking "LENSMAN" questions,
and getting them mis-answered, here's the semisemifinal faq version...
=====================================================================
Subject: LENSMAN FAQ (semi-semi-final, nearly penultimate version)
Source: ghar...@nextnet.ccs.csus.edu (C) 1993
warning: This sucker is approx 330 lines
CONTENTS:
QUESTION #0: WHAT IS THE "LENSMAN" SERIES?
QUESTION #1: HOW MANY BOOKS ARE THERE IN THE 'LENSMAN' SERIES?
QUESTION #2: WAS ANOTHER BOOK PLANNED AFTER 'CHILDREN OF THE LENS?'
QUESTION #3: ISN'T "MASTERS OF THE VORTEX" PART OF THE SERIES?
QUESTION #4: WHAT OTHER BOOKS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE "LENSMAN" UNIVERSE?
QUESTION #5: WHAT ABOUT THE "LENSMAN" MOVIE and COMICS?
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QUESTION #0: WHAT IS THE "LENSMAN" SERIES?
The "Lensman" series is a set of books concerning the most noble
set of Good Guys ever to run loose in Science Fiction. A Lensman
is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent; and well-educated,
athletic, and noble to boot.
The "Lens" is an artifact worn on the wrist; it's a telepathic
amplifier and universal translator, and it's keyed to the individual
Lensman who owns it; it will kill anyone else who tries to put it on.
Lensman fight the arch-villains of the universe, and each time they
eradicate a big, bad set of villains, they discover the villains
they've just vanquished were merely fronts for bigger, badder villains;
this goes on until they identify, and extirpate, the Evillest Villains
In Two Universes, leaving both universes safe for Truth, Justice, and
The Civilized Way.
The series was created by Edward E. Smith, PhD ( 2 May 1890 --
1 Sep 1965). Smith's primary education took place around the
turn of the century, and his writing style reflected this.
His use of language might be considered florid by modern standards,
but his unabashed command of vocabulary and complex sentence structure
are quite enjoyable, particularly when you realize that what he was
writing was, by Victorian standards, leaned-down and Hemingwayesque.
The Lensman series was originally contracted for by F. Orlin
Tremaine, then editor of "ASTOUNDING" magazine, in 1937. Due to
staff changes, the series was actually edited by John W. Campbell,
Jr, who, along with EES' cohorts, the "Galactic Roamers," contributed
no small amount to the series.
QUESTION #1: HOW MANY BOOKS ARE THERE IN THE 'LENSMAN' SERIES?
The "Lensman" saga was specifically designed as a 400,000-word
novel, to be broken into FOUR segments.
Smith knew exactly where he was going with the four books,
had a complete outline, and actually wrote the ending of the
fourth book before he began work on the first one.
EES submitted his detailed outline, which was as long as some
short novels, to F. Orlin Tremaine, the editor of "ASTOUNDING,"
in early 1937. Just prior to his departure from the editorial
helm, Tremaine committed "ASTOUNDING" to buying and printing
the entire package. (The new editor was John W. Campbell, who
would use the impetus of stories by Heinlein, Smith, and Van
Vogt to drive "ASTOUNDING" to the forefront of the field and
keep it there for the next three decades.)
The FOUR lensman novels were:
"GALACTIC PATROL," serialized in "ASTOUNDING," Sep '37 - Feb '38;
Fantasy Press hardbound, 1950.
"GRAY LENSMAN," serialized in "ASTOUNDING," Oct '39 - Jan '40;
Fantasy Press hardbound, 1951.
"SECOND-STAGE LENSMEN," serialized in "ASTOUNDING," Nov '41 - Feb '42;
Fantasy Press hardbound, 1953.
and
"CHILDREN OF THE LENS," serialized in "ASTOUNDING," Nov '47 - Feb '48.
Fantasy Press hardbound, 1954.
--The book dustjackets and interior illustrations are credited to Ric
Binkley, and strongly derived from the earlier "ASTOUNDING" artwork,
primarily by Hubert Rogers.
It should be noted that there are textual differences between the
serialized versions and the hardbacks; in the magazine versions,
the Eddorians aren't even known to exist until the last book.
In fact, at the end of "SECOND-STAGE LENSMEN," EES uses such a hoary
old plot device to end the book that some of his fans were more than
a little put out. EES was concerned over this, even in his original
outline, because he knew he needed a strong "phony ending" for a
break between SSL and COTL, while the Children grew to maturity, and
he couldn't come up with one that he really liked.
When Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, the owner of Fantasy Press, set up his deal
with EES to publish the four books in hardbound, he came up with the
entrepreneurial inspiration of conning EES into rewriting an earlier book,
"TRIPLANETARY," to fit into the "Lensmen" universe; and writing a "bridge"
novel, "FIRST LENSMAN," to connect it onto the beginning of the series.
( The earlier, *non*-"Lensman" version of "TRIPLANETARY" first appeared
in "AMAZING" magazine, Jan '34 - Apr '34.)
Since the Fantasy Press printings of EES' "Skylark" novels were already
selling like hotcakes on a cold morning during the potato famine, Eshbach
had no trouble selling two "new" EES books as an introduction to the main
"Lensman" series.
