On 2010-12-13 09:09:27 -0600, Kathryn Huxtable said:   
   > Well, Triplanetary was shoehorned into the Lensman series after the    
   > fact. The main Lensman series are _Galactic Patrol_, _Gray Lensman_,    
   > _Second Stage Lensmen_, and _Children of the Lens_. These are what, I    
   > gather, JMS has been adapting. The writing is better in them than in    
   > Triplanetary.   
   I should add that when I reread the Lensman series, which I    
   occasionally do, I start either with _Galactic Patrol_, or occasionally    
   with _First Lensman_, which is an intermediate novel that Smith wrote    
   to follow on to Triplanetary after he had shoehorned it into the    
   series. I rarely reread Triplanetary or _The Vortex Blasters_/_Masters    
   of the Vortex_, which is a side story set in the Lensman universe.   
   _First Lensman_ is a not-that-bad standalone story about the creation    
   of the Galactic Patrol and the Lensmen.   
   The main four novels, however, tell a single story. Furthermore, each    
   one eats its predecessor whole in that at the end of each, Kinnison has    
   supposedly defeated the big bad-nasties, only to discover at the    
   beginning of the next book that the bad-nasties just defeated were just    
   servants of bigger, badder nasties. It's an interesting structure.   
   I get a hoot out of the dialog, which is rather bad, and the narration,    
   which is hilarious. Really, it's a nostalgia trip for me.   
   I'm sure JMS's adaptation is good, but maybe the effort would be better    
   spent on writing a new story.   
   -K   
   --- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32   
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