Subject: New LENSMAN FAQ, / Re: EE 'DOC' SMITH BOOKS - AN ORB POSSIBILITY?

From: [email-masked] (Gharlane of Eddore)
Date: 19 Aug 1994 01:03:39 GMT

I note a good deal of traffic concerning E.E. Smith, PhD, his books,
and details pertaining thereunto; so it's time for the FAQ again.

Sorry I took so long to get around to this, but I had a couple of
stories and scripts that I had to give priority to....

Update changes include info supplied by James A. Corrick in Apr/94.


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Date: Thu, 18 Aug 1994 17:00:17 PST
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THE "LENSMEN" FAQ.      << v3.49, 18 Aug 94 >>

Source:   [email-masked]   (C) 1991,1992,1993,1994
          Reproduction authorized as long as no changes are made, 
          copyright notices are retained, and credit is given.

warning:   This sucker is about 430 lines in length.

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?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 Relentless, to boot.   
   The "Lens" is an artifact, a telepathic amplifier and universal
 translator keyed to the individual Lensman who owns it, and will kill
 anyone else who tries to wear it.
   The 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 is noted for its internal consistency, long-term 
 story planning, and breathtaking originality of plot and concept.
    Much of modern SF is directly derived from it, and the entire
 field owes a huge debt to the Lensmen.
 
    The series was created by Edward Elmer Smith, PhD ( 2 May 1890 --
 1 Sep 1965).  Smith's primary education took place around the 
 turn of the century, and his writing style reflects 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.
 Unlike most fantasists, he had a strong technical education, and 
 this contributed to the coherence and believeability of even his 
 most grandiose concepts.
 
    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?

   Originally, 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 Smith, Heinlein, 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 of the basic series are:

 "GALACTIC  PATROL,"     serialized in "ASTOUNDING," Sep '37 - Feb '38;
                         1st book, Fantasy Press hardbound, 1950.

 "GRAY LENSMAN,"         serialized in "ASTOUNDING," Oct '39 - Jan '40;
                         1st book, Fantasy Press hardbound, 1951.

 "SECOND-STAGE LENSMEN," serialized in "ASTOUNDING," Nov '41 - Feb '42;
                         1st book, Fantasy Press hardbound, 1953.
 and
 "CHILDREN OF THE LENS," serialized in "ASTOUNDING," Nov '47 - Feb '48.
                         1st book, Fantasy Press hardbound, 1954.

 --The book dustjackets and interior illustrations are credited to
   Ric Binkley, and strongly derived from earlier "ASTOUNDING" artwork,
   primarily that of Charles Schneeman and Hubert Rogers.

 It should be noted that there are textual differences between the 
 serialized versions and the hardbacks; in the magazine versions,
 the Evil 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" had appeared
   in "AMAZING" magazine, Jan '34 - Apr '34.)
 Since Fantasy Press printings of EES' other novels were already
 selling like hotcakes on a cold morning during the potato famine,
 Eshbach had no trouble marketing 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.

   ( In 1954, Fantasy Press ran off 75 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.)

   In 1956, Fantasy Press produced what we'd call today a "trade paperback"
 edition of "GALACTIC PATROL;" paperbound copies from the 1951 print run.

   At least one Fantasy Press hardbound, "GRAY LENSMAN," was reprinted
 by Gnome Press, around 1961, apparently using a simple photo-offset
 reproduction of the original Fantasy Press version.  The only apparent
 changes were the removal of the Fantasy Press name and colophon from the
 title page (and "Gnome Press," without the famous Edd Cartier-designed
 Gnome colophon, added.) The copyright date is still given as 1951, and
 although it's the second edition, it claims to be the first.  Of course,
 the dedication page , "To Lloyd," is missing from the Gnome version.

   The dust jacket on the first FP printing of GL mis-spelled the title
 as "GREY LENSMAN."   The Gnome version, as is usual for that publisher,
 seems to have been printed on cheap paper, and the Gnome dust jacket is
 not a full-color reproduction of the original.

   The first mass-market paperback editions of the six "Lensman" novels
 appeared from Pyramid in '64, '65, and '66.  There have been a huge
 quantity of printings and translations, from many publishers, since.

