Skylark Three

Skylark #2

by E.E. "Doc" Smith

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic, timeless works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction Fantasy, Ebooks, Pulp

102 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1930

About the author

Edward Elmer Smith (also E.E. Smith, E.E. Smith, Ph.D., E.E. “Doc” Smith, Doc Smith, “Skylark” Smith, or—to his family—Ted), was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and an early science fiction author, best known for the Lensman and Skylark series. He is sometimes called the father of space opera.

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 Solo Series Read
As I commented in 2019, this is a really fine example of Golden Age Space Opera, yes it is dated, both in terms of its science and also its language, but you have to remember it is now 95 years since it was published and it certainly does not feel that old. Amazingly sexism is not really present, Professor Seaton’s wife Dorothy is a consummate violin player even if she is sometimes scared of the adventures they have, but as a loving couple they see things through together.

A great story in which Seaton and Crane enlist the help of benign peaceful but ultimately older races in the universe to rid the galaxy of the dreaded Fenachrone. Some of these older races treat human kind as the newcomers and youngsters on the block but ultimately see the good in our race and help the Prof defeat the dreaded baddies.
A simple concept but well written and truly action packed

2019 Solo Series Read
So this is the second book in the series and carries on from where the first left off. DuQuesne is still up to his old tricks in terms of trying to stitch up Seaton and Crane. As usual he is never going to win as Seaton is at least two steps ahead him.
In this book Seaton and his allies are threatened by an evil race from halfway across the galaxy, he must amalgamated all the knowledge of his allies on Osmone and search out further knowledge from a mysterious race in the same multi Sun solar system. With all this knowledge he hopes to have the power to compete against the dreaded Fenachrone.
This book is again a rock n roll ride of a Space Opera and very nearly hits the 5 stars level, but not quite. Yes it is dated, but if one accepts that and one enjoys Space Opera, then it's a great book to read.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second of Doc Smith's Skylark novels, Richard Seaton and Martin Crane, together with their wives, are back in space on their ship Skylark Three. They end up going to the planet Osnome which is being threatened with a war by another planet, but then an even worse threat appears, the reptilian Fenachrone, which forces the erstwhile enemy planets to join forces to defeat them. A great pulp space opera read from the early 1930's.

[Warren Fournier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the misleading title, this is the second novel of the Skylark quadrilogy. The Skylark of Space is a legendary Radium-Age classic, considered the first space opera, but is perhaps a great example of how something can earn the title of classic without necessarily being the best. Doc Smith was a genius, but he wasn't a great writer. That being said, his books always never fail to entertain and fascinate me, especially his Lensman series, and he deserves his place as one of the greatest innovators of modern science fiction as we know it.

To recap, the first novel tells the story of how scientists Dick Seaton and Martin Crane stumble upon a means of propulsion using copper and the rare Element X, leading them to build a ship called Skylark to be the first men into space. A rival scientist, Blackie DuQuesne, tries to sabotage their plans and steal their technology, leading to a mad chase through the cosmos that ends up, after several adventures, on the distant but inhabited planet Osnome. During the course of events, the Skylark is refurbished as Skylark II, Dick becomes Overlord of Osnome, and DuQuesne makes his escape.

This second novel picks up a year later. DuQuesne and his company of thugs have been unsuccessfully trying to murder Dick, who is always one step ahead of his fiendish plans. So DuQuesne decides to use a spaceship of his own to go back to Osnome's star system and find a race of superbeings from whom he believes he can wrest the secret of an ultimate power that will destroy his rival once and for all. Meanwhile, the Osnomians have reached out to Seaton for help against a neighboring planet who has suddenly decided to wage a war of extermination against them.

Here's where things go really off the rails. While on their way to help his little green friends on Osnome, Dick and Mart encounter an even more hostile race--the Sontarans. Oops, I mean the Fenachrone. But you Doctor Who fans will no doubt recognize the Sontarans in the way the Fenachrone are depicted--squat, potato-headed warriors in a space suit and helmet. On top of that, the Skylark is a spherical ship. The Sontarans in Doctor Who fly around in little globular ships too, so I like to think that these stories exist in the same universe and that the Sontarans eventually co-opt the Skylark technology for their own needs. So I'm just going to call the Fenachrone "Sontarans".