This is why there are six books in the post-1950, post-Eshbach,
series, and why the first book is so unlike the rest in style and
content. Those "first" two FP "Lensman" books are:
"TRIPLANETARY," Fantasy Press hardbound, 1948; and
"FIRST LENSMAN," Fantasy Press hardbound, 1950.
--Dustjacket paintings and interior illustrations are credited to
A.J. Donnell.
( Fantasy Press ran off a batch of boxed, leather-bound sets of the six
books, and marketed them under the title "THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION."
If anyone knows the location of one of these that's for sale, I'd be
interested in hearing the price-tag on it.)
Almost all Fantasy Press books were reprinted in second print runs
with the original plates, using slightly less expensive bindings and
paper; these are the Gnome Press editions, which show up a lot at
library and estate sales. They're not as valuable, but are nice to
have.
QUESTION #2: WAS ANOTHER BOOK PLANNED AFTER 'CHILDREN OF THE LENS?'
EES had a plotline in mind for what occurred after the last book,
but, as far as I can find out, never had any intention of writing it.
Heinlein reports discussing it with him in some detail, but says
he's unaware of any of the book ever having been written or even
outlined on paper.
EES made references to it on two occasions when I encountered him
in person, but declined to discuss it in detail.
It's fairly obvious, since the encapsulation of the last book
("CHILDREN OF THE LENS") is addressed to any third-level entity
capable of obtaining it and reading it; this implies the existence
of third-level folks besides Kim and his sisters...... which means
that either Kim & Co. have replaced the Arisians and are guiding
other civilizations into producing third-level minds, or have
founded a new race of third-level intellects themselves. (Since
they are genetically perfect, as EES keeps reminding us, inbreeding
wouldn't be dangerous; there are no dangerous recessive genes to be
expressed.)
QUESTION #3: ISN'T "MASTERS OF THE VORTEX" PART OF THE SERIES?
*NO*.
F. Orlin Tremaine, the editor who'd left "ASTOUNDING" in 1938,
was working on a new magazine, "COMET," which was having major
financial and circulation problems. Tremaine asked Smith if he
could help out. Since Smith couldn't sell a "Lensman" novel
to a competitor of "ASTOUNDING," he came up with the idea for
a different series, set in the same universe. Unfortunately,
Tremaine's ballyhooing of the new EES series didn't get the
magazine out of the red in time. "THE VORTEX BLASTER" appeared
in the the *last* issue of "COMET", in July, 1941.
This story is about the first 25 pages of the hardbound book.
John Campbell, the editor of ASTOUNDING, took a dim view of
this situation, since Tremaine had bragged, in print, about how
he was going to drive "ASTOUNDING" out of business. (Campbell
felt that EES's loyalty to a friend who wasn't that good an
editor was mis-placed, and constituted a kind of underhanded
use of "ASTOUNDING"'s material to support the competition.
While Campbell loudly supported competition, it's noteworthy
that EES made almost no subsequent sales to "ASTOUNDING."
My records list only "SUBSPACE SURVIVORS" in July, 1960.)
Short stories, "STORM CLOUD ON DEKA" and "THE VORTEX BLASTER MAKES
WAR," appeared in "ASTONISHING STORIES" in June and October of 1942.
With no major markets paying full rates for the V.B. stories,
EES telescoped the multi-volume outline into something that would
fit into one book, and the three published stories became the first
sections of the book. One character, Vesta the Vegian, is very
appealing, and possibly his best-realized alien character.
"THE VORTEX BLASTER" first appeared in hardback from Gnome Press
in 1960. (According to LAE, the normal printing schedule was inverted,
so the Fantasy Press edition, with the better binding and paper, was
actually the *second* printing! )
At some point in the early sixties, a paperback story collection
was published under the title "THE VORTEX BLASTER" or "THE VORTEX
BLASTERS." (I don't have access to my collection to verify which.)
It based the title use on the fact that it contained the original EES
V.B. story; since you can't copyright a title, no one contested it.
This meant that, when Pyramid got around to printing a paperback
edition of the novel, they wanted to use a different title; that's
where "MASTERS OF THE VORTEX" came from.
Question 3(A): Where does "V.B." fit into the "Lensman" sequence?
Although the "VORTEX BLASTER" novel is not specifically dated,
and does not appear to refer to specific events during the final
part of the Arisian-Eddorian war, the relative quietness of the
galaxy seems to indicate that it takes place subsequent to "SSL."
Scott Drellishak (s...@soda.berkeley.edu) points out that VB
definitely dates after GL by at least a few months, and probably
after SSL, on the basis of the following points:
After GL:
In Chapter 6 of VB, there are references to superdreadnoughts
and primary beams, both of which were developed during GL.
When Cloud gets an arm shot off, it is regenerated using the
Phillips Process, also developed during GL. Availability of
this treatment to a civilian employee of the Galactic Patrol
implies at least a few months have passed since GL.
After SSL: (?)