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.
   Lloyd Eshbach reports that EES said "NO!" in capital letters
 whenever approached on the subject of writing sequels.
   The subsequent storlyine seems 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, and the
 closing salutation refers to "your race;" this implies the existence
 of third-level species besides Kit and his sisters...... which means
 that Kit & Co.  have replaced the Arisians and are guiding other
 civilizations into producing third-level minds, or have discovered
 or created a new race of third-level intellects.
  (Since the Children are genetically perfect, as EES keeps reminding
   us, inbreeding might not be dangerous, with no dangerous recessive
   genes to be expressed.  Of course, there is no reason to presume
   the Children have any *need* to reproduce their kind; their species
   might well be effectively immortal.)

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, reportedly 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 once said he 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 may be noteworthy
 that EES (with the exception of "CHILDREN OF THE LENS," six years
 later) made only one other sale to "ASTOUNDING."  ("SUBSPACE 
 EXPLORERS," July 1960.)

  More "VORTEX BLASTER" stories, the 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 one of his best-realized alien characters.
 
   "THE VORTEX BLASTER" first appeared in hardback from Gnome Press
 in 1960.  (According to LAE, the normal printing schedule was inverted,
 so the tiny (about 300 copies) Fantasy Press edition, with the
 better binding and paper, was actually the *second* printing.)

   Due to the way contract rights had been assigned on the first story,
 it was available for solo reprint in collections; it appeared in 
 "MODERN MASTERPIECES OF SCIENCE FICTION," World Publishers, 1965,
 and was the lead story in a MacFadden-Bartell paperback, "THE 
 VORTEX BLASTERS & OTHER STORIES," in 1968.  I've been told that
 the folks at Pyramid, in an attempt to avoid competition with
 another book carrying the same title, elected to use the new title,
 "MASTERS OF THE VORTEX," on their reprint of the Gnome Press novel,
 and that this is why the title continued to appear.

 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 ([email-masked]) 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 ( [email-masked] ) 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?

    Recent paperback printings of various "Lensman" novels have 
 included EES' novel, "THE SPACEHOUNDS OF I.P.C." in the column of
 "Lensman" titles facing the title page.
   "THE SPACEHOUNDS OF I.P.C." doesn't even take place in the same
 universe, uses different technology, and can not be fitted into the
 series by any even marginally sane leap of imagination.

   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."  Michael Richards and
 James Corrick have provided further info: additions to this story
 were serialized as "NEW LENSMAN" in "PERRY RHODAN" books #61-#74,
 inclusive, about 1975, and followed by a stand-alone novella called
 "TRIPLANETARY AGENT," which appeared in "PERRY RHODAN" books #100-#105,
 inclusive, in 1976.  "TRIPLANETARY AGENT" has apparently never been
 reprinted, and is reported as very poor writing; it uses the same main
 character as "NEW LENSMAN."
 The novel version, "NEW LENSMAN," compositing  "MOON PROSPECTOR" and
 "NEW LENSMAN," was printed by Futura in 1976.  James Corrick describes
 "NEW LENSMAN"'s use as a framing encapsulation for "MOON PROSPECTOR,"
 which appears as chapters 8, 9, 12, 14, and 17 of the book; and says
 that the two stories appear to have no characters in common.  Reports
 on quality of the book vary from "putrid" to "tolerable."  I haven't
 read the book version, primarily due to having read the magazine piece.

   EES worked with a writers' group called "The Galactic Roamers."
 These folks, aggressive and professional, 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.
   At the end of "SECOND STAGE LENSMEN,"  EES addresses specific 
 appreciations to Dr. James R. Enright and to the following Roamers:
 E. Everett Evans, F. Edwin Counts, Paul Leavy, Jr, Alfred Ashley;
 and to Verna Trestrail.

   One of the Roamers, David A. Kyle, was a long-time writer, publisher,
 collector and fan; using extant outlines, fragments of EES' unpublished
 work, and years of wrangling, arguments, and discussions as his source,
 he wrote three books EES had intended but never gotten around to. 
   Cover paintings on the Kyle books, by Bob Larkin, start sloppy in story
 detail, portraying Worsel as a sort of large two-eyed dinosaur, and then
 improve both in technique and correlation to the stories.