So now Dick has to deal with the jealous and homicidal DuQuesne, a civil war, and a new megalomaniacal race hell bent on conquering the universe. It's a bit much, but this doesn't deter Doc Smith from this ambitious undertaking.

This novel was published originally as a serial in 1930, and really takes the formula of high interstellar adventure established in its predecessor to a whole new level. Readers certainly had never experienced anything like it. So it's no wonder this story continued to spawn more sequels and inspire nerds of the Great Depression and beyond to become engineers and scientists to someday reach for the stars.

Smith tried to incorporate real discoveries in mathematics and astrophysics to create a surprisingly sophisticated and scientifically grounded story that he hoped would be educational as well as inspirational. As a result, this is also one of the earliest examples of hard science fiction. At the end of this book, fellow hard-sf nerd and genius John W. Campbell even writes a review of scientific "mistakes" in the original Skylark novel. These guys were serious!

But remember what I said about him not being a great writer? Well, Dick and Mart have to be two of the most boring heroes ever in fiction, though by rights, they should be far more interesting. Dick is one of those annoying characters that is perfect at everything. He can whip up a spaceship as easily as I break computers, but he is also an accomplished magician, is the fastest gun in the galaxy, and has a machine that trains him instantly in alien languages and technology. However, he definitely has a dark side to him, and seems perfectly willing to kill people who get in his way, even to commit genocide against an alien race because they piss him off. Smith tries to explore the morality of this side of our main character a little more in this novel than in the first, even having him torture a Sontaran to death while DuQuesne spares his captive in a mirror situation. But it doesn't really create any conflict in the character or the story. Ultimately, it all gets justified by Smith's very 20th Century attitude of "we'll put a boot in your ass--it's the American way".

Yet I think even Smith realized his main character was a little too much of a blood-thirsty Mary Sue, so he tries to humanize Dick with a little personality--by having him talk constantly in 1920s slang in the most annoying and awkward way, making the guy seem like a hyperactive Edward G. Robinson more than an aloof scientist who is above conventional morality. Every time Dick opens his mouth (which is often), you'll want to stuff a sock in it. For example, here is what Smith writes when his badass hero is surprised by something he just witnessed:

"Well, I'll be kicked to death by little red spiders!"

By the way, the author doesn't just have Dick shout this phrase, or exclaim it, or whatever. Nope. He chooses to say that Dick "ejaculated" it.

Was Smith being intentionally naughty? Or was he just lacking awareness? Maybe I'm just immature, but it's already "hard enough" to take a man named Dick seriously--no offense to you bonafide Dicks out there--especially when his wife is constantly running around the entire story saying things like, "Where's my Dickie?" or "Hold it, Dickie!" and "Come, Dickie!" Besides, Smith can't even be bothered spelling Dickie with any consistency, sometimes ending it in a "y" instead of "ie".

As a final criticism, this novel sees the return of a device called "the educator". Dick uses it to transfer knowledge of alien minds into his brain. This was helpful in the first book to allow our human characters to communicate with our alien characters, but here it is abused by the author. Dick absorbs all the knowledge of a super-intelligent race of beings, making him drastically overpowered, so this eliminates any sense of threat or stakes. The only consequence is that now Dick is so wise that he is forced to be a little more reserved rather than his usual impetuous self. This terrible narrative decision certainly doesn't make for high drama.

But as irritating and unintentionally hilarious as the novel could be for me, I still wanted to see what would happen next, and what new weird creatures and menaces were in store. You do constantly wonder just what kind of bat-shit crazy stuff Smith has yet to throw in the mix. And if you like exploring strange new worlds in fiction, "Skylark III" has you covered. My favorite part is when Seaton and company arrive at Dasor, a planet so old that all the land eroded below sea level, forcing the locals to develop floating metropolises powered by green energy from the sun and waves. The cities resemble water parks more than anything, with lazy rivers and tube slides zigzagging all around as a means of public transportation. It's a beautiful and dreamlike world, and a good example of why I love science fiction.

