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The Masters had ruled all space with an unconquerable iron fist. But the Masters were gone. And this new, young race who came now to take their place -- could they hope to defeat the ancient Enemy of All?

When the Inter-Planetary Corporation's (IPC) crack liner, "IPV Arcturus", took off on a routine flight to Mars, it turned out to be the beginning of an unexpected and long voyage.

There had been too many reports of errors in ship's flight positions from the Check Stations and brilliant physicist Dr. Percival Stevens is aboard the Arcturus on a fact-finding mission to find out what's really happening, and hopefully save the honor of the brave pilots of the space-liner Arcturus from the Check Stations desk-jockeys' implications of imprecision - the nastiest insult one could cast at a ship's pilot.

He and the pilots are right, it was the Check Stations that were out of position, not the ships. But that is cold consolation because before the Arcturus reaches Mars, it is attacked by a small, mysterious, globe-shaped space-ship...

Eight stories by a master of science fiction include Robot Nemesis, Pirates of Space, The Vortex Blaster, and Subspace Survivors

• 7 - Preface (The Best of E. E. 'Doc' Smith) - (1975) - essay by Philip Harbottle
• 9 - Foreword (The Best of E. E. 'Doc' Smith) - (1975) - essay by Walter Gillings
• 17 - To the Far Reaches of Space - [Skylark of Space] - (1928) - novelette
• 57 - Robot Nemesis - (1934) - short story (variant of What a Course!)
• 77 - Pirates of Space - [Lensman] - (1934) - novelette
• 109 - The Vortex Blaster - [Vortex Blaster] - (1941) - short story
• 131 - Tedric - [Lord Tedric] - (1953) - short story
• 151 - Lord Tedric - [Lord Tedric] - (1954) - novelette
• 181 - Subspace Survivors - [Subspace] - (1960) - novelette
• 219 - The Imperial Stars - [Family D'Alembert] - (1964) - novelette
• 275 - Afterword: The Epic of Space - (1947) - essay (variant of The Epic of Space)
• 283 - Bibliography (The Best of E. E. 'Doc' Smith) - (1975) - essay by Philip Harbottle

They were four of the greatest minds in the Universe: Two men, two women, lost in an experimental spaceship billions of parsecs from home. And as they mentally charted the Cosmos to find their way back to earth, their own loves and hates were as startling as the worlds they encountered.

Here is E. E. Smith's great new novel....

The Empire of Earth, spanning more than a thousand solar systems, is threatened by a conspiracy from within. Now, with more than three-quarters of the Galaxy ready to fall into enemy hands, the Empire is forced to call on its top-secret weapon: the renowned Circus of the Galaxy featuring the d'Alembert family, a clan of circus performers with uncanny abilities. But even these super agents may not be in time to save the Empire.

Gone from the galaxy...

A startling discovery has shaken Earth's galactic Empire: more than two hundred and fifty thousand people have vanished from the resort moon, Vesa, without a trace! Called to duty, SOTE's most daring secret agents, Jules and Yvette D'Alembert - the former aerialists from the triple-gravity planet Des Plaines, possessed of lightning-reflexes and super-strength - are faced with a lethal and baffling conspiracy.

Together the D'Alemberts have conquered many of the Empire's most dangerous foes, but now the mighty pair must divide forces - each to challenge a deadly evil terror alone!

Stranglers' Moon is the second book in the "Family D'Alembert" series.

TREASON THREATENS THE GALAXY

A robber captured in far-off Kolokov knows a secret that threatens the stability of the succession of the Throne of the Empire of Earth. But he withstands the powers of the fatal truth-telling drug nitrobarb and dies before revealing the traitors' names.

Daring secret agents Jules and Yvette d'Alembert, possessed of lightning reflexes and super-strength, are faced with a far-reaching and baffling plot. They join forces with the rest of the d'Alemberts to uncover the "time bomb" that menaces the Princess' life and the control of the Galaxy's most populated sector, Earth!

When Helena, daughter and second-in-command to the Head of the Empire of Earth's security forces disappears - the future safety of the whole intergalactic network is threatened. Especially the lives of SOTE's two most highly trained operators - Jules and Yvette d'Alembert.

For Helena was one of the very few people who knew their real identities and who understood the vital significance of the d'Alembert Circus as SOTE's ultimate weapon for dealing with treason. So Jules and Yvette are sent on a top priority assignment - to find Helena and save SOTE from destruction.

Fourth volume in the Family d'Alembert series.

The Empire's boldest agents - Jules and Yvette d'Alembert - blast off against the most dangerous conspiracy in the Galaxy. But even the lightning-powers inherited from their triple-gravity planet are no match for their adversary, the beautiful and ruthless star-warrior called... Lady A.