 ( On the subject of Worsel's eyes, herewith a slight digression:
       The original illustrations from "ASTOUNDING," presumably
     approved by EES and Campbell, usually show Worsel with either
     four or six eyes on stalks.   Rogers shows Worsel in flight
     with six stalked eyes, and Schneeman shows Worsel walking, with
     four; perhaps the other two are specialized for in-flight
     applications.....or maybe Worsel just makes however many he needs!
        When queried about the two-eyed dinosaurian Worsel who
     appears on the cover of "DRAGON LENSMAN,"  and about the
     equivalent creature in the Japanime,  David A. Kyle 
     amusedly pointed out that, in voluminous research, he has
     never been able to find a number of eyes specified in any
     manuscript or working notes!  I checked.  We have only the words
     "multiple" and "stalked," although in "SECOND STAGE LENSMEN,"
     Worsel "thrust out a half dozen of his weirdly stalked eyes."
     So we don't know how many eyes Worsel has, except (a) they're
     stalked; (b) he can muster *at least* half a dozen!  ...and 
     (c) he has more than two.
 
   Kyle's three books are copyrighted by Verna Smith Trestrail, so
 they are owned by the Smith estate.  They 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).
  
 Each of these books features one of the non-Terran second-stage
 Lensmen as its primary character.    
  
 I'm only aware of one printing on each of these, but I've been told
 there were later, brief print runs of at least one or two.
 "Z-LENSMAN" seems to be hard to find, which is something of a pity;
 I liked it best of Kyle's books.

   Kyle's writing, while not initially fabulous, is readable, improves
 in the second, and is quite decent pulp SF in the third.
   I don't know whether this is a result of achieving a successful 
 synthesis between his own styles and concepts and EES', or whether 
 the editor he drew at Bantam didn't understand what he was trying to
 do at the outset, but it should be noted that even in the first
 book, Kyle adds a number of interesting plotlines to the "Lensman"
 universe; his machine intelligences, for example, were something EES
 had avoided in the original series, possibly to keep the plot 
 complexity down to something he could handle in a mere four books.

 By his third book, Kyle added concepts and characters that could
 eventually generate a whole new cycle of novels;  hopefully someone
 will do them right, some day, if Kyle is too busy.

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 only two eyes, and looks like a bipedal dinosaur
 instead of a snaky winged reptile; Clarissa MacDougall suddenly
 stopped being a beautiful redhead and has BROWN eyes....
 There are other noxious details, like Kinnison being a farmboy
 who gets his Lens from a Crashed Space Hero, etc...... *wince*
   The anime movie, "THE LENSMEN," is available on tape and laserdisk.
 Don't say I didn't warn you.  

 Comics.   I've been told there are a slew of "Lensman" comic books out
           there.  If, as I hear, they're based on the Japanime storyline,
           I'd appreciate it if no one ever shows me one.

 =========================
 
 Primary references used in the above compilation have been personal
 knowledge; my own collection; Sam Moskowitz' error-ridden biographical
 sketch of EES;  the excellent concordance, "THE UNIVERSES OF E.E. SMITH"
 by Ron Ellik and E.E. Evans;  Robert A. Heinlein's appreciative article
 "Larger Than Life," in "EXPANDED UNIVERSE;"  sections of Lloyd
 Arthur Eshbach's publishing history, "OVER MY SHOULDER;"  and fifteen
 years of insegrevious input from Jamie Hanrahan, ([email-masked]),
 constructor of the first non-Arisian Lens, who also declines any and
 all responsibility for anything pertaining to Japanese anime versions
 of "LENSMAN" novels.

 Regards and appreciation to the EES fans named in the article above;
 - to [email-masked] (Bill Higgins--Beam Jockey), inventor of
   the Amazing Radioactive Fan, who has been identified by
   "WEEKLY WORLD NEWS" investigators as a disguised Plooran;
 - to James A. Corrick, who graciously provided accurate detail info
   concerning the Ellern stories, and the 1968 "Blaster" paperbacks;
 - to Michael Richards, [email-masked]; and
 - to Michael F. Hodous, [email-masked], who caught me in an
   insegreviously pfzticated set of name errors in an earlier
   version of this FAQ.

 Respectful homage to David A. Kyle, who, with great patience and
 courtesy, politely suffered a number of inquisitional grillings
 at WorldCon, 1993.

 Source:   [email-masked]   (C) 1991,1992,1993,1994
 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,
                   and contributors acknowledged.

Reprinting, copying, and excerpting are specifically authorized,
provided no changes are made, copyright notices are retained, 
and full credit is given.

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