Incomplete reprint
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This 2007 reprint by Wildside Press, LLC is an abridged version.
With this edition the story starts with the Triplanetary Patrol in operation and Costigan aboard the Hyperion.
It has deleted the initial encounter of an Arisian with the Eddorians and the subsequent tales of the rise and fall of the civilisations of Earth.
A nice little novella but it completely seperates it from the Lensman Saga.
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Stop! Don't read this first!
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If you're intending to read Doc Smith's classic "Lensman" series, then so you should; but you should definitely start, not with "Triplanetary", but with Galactic Patrol. Here's why.
Chronologically, the first Lensman story was Galactic Patrol, from 1937-38. This was followed by the next three stories: Gray Lensman, Second Stage Lensmen and Children of the Lens. When publication in book form was mooted, Smith revised his earlier Triplanetary to fit into the lensman universe, and wrote First Lensman to form a bridge between that and "Galactic Patrol". Masters of the Vortex, another unrelated story, was likewise modified.
I, and many others it seems, feel that the four books representing Smith's original conception are the essential ones, and the others are disposable ("Vortex", in particular, being a pot-boiler with virtually no relation to the others). Although "First Lensman" certainly has entertaining moments (as when Virgil Samms is almost deafened at a Rigellian construction site, because the Rigellians have no sense of hearing and can't understand what the problem is).
There's another problem with the books, although fortunately not an insuperable one. Smith's universe, although already huge at the outset of "Galactic Patrol", expands as the series progresses. Originally, the reader didn't discover the total significance of the struggles going on within it until the end of "Children". But the books (except, for some inscrutable reason, "Patrol") feature tacked-on and needless Forewords that give away the whole plot. I *strongly* recommend first-time readers to skip these.
"Triplanetary" is not as good as "Patrol"; and if you start here you may be disappointed - possibly enough to stop reading! Neither is it "really" the first book. But most importantly, you'll run headfirst into plot-spoilers that wreck the tension of the story.
When you've finished "Children", by all means go back and read this.
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Slowly Builds to a Tremendous Climax
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This book takes a little while to get going but it really comes to a fascinating end. It gets the whole series off to a great start. If you have never read the Lensman Series, I can't recommend it enough. It just gets better with each book. Thanks Ripping Publishing for reintroducing it!
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