It is many years ago that I read the Lensman series by Doc E. E. Smith, the precursor to all space opera that came after it. Even when I read it the technology was dated as these books were written in the 40s and 50s, but that all did not matter because I loved the stories.

I am pretty sure that then I read them in a German translation and I believe that I read a few of them in English after I came to the US of A. But these books were hard to come by as most of them were out of print and I believe still are, as you can’t really find them on Amazon in – form of inexpensive paperbacks at least.

I had given up for a while to find a complete set, but discovered the first, Triplanetary, as an ebook a while ago and am about to finish it on my tablet (apparently the only good application for a tablet.)

So, as I am in the last few pages I needed the next one – First Lensman. Quite a bit of googling but I finally hit the mother-lode at Arthur’s Bookshelp. He had them all and as I was at it, I also got the Skylark series for the time when I’m done with the Lensmen which could be a few years at the slow pace I am going.

Just in case you need the sequence of the book, because it is sometimes hard to figure it out the chronology:

1. Triplanetary
2. First Lensman
3. Galactic Patrol
4. Gray Lensman
5. Second Stage Lensman
6. Children of the Lens

And here – as we are at it, the sequence of the Skylark series:

1. The Skylark of Space
2. Skylark Three
3. Skylark of Valeron
4. Skylark DuQuesne