Book Review: Triplanetary

Source: Amazon.com

Triplanetary, by E.E. Smith

From the book’s cover: 

Triplanetary was first serialized in Amazing Stories in 1934 and it later on formed the first of the Lensman series, where it set the stage for what is one of the greatest space-opera sagas ever written. This original publication brings us to a distant planet inhabited by a highly developed aquatic race called the Nevians. They have managed to harness the atomic power of iron and have an enormous need for the metal to generate energy, but their planet has virtually no iron reserves. They build a spaceship to venture into the universe and find iron. Eventually they discover that Earth has huge amounts of iron and the Nevians start to extract all the iron out of Pittsburgh with a special ray. This ray shoots into the city and immediately vaporizes and removes any iron from the buildings, machines, earth, and even from human blood. It is up to Conway Costigan, a mercilessly competent, two-fisted whiz agent of the military Triplanetary Service, and his colleagues to save the planet.

The review:

Triplanetary was an engaging - if rather melodramatic and heavy on jargon - space opera.  And you know, it is really funny how I can spot the roots of some other familiar sci-fi in this book.  Offhand I would say Star Wars, Star Trek, Buck Rogers... all come to mind...  Of course since Triplanetary pre-dated them all, this is not in the least surprising.

I especially liked the chapter that dealt specifically with the interaction between Costington, Captain Bradley and Clio.  It is also fascinating to see how Smith speculated that an alien species might view humanity as both primitive, and also how they would underestimate us.  And of course, there is the mutual loathing in appearance. Sure, these concepts are commonplace today in the genre, and even have seeped into our collective consciousness to some extent.  But in Smith's time?  I am no expert, but I'd venture that such ideas were somewhat revolutionary.

The author, E. E. "Doc" Smith. / Source: Wikipedia.org

It is also amusing to see the influence of World War I on Triplanetary.  Things such as the gas attack at the beginning, the descriptions of weapon and transport technologies, and the references to beams, waves, and plates and such.  This all sounds very much like terms a person from the late nineteenth/early twentieth century would use to describe things that are ubiquitous in most far-out sci-fi these days (and when I refer to "far-out" sci-fi, I specifically mean not so-called "hard" sci-fi, which bases itself as much as possible in actual physics and projected technology).  And yet Smith must have been an avid reader of whatever passed for "Popular Science" magazine of the day.  I am sure much of the material he covers was based on scientific discoveries and hypotheses of the time.  Of course, the whole reference to "ether" as being the substance that fills what we now know to be the vacuum of space is a bit annoying, but then they had no way of knowing what was beyond Earth's atmosphere back then.  I didn't check the copyright date, but it is questionable as to how long, or even if, man had harnessed the airplane when Smith wrote his novel.  And he writes of things that would fit in, with slight technical and speech alterations, in Star Trek or even some of Star Wars.

Another spiritual descendent of Triplanetary is Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.  I remember watching the TV show version as a kid in the early 1980s.  The only scene from any of it that sticks with me to this day is one in which the heroine of the series (I forget her name) is with a group of aliens who can concentrate as a group on something and, via their collective will, make it happen.  These aliens are curious about the differences between males and females, and when our heroine is unable to describe these differences to their satisfaction, they begin to "think" her clothes off.  Of course, Buck Rogers happens to arrive just in time to save her from losing her modesty.  I recall my pre-adolescent brain latching on to this and wondering "yeah, what are the differences?" / Source: store.intrada.com

There were some things that really made me smile and shake my head.  The sexism dealing with the lead female character was especially amusing, of course.  It would be totally out of place in our time, if an author wrote that way.  And the stuff about Costington's romancing her (Clio, that is) was funny when read with a modern eye.  So old-timey as to be almost ridiculous by our modern notions.  They tended to preen like peacocks when they wanted to show interest, it seems.  And the ways of describing courtship....  seem awfully silly.

Then there were the discussions of travel in space, and the big capital ship engagements, which were obviously spawned in Smith's imagination from the mighty naval battles of the late 19th and early 20th.  This was far before airpower asserted dominance over the dreadnought (aka: the battleship, for you who know that term better).  Not that such an advent took very long, when you look at it, but still the period was significant and Smith's novel is firmly rooted therein.

Aren't those Trade Federation ships from Star Wars, Episode II - Attack of the Clones?  Nope.  Triplanetary again. / Source: ghostofaflea.com

The talk of beams and rays and waves and spy rigs and the anatomy of the aliens and the planetoid (Death Star anyone?) and Roger the Space Pirate... well it is all quaint, but definitely readable.  You know, Triplanetary reminds me of A Princess of Mars, and is even better in some ways.  It even had the same silly: "evil bad guy captures the girl and is going to do unspeakable things to her until the chivalrous hero saves her at the last moment"-type stuff.  An amusing read so far (as of writing this, I am still only half way or so through the book), all in all.

Now as some time has passed and I have finally concluded my reading of the book, I have more input to share.  Wow, that was funny.  There was that moment where Clio was the archetype of Princess Leia in Star Wars: A New Hope.  You know the part where Leia grabs up the blaster and starts shooting at the stromtroopers in the cell block?  Clio, retiring waif that she is, takes up a Lewiston (Lewis gun, maybe?) and backs up Costington in a firefight.  Cool.

Remember when Princess Leia grabs up one of her would-be rescuer's blaster rifles and starts shooting stormtroopers?  Could Clio be Leia's spiritual antecedent?  If not, the resemblance at this moment is remarkable. / Source: danielmcfadin.wordpress.com

Then again, the last chapter got pretty annoying.  All that "ultimate-big-massive-incredible... did I mention ultimate?"-stuff wore thin.  Every moment was trying to surpass the last, I surmised.  It didn't impress.  Felt like... well I don't know.  Like Smith thought he was really making an impact by trying to make the scene grander and grander as each moment spilled on top of another.  In fact, I tuned out a bit near the end for just that reason.  There is only just so much build to climax I can take, I guess, and this book blew past that and then some.

Then again,  on the whole, Triplanetary was enjoyable.   I'm glad I took the time to read it.  It was an interesting perspective on sci-fi from the 1930s.  I could even see the story being converted to a modern sci-fi opera.  That is, if you took out the 1930s-speak and updated the tech, it'd work.  No worse than some of the recent summer blockbuster underwhelmers, that's for sure.  And sure, it'd be pretty cliché, but good sci-fi has that too.  Recommended reading for those who are interested in the roots of modern sci-fi, or feel like taking a trip down nostalgia lane. 

Learn more about Triplanetary, by E. E. Smith, on Amazon.com

Or read the free Kindle version here!

Don't take my word for it on this book though.  Here is John C Snider of Sci Fi Dimensions' opinion on the subject too.

The parting comment:


"Triplanetary!..."  (drums line)  "Alter your course!..."  (drum line)  "Triplanetary!..." (more drums)  "[didn't catch it] in force!"  I like the line: "A future nightmare, you predicted!"  Cool band name too.