I Read Books: Masters of the Vortex

Masters of the Vortex, the last Lensman novel by E E Smith, is not actually about the lensmen but takes place in the same setting, sometime between Second Stage Lensman and Children of the Lens. Neal “Storm” Cloud is studying loose atomic vortexes when his family is killed by one. Having extraordinary mathematical abilities and no sense of self preservation he’s able to figure out how to extinguish them, by flying close and using a big bomb.

This makes everyone very keen for him to visit their planet and put out their atomic vortexes. Also he tangles with criminals, especially one Fairchild, a radiation scientist that is able to use his knowledge to make thionite, the galaxy’s best drug, and also make loose atomic vortexes to attack his enemies.

Cloud picks up some castaways who become his crew, and then a computer scientist who wants to build a machine to take his job away from him. She succeeds and also teaches him telepathy, and they fall in love. He promptly discovers the secret behind the loose atomic vortexes so as not to be upstaged by the computer built by a woman.

It’s a fun adventure, a bit more episodic and unfocused than the other ones in the series. Because of this there are asides which don’t quite work; there’s a certain amount of discussion of statistical analysis to determine suspicious patterns, but no one actually does that or acts on it until late in the story. Also there’s a moment when they start telepathing and all the women are obsessing about babies which seems a bit over the top. Although Cloud is a member of the Galactic Patrol, he’s a little closer to ground level than Kinnison in the mainline Lensman stories so we see a bit more of ordinary life on planets. Which is cool.

Apparently Smith intended to write more spin off novels but never did.

Read This: For an entertaining if somewhat disjointed space opera adventure.
Don’t Read This: If you don’t want to read about travelling to odd societies that are measured according to how they differ from 1940s America

My reviews of the rest of the series:

Triplanetary
First Lensman
Galactic Patrol
Grey Lensman
Second Stage Lensman
Children of the Lens