Edward E. Smith (1) (1890–1965)

Doesn’t age well. If this had been the first I’d read I would not have read another.

It's sad that this is so dated as to be painful to read. The views of science, technology, government, gender, etc. are archaic, which is ok for period fiction, but not really for science fiction.

Probably one of the worst books I've ever read. The first half was stapled on in 1948 as a sort of prequel to the Lensman novels. The back half was the original story from 1934. Most fascinating is the anti-fascism fears mixed with cold war era fears as a result of being written at different times.

All that said...ugh.

The last book of the year 2013. An overly sexist contradictory work yet full of grand science fiction battles of truly huge scope. A product of its time before its time.