In summary, this book is deeply--and I mean DEEPLY--flawed... BUT!... I still think it will be a blast for vintage pulp lovers, for readers curious about sci-fi history, and for fans of the original "Skylark of Space". Speaking of the original, you need not have read it to enjoy this one. All you need to know is what I already summarized in this review. And trust me, you won't understand "Skylark III" any better for it anyway. This is one of those narratives where you just have to go with the flow. If you do, and accept its wordsmith limitations and the context of the era in which it was written, you'll likely have a good time with this epic adventure.

SCORE: 2.5, rounded to 3 zones of force out of 5

WORD OF THE DAY: Heterodyne

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the title of this volume is Skylark Three and would suggest that it is the third novel in the “Skylark” series by E. E. “Doc” Smith, it is actually the second book in the series. The “Three” in the title refers to the third iteration of the eponymous spaceship. From an early novella in Amazing Stories, this is an intriguing episode where an earlier science extrapolates intriguing possibilities. Skylark Three is ultimately based on an ethereal or aethereal cosmic theory (where there is an “ether” or “aether” comprised of electromagnetic density and elasticity between objects in space). The ultimate solution in this story involves manipulating the ether and it didn’t happen as I anticipated. As a result, I thought it was an interesting explanation.

It was so interesting that the famous John W. Campbell (whose famous apartments are now a special entertainment space above Grand Central Station and have appeared in at least one movie) wrote a letter to the author debunking the idea of an ammonia “cooling” system and using red paint to protect against UV radiation. He also disputed the author’s gravitational calculations. Where I was anticipating a pulp adventure, I was actually getting a taste of hard science fiction.

In this novel, DuQuesne goes off into space to find a counter to the superior defenses the protagonists had discovered and developed in the first story. The good guys, Seaton and Crane, discover that their allies on one of the green planets are dealing with a warmongering invader culture with superior arms and, as a result, Seaton and Crane set off to find a superior technology to nullify this threat. Naturally, one expects the two quests for superior technology and weaponry to dovetail. This perceived event doesn’t happen exactly as one might expect.

Reading these novels is fascinating to me because of the archaic words used. I won’t even try to explain the slang, as there are numerous phrases I’ve never read before. Probably the most innocuous of these was, “…we ain’t out of the woods, yet, by forty-seven rows of apple trees.” (p. 176) However, I had never read the term “coign of vantage” (p. 43) before (that I remember). It apparently can mean an advantageous viewing point. It was also entertaining to read a word I haven’t seen in decades, “You sniveling coward! You pusillanimous bookworm!” (p. 259).

There were also some phrases that I found particularly nice. I liked, “That’s one penalty fo being human. We can’t live in high altitudes all our lives—if we could there would be no thrill in ascending them so often.” (p. 45) I also liked his perspective on the possibility of a transcendent entity (usually known as “God”), “And whether we delve baffled into the unknown smallness of the small, or whether we peer, blind and helpless, into the unknown largeness of the large, it is the same—infinity is comprehensible only to the Infinite One: the all-shaping Force directing and controlling the Universe and the knowable Sphere.” (pp. 174-5) I also agree with his assessment that “You also know that ever folk-legend has some basis, however tenuous, in fact.” (p. 109) One might even allege that “Doc” Smith even anticipated the self-driving cars being developed today “…a ray serving a dboule purpose. It held the vessel upon its predetermined course through that thick and sticky fog and also rendered collision impossible, since any two of these controller rays repelled each other to such a degree that no two vessels could take paths which would bring them together.” (p. 262)

Unlike the distinguished science-fiction editor, the late Mr. Campbell, I was fascinated by the idea of building machines using the existing forces of nature (sort of a ‘30s era nanotechnology) and my only complaint was the apparent demise of a supporting character who, I believe, appears in a later story—in spite of being annihilated. Oh, well. I keep forgetting that this was also the era of film serials with cliffhanger endings and surprise flashbacks. Guess I’ll have to wait until later to judge.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book entirely devoid of irony. The heroes are upstanding corn-fed Americans, the enemies are dastardly conquest-fueled aliens, the day will be won with the intelligent application of SCIENCE!, and the dialogue is so corny that movie theaters can coat it in nasty ersatz butter sauce and sell it by the fattening tub.

Everything you need to know about Smith's gender politics is shown in an early scene: the menfolk grapple with the fundamental forces of the universe and bend SCIENCE! to their will, while their wives knit and eat chocolates.

