F/SF

I enjoyed all three of David A. Kyle's Lensman novels the first time I read them, and I'm enjoying the re-reads. The idea of exploring the characters and cultures of the other three Second Stage Lensmen is a terrific concept. The exploration of ancillary notions foreign to the original material including sentient machines, cyborgs, and the supernatural, works surprisingly well.

I want to make clear that I recommend all three books: they are fun rides and satisfy the hunger for more Lensman stories. They do not quite slake the thirst and even though Children of the Lens concluded the arc, there is room for more stories set within the Second Stage Lensman period - and perhaps something could be done with other parts of the timeline.

There are however weakness in the series in general and in this middle novel in particular. Kyle's writing is paratactic, jumping abruptly among ideas and from close-focus to wide-angle, from first- and third-person omniscient instrospection to sudden action sequences. It feels trippy, unsteady; it reminds me of the breathless dream-like quality of van Vogt. There are plenty of exclamation marks and all-caps DECLARATIONS!! Perhaps Kyle was trying to recreate some of
the hyped-up pulp action of the original, but "Doc" achieved that with natural pacing.

Some near-spoilers follow.

Lensman from Rigel is the least successful of the three. The novel does not give us much insight into Rigellian culture or psychology. It introduces the triads, which are a pretty neat idea, and suggests that Rigellian sexuality is alterable at will, or at least can be chosen at certain points in the life-cycle, in encyclopaedia-article expository asides. While it brings the members of two triads on-stage, it does not treat them as characters or explore their feelings much. Rigellian mourning attire is described twice: it seems to me not to fit anything else in Rigellian aesthetics. Twice or thrice Kyle tells us - rather than showing us - that Rigellians are stolid and solid but that Tregonsee has picked up a very un-Rigellian human sense of humour.

So much for elaborating on the culture and personality of the titular hero. Half the story is spent on a complicated but uninteresting subterfuge of hiding then revealing that the opening assassination
attempt on Tregonsee has failed. That opening action sequence is the best sequence in the book.

Even Kyle's pet character, Lalla Kallatra, who was quite delightful in the first novel, hardly appears. Another new character, Benson Cloudd, gets the most extensive treatment, but he is not at all interesting.

The final set piece is a decent bit of space opera almost (but not quite) anti-climactic (though a tactic of four-dimensional geometry is delightfully surprising.)

The confrontation between the evil Kalonians and the utterly horrifying Onlonian monstrosity which initially controls them is a brilliant scene: in Doc Smith's original, the echelons of evil were
strictly graded; here, we see a higher echelon being broken by frustration and frenzied madness driven into negotiating with his underlings who seem in the process of surpassing their master. It is
disturbing and thrilling and darker than anything in Smith, while wholly in keeping with the fabric of the Lensman universe. And it is complete - there was no need for more, though I wish there were more writing at that high level. The Qu'orr are a fantastic idea and their history is at almost the same level. (They remind me of the Cotati of the Marvel Comics universe.) I wish more had been done with them.

I can't give as high a rating as I'd like to this middle effort, but I recommend it strongly in the context of the series. ( )

This book was on par with the first Second Stage Lensman novel (maybe a little less fun)-- and like the first, didn't actually focus on its title character. Instead of depicting Tregonsee, the inscrutable Rigellian Lensman, it focused on another Kyle creation, "Double D" Cloudd. And the first half of the book is taken up by a rather interesting plot to fake Tregonsee's death which goes totally nowhere, when he casually reveals to the Galaxies that he's still alive to no real advantage. (originally written November 2007)