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The Science Fiction Fan, v. 4, issue 5, whole no. 41, December 1939
Page 14
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14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FAN THE GREAT SCIENCE-FICTION NOVEL by C.S. Youd A recent account of an interview with E.E. Smith, appearing in Fantasy Digest, inspired me to re-read the early Smith novels as a prelude to "Grey Lensman". My original intention was to begin with "skylark of Space", continue with "Three", the two parts I have of "Tripehounds", the three parts I have of "Triplanetary", "Valeron" and to finish off with "Patrol", by which time I calculated the new serial would be ready. I was more than a little surprised to find the going far from easy. The first instalment tried my patience in many ways but, nothing daunted, I struggled gamely along. By the time I had finished Part 5, however, it was plain that a rest was essential. And in the interval between finishing "Skylark" and steeling myself for "Three" I am committing these brief notes to paper. The most obvious fault with Dr. Smith's greatly famed triology is the bald unreality of the characters. This is the point that has been most stressed by those few who have dared to question the fanatical devotion held for the great Ph.D., and the point which is by far the most vulnerable. Seaton is disgustingly handsome, tough, intelligent and moral. He has the capabilities of a Jurgen and the inclinations of a Quaker spinster, and in addition, like a certain American President, he never tells a lie. A true genius, he will work himself into a daze at the end of which he always emerges with a world-shattering discovery Thus overworked his tortured nerved are soothed
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14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FAN THE GREAT SCIENCE-FICTION NOVEL by C.S. Youd A recent account of an interview with E.E. Smith, appearing in Fantasy Digest, inspired me to re-read the early Smith novels as a prelude to "Grey Lensman". My original intention was to begin with "skylark of Space", continue with "Three", the two parts I have of "Tripehounds", the three parts I have of "Triplanetary", "Valeron" and to finish off with "Patrol", by which time I calculated the new serial would be ready. I was more than a little surprised to find the going far from easy. The first instalment tried my patience in many ways but, nothing daunted, I struggled gamely along. By the time I had finished Part 5, however, it was plain that a rest was essential. And in the interval between finishing "Skylark" and steeling myself for "Three" I am committing these brief notes to paper. The most obvious fault with Dr. Smith's greatly famed triology is the bald unreality of the characters. This is the point that has been most stressed by those few who have dared to question the fanatical devotion held for the great Ph.D., and the point which is by far the most vulnerable. Seaton is disgustingly handsome, tough, intelligent and moral. He has the capabilities of a Jurgen and the inclinations of a Quaker spinster, and in addition, like a certain American President, he never tells a lie. A true genius, he will work himself into a daze at the end of which he always emerges with a world-shattering discovery Thus overworked his tortured nerved are soothed
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