But Smith's sheer ernestness is enthralling. Issues of gender equality or ethics or characterization or anything resembling adherence to actual physics is blasted out of the way as the story rockets toward the inevitable genocidal showdown. Even his worst excesses of weirdly fetishistic details of the technology and science become so much roadkill in the path of this unstoppable monster.

[Jon · Rating 1 out of 5]

All the qualms I had with The Skylark of Space are present in its sequel to an even greater extent. The plot is predictable and boring, the dialogue is laughable, the characters are all one-dimensional, and the author devotes way too much time developing technologies and scientific theories to keep any semblance of an interesting story. Don't waste your time with this one.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow did this one go all out. The Hero's kill so many in this story. Like mass genecide whole planets. It is getting a bit silly with all the new magic "force" science

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book is good classic sci-fi fun but then there's the 2nd half where it gets bogged down in scientific pontification. And then there's the ending where the villains we've been following get vaporized and an entire planet of hostile aliens gets destroyed.

[C. John Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was read for the World at War Challenge I am doing and fills in a square for a book first published in the years 1925 to 1930. Despite the title this is the second in the Skylark series. Of course the Seaton’s and the Crane’s reappear in this story as well as Shiro, Martin Crane’s servant. Also returning is Dumark and his wife Sitar, their Osnomian friends. Also here is Blackie DuQuesne, however he never crosses paths with Seaton and company. Instead our villains are a new race, the Fenachrone, who are determined to conquer the universe, believing it to be their destiny. Richard Seaton undertakes a quest to attain the knowledge needed to defeat this enemy and also has a new ship built for his use, the Skylark of the title.
I admit I am not sure about the science in this book. It may be possible but at time it does seem Smith is stretching things to tell a story. However I am not complaining as I enjoyed the story. It did at times seem to bog down for a bit as Smith explained what was going on. However as we are dealing with science that is going in new directions I daresay this is understandable. And of course once we get heading towards the climax then off we go at breakneck speed. What was not for a fan back then to love.
In summary if you wish to find out what Sci-Fi was like back in the day then you should give this series, and Smith’s work in general a try.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time deciding on the rating for this book. I would give it 3 stars compared to modern science fiction, but this was written in 1930. For those with an interest in the history of science fiction this one is clearly at least a 4 star book. You can clearly see where the ideas for things like Flash Gordon (four years later) came from. It very much has that same flavor.
The technology descriptions are interesting. "Atomic" power is based on the metal copper. Unlike works from 20 years later the author does not spend a lot of time trying to explain the tech but just accepts that it works, most of the plot is about what people do with that tech.
Social features are also informative. women are clearly treated as second class characters in the plot. Smoking is what men do to relax.
Bottom line:
If you want to read a part of science fiction history, read this and you may really like this. However, if you just want a good science fiction story, you may be a bit disappointed. I liked it.

[DavidO · Rating 2 out of 5]

Original: I got about halfway through this one and kind of gave up on this series. It's definitely not as good as the Lensmen series, which is little surprise since this was written first. It's main problem is the dialog. Nobody ever spoke like these characters. They sound like rejects from a campy 1930's film. The science part of the science fiction is very dated too and I find it a bit painful to read. I'd rather have less detail on the science fiction then this wildly inaccurate stuff.

New: I just listened to this on audio book (got for free from library). I stick by my review above, however, I'll upgrade it to 2 stars. The narrator gets the style just right to capture the characters, and listening to it is a lot easier than plowing through the endless pages of scientific nonsense with my eyes.

[Michael Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a classic, and so very enjoyable, Skylark Three gives us another dose of unbelievable and fantastic science that is almost miraculous in it's application. The characters are still larger than life, too perfect, and pompous sounding... but this is still a fun story to read -- even when xenocide is being committed.

More so than in the first book the language and pseudo-science gives a dated feel to Skylark Three and seems to have been written for a younger audience. At the same time however, it is more consistent in style and narration yet something about it makes you feel the youthful enthusiasm E.E. Smith appears to have had in writing it.

[prcardi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Storyline: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing Style: 2/5
World: 2/5

After finishing The Skylark of Space I remarked, only partially in jest, that Smith compressed nearly all of science fiction ideas - past and future - into a single, short text. He proved me wrong. What was left out of the first made it into the second, and we get another book of spectacular technological escalation.