Lensman Phil Strong says "You're the most-wanted man in the
galaxy, not excepting Kimball Kinnison." This implies Kinnison
is now a public figure, Coordinator Kinnison of Klovia, no
longer a secret agent.
Drellishak also points out that VB characters always speak of
one galaxy, not two, which might date it before SSL. (I feel
this just means the other galaxy isn't yet public information.)
Dani Zweig ( da...@netcom.com ) adds that it does look like
Kinnison is already Galactic Coordinator. "The fact that he
can undertake a search for someone to help or replace Storm is
more telling than the fact that he is the most wanted man in
Civilization."
Ron Ellik has observed:
"The events of 'The Vortex Blaster' are not decidedly before or
after "Children Of The Lens" -- Kim appears as an executive, not
merely as The Lensman, and Haynes is still at his desk although
we know that Raoul LaForge had been appointed Port Admiral by the
time of the Battle of Ploor. Nothing conclusive -- the important
thing is that VB forms a parenthesis in the stories of the Lens
universe, as it is not concerned with the Eddorian conflict."
The best interpretation I can see at this date is that VB
occurs at some point between SSL and COTL.
QUESTION #4: WHAT OTHER BOOKS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE "LENSMAN" UNIVERSE?
A writer named William B. Ellern wrote a short piece called
"MOON PROSPECTOR," set in the Lensman universe. It was published,
with EES' knowledge and approval, in the April, 1966 "ANALOG," and
later expanded into a full-length novel, which has appeared under
variant titles in various printings. (One correspondent reports
a British edition titled "THE NEW LENSMAN.") Reports on quality
of the book vary from "putrid" to "tolerable." I haven't read it.
EES worked with a writers' group called "The Galactic Roamers."
These folks were fans and scientists, and delighted in tearing apart
anything vulnerable in EES' works in progress; they were a great help
in his writing, as well as being good friends.
One of the Roamers, David A. Kyle, was a long-time collector and fan;
when he retired, he turned to writing. Using extant outlines, fragments
of EES' unpublished work, and years of wrangling, arguments, and
discussions as his source, he wrote three books EES had discussed but
never gotten around to.
The three books are copyrighted by Verna Smith Trestrail, so they
are owned by the Smith estate. (Cover paintings, by Bob Larkin,
start sloppy and get better. <"sloppy" in story detail, not technique.> )
These are:
"DRAGON LENSMAN" (Bantam Books, Sep '80, ISBN 0-553-13741-7, $1.95);
"LENSMAN FROM RIGEL" (Bantam Books, Oct '82, ISBN 0-553-20499-8, $2.50);
"Z-LENSMAN." (Bantam Books, Aug '83, ISBN 0-553-23427-7, $2.75).
Since Kyle was feeling his way, the writing is not good in the first
book, improves in the second, and is actually interesting in the third.
Each of these books features one of the non-Terran 2nd-stage Lensmen
as a primary character.
I'm only aware of one printing on each of these, but have recently
been informed that later printings do exist.
QUESTION #5: WHAT ABOUT THE "LENSMAN" MOVIE and COMICS?
There have been many Japanese editions of the "Lensman" books
over the years; for example, Al Lewis's EES bibliography lists
"GREI RENZUMAN" from Tokyo Sogensha, a 1966 paperback, .
Some years ago, the same Japanese anime studio which had done
the "BATTLESHIP YAMATO" series (re-packaged as "STAR BLAZERS"
in the U.S.) got hold of the rights to the "LENSMEN" yarns and
did a screen adaption.
Worsel has the wrong number of eyes, and looks like a bipedal
dinosaur instead of a snaky winged reptile; and Clarissa MacDougall
suddenly stopped being a beautiful redhead and has BROWN eyes....
Not to mention Van Buskirk's metamorphosis into a guy named "Buskirk"
and other noxious details, like Kinnison being a farmboy who gets
his Lens from a crashed Space Hero, etc...... *wince*
Comics. I've been told there are a slew of "Lensman" comic books out
there. I'd appreciate it if no one ever shows me one, since
I hear they're based on the Japanime storyline.
=========================
Primary references used in the above compilation have been personal
knowledge, my own collection, Sam Moskowitz' error-ridden biographical
sketch of EES, the nearly error-free "THE UNIVERSES OF E.E. SMITH" by
Ron Ellik and E.E. Evans, Robert A. Heinlein's nearly error-free
article, "LARGER THAN LIFE," in "Expanded Universe," and insegrevious
input from the likes of HIG...@FNAL.FNAL.GOV (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey).
Fifteen years of input has also been contributed by Jamie Hanrahan,
(j...@crash.cts.com), who also declines any and all responsibility for
anything pertaining to Japanese anime versions of "LENSMAN" novels...
Source: ghar...@nextnet.ccs.csus.edu (C) 1993
address comments, queries, flames, idiopathic paeans of adulation, and
other such wrangling to alt.dev.null. 10Q.
Genuine additions of information to Source: above;
verified addenda will be included in subsequent FAQs,
with contributor acknowledgements.
Reprinting, copying, and excerpting are specifically authorized,
provided no changes are made and full credit is given.