THE MARCH OF THE ARMY OF THE JUST

What is happening on Purity - an obscure planet peopled only by religious introverts? Hitherto the hairshirt brigade have turned their backs on the rest of the Empire. But now, inspired by the aggressive zeal of sinister evangelist Tresa Clunard, the Puritans are preparing to fight a holy war.

Time, once more, for SOTE's crack agents, the Family d'Alembert, to spring into action. And the responsibility for this mission rests with the new time of Yvette and Pias Bavol. Theirs is an awesome task, for the future peace of Stanley Ten's interstellar civilisation hangs in the balance...

For centuries, the planet Gastonia has been a planet of exile, an escape-proof prison world for the worst sorts of traitors. But now, it seems, prisoners are indeed escaping, and all evidence points to the sinister, all-knowing conspiracy that continues to shadow the Throne.

The D'Alemberts must infiltrate this world of traitors - and they must do it without a safety net, because if they fail they themselves will be trapped on this inhospitable world.

The evil conspiracy of Lady A takes a new and mysterious turn when Grand Duke Zander von Wilmenhorst - the secret Head of SOTE - is implicated in a deadly plot against the Empire. And an enemy is impersonating Jules and Yvonne d'Alembert and luring SOTE agents to their deaths.

The trails lead the Family d'Alembert out into deep space to tackle the source of this disturbing operation. And Etienne d'Alembert has his own mission - to clear the name of Zander from accusations of treason. Before long, SOTE's top agents are locked in mortal combat with some of the Empire's most powerful foes...

Devastated by alien invasion, one of the Empire's far-flung planets - Omicron - is the destination for an astonishing mission. For the first time in many years, top SOTE agents Yvette Babol and Jules d'Alembert agree to co-operate with the treacherous and dangerous Lady A. it is strictly an alliance of convenience.

Together with the Empire's deadliest enemy and two of her followers, the two SOTE agents set off for Omicron - easily the most distant planet ever settled. With them is Captain Paul Fortier of Naval Intelligence. And what they find on Omicron could lead to intergalactic war...

The awesome forces of the Empire of Earth have destroyed most of the evil conspiracy's fleet, including the ship bearing the ice-blooded Lady A, when the Family d'Alembert uncover a plot on the planet Newforest, proving that the conspiracy commanded by the mysterious C is even more widespread than they have dreamed.

For Yvette suddenly realises who - or what - C actually is, and she knows the terrifying true meaning of Lady A's boast that the conspiracy is the Empire!

Revolt of the Galaxy is the tenth and final exciting novel in the enthralling space adventure series whose heroes and heroines are the intrepid Family dAlembert

Cosmic Conflict

In Triplanetary, battle is joined for the control of the universe. The Arisians, benevolent humanoids who have declared themselves Guardians of Civilization, war with the Eddoreans, shapeless, malevolent beings, hungry for power at any price. They fight on both physical and mental levels, wielding weaponry of inconceivable destructiveness.

And their battleground is a tiny planet in a remote galaxy: Earth. The swamping of Atlantis, the fall of Rome, the wars that rack the world and blaze through space - all may seem historical accidents to the men involved, but each in reality is a move in a savage universe-wide power struggle...

Triplanetary is the first volume in the famous Lensman series of novels, an epic saga of galactic adventures on the same magnificent scale as Isaac Asimov's classic FOUNDATION trilogy.

In the not too distance future, while fleets of commercial space ships travel between the planets of numerous solar systems, a traveler named Virgil Samms visits the planet Arisia. There he becomes the first wearer of the Lens, the almost-living symbol of the forces of law and order. As the first Lensman, Samms helps to form the Galactic Patrol, a battalion of Lensmen who are larger than life heroes. These solders are the best of the best, with incredible skills, stealth, and drive. They are dedicated and incorruptible fighters who are willing to die to protect the universe from the most horrific threat it has ever known.

The Galactic Patrol's Lensmen are the most feared peacekeepers in the Galaxy. The "Lens," a telepathic jewel matched to the ego of its wearer, is the ultimate weapon in the war against the merciless pirate Boskone and his forces of lawlessness. The only problem is the Galactic Patrol isn't sure how to capitalize on the Lens' incredible powers, but new graduate Kimball Kinnison is determined to learn. Taking command of the experimental fighting ship, the Brittania, Kinnison and his crew set off on a journey of harrowing adventures, coming face to face with deadly space creatures, and the evil pirate Helmuth...who may be the dreaded Boskone himself.