Smith seemed to have believed that the minor character development of his first was sufficient to cover this second, and there was little to distinguish the characters here from robots or from each other. It was as if the adventure story was wanted but the presence of adventurers was an afterthought. That adventure story, however, was more coherent than in the first Skylark book. There is a plot, revealed near the beginning, that Smith mostly sticks to until the end. There were some surprising moments of real technological trouble shooting and social-theoretical musings. One can see how these themes would be picked up in later generations and turned into hard science fiction and speculative fiction. Whatever small differences between this and the first though, they are of a consistent identity and are prime examples of classic pulp science fiction. This is a story for good ole' boys and a call back to the golden age. Back to an era when women delighted in being adornments and civilized white men, on a whim and despite their ignorance, were entitled to decide the fate of millions. Back to an era where entire civilizations could be judged from the characteristics of a few representatives and genocide a reasonable solution to threats. It is not so much that I object to such stories or characters like this. I have a real sympathy for books being understood in their time. It is astonishing, however, to read portions like this and realize that Smith was completely oblivious:

“Do you remember, Dick, that I hailed you once as Columbus at San Salvador?” asked Margaret unsteadily from Crane’s encircling arms. “What could a man be called who from the sheer depths of his imagination called forth the means of saving from destruction all the civilizations of millions of entire worlds?”

There is not an ounce of irony in that; no self-awareness of what it says about our characters. Hence why this is a book for the good ole' boys who want to gallivant around the universe playing hero without any concern for untoward repercussions.

[Neil Willcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skylark Three is the second in the Skylark series, named after the third Skylark spaceship. (In The Skylark of Space , Seaton and Crane build the Skylark and go on space adventures; on the planet of Osnome they rebuild the ship into Skylark Two.) Responding to requests for aid from the Osnomians, Seaton, Crane, their wives and Crane's Japanese man-servant Shiro head out into space where they run into a scout cruiser of the supermen of Fenachrone. These guys want to conquer the galaxy and kill everyone who is not like them.

To stop them Seaton goes on a tour of planets looking for superior science and technology to beat them. He finds it on Norlamin, a peaceful planet of scientists, far advanced beyond other planets, due to their great age as a race. They do not have the mysterious metal X which they call Rovolon, so haven’t been able to put their theories into practice. Seaton has lots of it. They team up!

There’s some interesting stuff here about frequencies and orders of forces, Seaton having to leave a gap in his shields at one frequency to see out. There’s some even more interesting stuff about how the Norlaminians are so advanced as to be too pacifist to fight Fenachrone (though they build the weapons to do so). Their society, runs on (fairly) strict time limits, so that when the bell for the time of work sounds, they stop for the day, and go on to exercise or pleasure or something.

They’re still kind of sexist though, so some things haven’t changed in the thousands of years since they were equivalent to circa 1930.

Read This: For pulpy space adventure with – just – a bit more thought put into the use of forces, rays and automation than the usual.
Don’t Read This: If crazy genocidal space wars are not your thing.

[Frank Carver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the second part of the four-book “Skylark” series. I started reading it straight after “Skylark of Space”. From the first book it doesn’t seem as if Smith originally intended this to be a series, but I guess that the first book (or at least its serialisation in a magazine of the time) was successful enough to prompt a follow-up.

The formula is similar, but this time the challenges are even bigger and the responses of the heroes, particularly Richard Seaton are even more superhuman. We get the now-familiar gosh-wow travels to new planets and races, sprinkled with Smith’s meritocratic, manifest destiny philosophy, followed by a lengthy tooling and training montage before some ethically questionable genocide.

In the first book, the primary antagonist (Marc DuQuesne) was a kind of evil twin of Seaton, with the same background and skills but less compassion (not that Seaton has much). In this book, DuQuesne is still around, but with all Seaton’s power-ups he is much less of a threat, and is effectively sidelined by the end of the book. Unfortunately, this removes much of the opportunity for moral reflection. The book polarises into a universe of “good” (i.e willing to embrace Seaton as “overlord”) and “bad” (i.e determined to win at the expense of all others) races. As the book progresses, the “bad” are exterminated, down to the last individual. This, apparently, is something worth celebrating at the end of the book.

