Babel-17
Nebula winner (1966).
Book Entry · Science Fiction
The Skylark of Space
by E. E. 'Doc' Smith · 1928 · Skylark, book 1
What is The Skylark of Space about?
Government chemist Dick Seaton discovers that the mysterious 'metal X' liberates the total energy of copper, builds a starship in his mate's back yard, and blasts off to rescue his kidnapped fiancée from the magnificently villainous Marc 'Blackie' DuQuesne — the first great amoral genius-antagonist of SF. Co-written with Lee Hawkins Garby (who handled the romance), begun in 1915 and finally published in Amazing Stories in 1928, it was the first story to take humanity properly out among the stars, and readers reacted like a dam bursting.
Why it matters
The big bang of space opera: interstellar travel, alien civilisations and escalating super-science all date their pulp era from here.
Where does it sit in the series?
Doc Smith's first super-science saga: Dick Seaton versus Blackie DuQuesne in an escalating duel that starts in a back garden and ends rearranging galaxies.
In the Guide from Skylark:
- The Skylark of Space (1928)
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