[Barry Haworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this sequel to The Skylark of Space, Dick Seaton receives a visit from his friend and ally Dunark, ruler of the planet Osnome where much of the action of the previous book took place. He requests Seaton's help to deal with a new threat to his home planet.

On the way there however a new menace emerges in the form of a new alien race, the evil Fenachrone, super strong and ruthless beings who are bent on conquering the galaxy. Realising that they lack the ability to take on a stronger and technologically superior enemy, Seaton and his friends tour the other planets in the "Green System" of which Osnome is part, looking for a more advanced race who might be able to help them.

Much of the book reads like a travelogue as they tour the planets of the Green System, meeting various races (including the porpoise-like men of Dasor) until they find the ancient intellectual people of Norlamin who are able to provide the necessary knowledge which is used to build the mighty warship Skylark Three that takes the fight to the enemy.

Like its predecessor, this book is an enjoyable, light weight read, This time with more space battles and new alien races as well as the spectacular settings. One inconsistency that annoyed me a little was the time taken traveling from planet to planet - in the first book it is established that their ships can travel hundreds of light years in a matter of hours, yet it takes days or weeks for them to move between the planets of the same solar system.

Other than that, an enjoyable piece of classic space opera.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's difficult for me to rate this book "honestly". I read it once as a child, once as a teen and again a few years ago. I was thrilled as a child in the 60s, intrigues as a teen in the early 70s and amused as an adult in the mid 2000s. Wow! I missed all that misogyny and hidden bigoty/prejudice as a child and teen. Or was it simply that's how everyone (in my limited world) thought at the time and therefore it didn't catch me?
But is it a rip-roaring space opera? Oh, yes. A fun (if not necessarily good) read? Yes. And much of what E.E. "Doc" Smith write about became working elements in the technologies I patented and codin methods I developed (example: "Never forget that it is a waste of time to do the same thing twice, and that if you know precisely what is to be done, you need not do it personally at all. Forces are faster than human hands, they are tireless and they neither slip nor make mistakes." - Rovol to Seaton in Skylark Three).

[Randy D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skylark Three is the second offering in E. E. “Doc” Smith's Skylark Series, taking place approximately a year after his initial effort, The Skylark of Space. The science of the protagonist’s Richard Seaton’s new friends and allies, the Norlaminians, was a little difficult to follow in this second story, having consumed three chapters. Nevertheless, it was somewhat interesting. Some of the scientific innovations Smith wrote of in Skylark Three have come true several years after the Ph.D. recipient published this second story in 1930.

Smith also takes the opportunity to comment on various social phenomena of the day but applies them to the time setting of his novel; a notable example is the description of the walrus-like inhabitants of the planet Dasor. The reader is reminded through a character's perspective that a “person's” appearance has nothing in common with their apparent intelligence. Also, the controversial subject of evolution and genocide, the systematic killing of people, is addressed in this second book. Smith wrote this second story approximately twelve years after World War I, which was the most destructive war up to that time, which could be likened to the mass extermination of the human race, and five years after the “Scopes Monkey Trial” of 1925 that dealt with the controversial theory of evolution, the hottest topic of the day. The rise of the political entity known as the “dictatorship” was a central theme in this story as well; Japan was growing more militant and was looking to dominate Asia, while a future dictator was just beginning to emerge from obscurity in Germany ... he would soon become front page news.

So, the signs of the times were most certainly addressed in Skylark Three, especially in Smith's rewrite dating from 1946 when the serialized version was reorganized into book form. With that being said, this commentary of Skylark Three concerns the original version, serialized in Amazing Stories, beginning in August of 1930. Last, but not least, I enjoyed reading Seaton’s slang expressions, which were obviously part of the vernacular found in American English of the day, and used by the protagonist throughout part two of the trilogy. Editors often frown on writers using certain elements in a story that will obviously date it; apparently, Smith's editors didn't hold to those antiquated guidelines as Richard Seaton uses several idioms of this type throughout each chapter. In my opinion, it helped to bring this story back “down to earth.” I also enjoyed reading the literary references to the great books of the past … it is apparent that “Doc” appreciated the fine literature of that bygone era.

Finally, the story contains the age-old theme of “the good guys battling the bad guys, with the good guys as victorious.” An evil empire, one that is a clear indication of a dictatorship, is squashed. After the universe is saved, our heroes more than likely fly off into the “sunset” in their huge two-mile long spacecraft named the Skylark Three, having “saved the day.” But the wannabe dictator, and former colleague of the story's protagonist, Richard Seaton, Dr. Mark “Blackie” DuQuesne, who is introduced in The Skylark of Space and continues to be obsessed with killing Seaton and Crane, and now their wives, is still very much at large; I imagine he will be dealt with in the third or fourth book, The Skylark of Valeron, or Skylark DuQuesne. Skylark Three didn’t address the fate of DuQuesne, but it was not an oversight on Smith’s part … he was “hitting on all eight,” as Seaton might have said, and the whereabouts of DuQuesne was to be material for the third book, The Skylark of Valeron.

Smith's Skylark Three contains several technological innovations of which were the products of a scientist/novelist's trained mind. “Doc” Smith wrote of such futuristic innovations as hand-held wireless communication using the applications of audio, text messaging, and video, highly efficient radio communications incorporated into the manipulation of energy beams, closed circuit television, computers, laser beams, synthetic foods, gigantic population transportation devices, nuclear powered, autonomously controlled machines and spacecraft, an anti-gravitational energy beam that was used for towing objects in space, and of course, interplanetary and interstellar space travel.

I didn't find Skylark Three quite as entertaining as The Skylark of Space, but it served its secondary position in the trilogy quite well. Some of the scientific innovations introduced to the readers of this story when it was first published in Amazing Stories, would only be found within the pages of that innovative science fiction magazine and later in the published book from Pyramid Press of the same title; science fiction enthusiasts of that era could only dream of using those innovative products. As I type this commentary tonight on a hand-held computer, which we call a “smartphone,” I realized that many of these elements of a fictional story introduced by a sci-fi writer almost a century ago are common place items in our day and age.

I wonder if the others that haven't yet arrived such as interstellar space travel, the knowledge transfer machine, a nuclear-powered lifestyle, and Star Trek's famous matter transporter will occur a century or so into the future ... the stuff of science fiction has a tendency to ultimately become fact, beginning with those futuristic innovations in the writings of Jules Verne, who is considered the “Father of Science Fiction.” Part of what Edward E. “Doc” Smith wrote about in the first two decades of the twentieth century, is the latest example of how science fiction becomes scientific fact.

Although the plot of “Doc” Smith's second book in his Skylark Trilogy is straight out of an Owen Wister or Zane Grey western, the imaginative writing incorporating the author's scientific innovations in Skylark Three secures its five star rating.*****

[Royden Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice piece of Science Fiction history. To be brief, however, if you didn't read the first book, it will be a bit incomprehensible, and if you are not going to read the third book, a lot of plot points seem to be brought up and then disappear.
That said, it followed Smith's idea not to have anything provably wrong (at least, provably wrong when he first wrote it); he uses a good amount of scientific terms correctly, and gives plausible explanations as to how the Super Science would work. Keep in mind that the story was written many decades ago in a different time, and enjoy it.
I suppose the best way of reviewing this book is to point you towards the first book, Skylark of Space. If you enjoyed it and wanted more... here is more! If you did not enjoy it, then feel free to set this aside as there are more than enough other books out there that need reading.

[David Olson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Original: I got about halfway through this one and kind of gave up on this series. It's definitely not as good as the Lensmen series, which is little surprise since this was written first. It's main problem is the dialog. Nobody ever spoke like these characters. They sound like rejects from a campy 1930's film. The science part of the science fiction is very dated too and I find it a bit painful to read. I'd rather have less detail on the science fiction then this wildly inaccurate stuff.

New: I just listened to this on audio book (got for free from library). I stick by my review above, however, I'll upgrade it to 2 stars. The narrator gets the style just right to capture the characters, and listening to it is a lot easier than plowing through the endless pages of scientific nonsense with my eyes.

[Kevin O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Skylark Three is the second of four novels in Smith's Skylark series. The three in the title refers to the third spaceship they built. Like most Smith novels, it moves along with a lot of action. Overlord Seaton of the Central System deals with interplanetary war between the planets of the system. Then the monstrous Fenachrone race is introduced, and they threaten the whole galaxy with conquest. Only Seaton can stop them! If you ever wanted to know what pulp fiction of the classic age of science fiction is like, this series is a good place to start. Smith is regarded as the "Father of Space Opera", and this is where he started.

I read this as part of a collection "The Works of E.E. "Doc" Smith"

[James]

In this exhilarating sequel to The Skylark of Space, momentous danger again stalks genius inventor and interplanetary adventurer Dr. Richard Seaton. Seaton's allies on the planet Kondal are suffering devastating attacks by the forces of the Third Planet. Even worse, the menacing and contemptuous Fenachrones are threatening to conquer the galaxy and wipe out all who oppose them. And don't forget the dastardly machinations of Seaton's arch-nemesis, DuQuesne, who embarks on a nefarious mission of his own. Against such vile foes and impossible odds, how is victory possible? Featuring even more technological wizardry, alien worlds, and all-out action than its predecessor, Skylark Three is hailed by many as the imaginative high point of the Skylark series.

[O'Neal Sadler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dull at first but by the second half it’s really good. Smith is such a fantastic world builder. He’s clearly an intellectual who masquerades his stories around ideas. The obsession of men of science and ideas are revered, even the main antagonist Dr. DuQuesne is given his due. He calls to mind Doctor Doom or Lex Luthor (possible prototype maybe; we may never know). And the various planets made up of what he knew of science at the time. It’s amusing to think copper is an important intergalactic element! But overall it was an intriguing and fascinating book that read so visually I could see everything before my eyes.

[Robert Grosek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the original Skylark novel was good, this one seems to have been written in such a way as to fill in the pages with a lot of words to make up for a skinny plot. The amazing "science" in this novel is simply magic without any scientific anchor. It goes well beyond believability. How the spaceship can travel beyond the speed of light is never properly explained, but other events, nonsense that popped out of the author's head, are explained to death in excruciating detail.

I gave this story a two star rating because Smith is a good writer, with good dialog and characterization, but he fell short in this novel. The storyline is too meager to be a worthy read.

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skylark 3 is interestingly enough the sequel to Skylark 1. There is a Skylark 2 spaceship in between the two, but it is useful in so far as it takes Seaton et al to the aliens who help them build Skylark 3. The good guys come across a rather nasty alien race, the Fenachrone, who want to take over the universe and eliminate all the other races. Everyone agrees that is not an optimal outcome, so they build Skylark 3 and arm it with 5th order rays and do a good job of xenocide on the Fenachrone.

[PulpMonkey (Chompa) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this from Audiovox as read by Richard Kilmer. A fun story, but it drags at times with expounding on imaginary science.

Once again, the treatment of women was embarrassing, but I know that was a 1920's prevailing opinion.

If I go on with the series, it will be because the next book is called Skylark Duquesne. He supposedly dies in this book, but he's too great a villain to let go.

[Steve Prentice · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was OK. Once again it was quite an interesting plot but Smith is certainly keen on planetary genocide which is not particularly politically correct but I suppose it was a sign of the times. There was also a long part of the book that concerned the acquisition by macho Earthlings of a fantasy science that was clever but that has no basis in physics and that I found quite boring.

Despite all this I enjoy the series sufficiently that I will finish it - eventually.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Space opera listening 🎧
Due to eye issues and damage from shingles Alexa reads to me.
Another wonderful very will written Book 2 in the series a romantic thriller space Sc-Fi adventure with interesting will developed characters. The story line is set in DC and light years in out space. I would recommend this series and E.E. "Doc" Smith stories. Enjoy the adventure of reading 2021 🚀🎉😎✨

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this one is really bad. Part of it is the lack of DuQuesne who is more nuanced than pretty much any Smith character that I’ve read. I actually enjoyed his new ally too, but they are in very little of this. Instead, there are new random lame villains, and our heroes spend most of their time spewing technobabble and making the titular Skylark Three ship. I hope the next one’s better…

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as a kid and apparently enjoyed it. Trying to reread it now, I put it down. It didn't seem worth the additional hour it would have taken me to finish it. The writing is dated, with the men speaking like hard boiled detectives, and the women act like their molls. The science part of the fiction is inane. I love a lot of the old SF. This one has not aged well.