Lensman Kimball Kinnison has attained the goal which every Lensman seeks, and so few attain, that of Unattached Lensman, a Lensman who is accountable to no one anywhere, completely independent, completely free.

Further, he is learning how to fully use his lens. This knowledge is crucial, because as he works his way up through the ranks of the enemy the problems are growing more and more complex and dangerous. Coming face-to-face, and mind-to-mind, with the multi-tentacled scaley creature in his corpse-littered domain, Kimball Kinnison must use everything he has learned to defeat the beast or die trying.

Again Kimball Kinnison and the Galactic Patrol take up battle with Boskonia. The warfare leads to some odd corners of the universe and some stranger worlds. There is the planet Lyrane where a matriarchal society exists; the frigid world of Onio, with its incredibly alien inhabitants, on which the utterly weird and unhuman Lensman, Nadreck of Palain Seven works so efficiently.

It was beginning to look as though no one could prevent the annihilation of the civilised universe. For a weird intelligence was directing all the destruction of all civilisation from the icy depths of outer space.

Kim Kinnison of the Galactic Patrol was one of the few men who knew how near the end was. And in the last desperate strategem to save the universe from total destruction, he knew he had to use his children as bait for the evil powers of the hell-planet Ploor...

Runaway fireball!

A churning nuclear vortex, appearing out of nowhere, wreaking utter destruction - and countless numbers of them were menacing planets throughout the galaxy! 'Storm' Cloud, nucleonic genius, set out in his spaceship Vortex Blaster to track and destroy the mysterious vortices - and embarked on a saga of discovery and conflict among the far stars and the worlds of the Lensmen...

Tedric the Ironmaster wields the mightiest sword his world has ever seen - and swears to break the power of the black magician Sarpedion, or die in the attempt. In another universe... only Tedric's strength and daring stand between the dwindling power of the Terran Empire and total alien conquest.

Brought from his own distant world by the mysterious Scientists, working toward an end he cannot know, Tedric brings the war-wisdom of his own past into a universe of starships and alien powers.

Tedric the hero had become Tedric the pirate...

He looked at his strange companions: Philip Nolan, an aristocrat turned mutineer; Keller, a subman with canine ancestry; Ky-shan, a huge blue-furred alien; KT294578 Wilson, an extraordinary anarchist robot. A weird band of thieves.

But Tedric intended to use his crew for something more worthwhile than piracy. He had a plan to overthrow the tyrannical Carey family, the oppressors who controlled the Universe.

All the rights and wrongs of the situation were clear to Tedric...until Alyc Carey, beautiful, blind daughter of the megalomaniac Melor Carey, was taken prisoner. She seemed sympathetic to the revolutionary cause, and yet, Tedric was unsure of her...

Should he see her as a hostage... or a recruit?

Lord Tedric of the Marshes, ex-Corpsman, revered hero of the Empire and personal friend of the Emperor, is a traitor.

Fugitive from the Security Forces, Tedric and his blue-furred alien friend Ky-Shan intend to join up with the most ruthless and successful renegade in the Galaxy - the Bioman, Fra Villion.

Tedric's quest brings him in contact with a strange and fascinating band of people.

There's Milton Dass, a brilliant scientist who has invented the most staggering instrument of destruction the Universe has ever seen; Juvi, a prostitute seeking new excitement as a pirate; Yod, a black-planet boy hoping to revenge the death of his family; and, of course, Fra Villion himself, the Black Knight of the Iron Sphere.

Lord Tedric of the Marshes, ex-Corpsman and interplanetary warrior, faces a crucial mission: to crush the threat of the Destructive Forces by capturing their agent on the Bioman sphere, the ruthless Black Knight Fra Villion.

Tedric's crew are bound together by the strong loyalty of outcasts: Yod Cartwright, ex-pirate; Juvi, a prostitute turned expert pilor; Ky-shan the exiled Wykzl; Wilson, the renegade robot; and Pal Galmain, brave but banished Knight of the noble order of Vemplars.

Tedric mjust warn the Bio,en that their castle is a gatewhile for the annihilation gathering in the grey depths of space, but who will believe the word of a barbarian against the lightning whipsword of Fra Villion?

They were four of the greatest minds in the Universe: Two men and two women, all Psionic Primes, lost in an experimental spaceship billions of parsecs from home. And as they mentally charted the cosmos to find their way back to Earth, their own loves and hates were as startling as the worlds they encountered...

Here is E. E. Smith's classic science fiction novel -- one of the greatest space operas of all time!

The Skylark of Space is one of the earliest novels of interstellar travel. Originally serialized in 1928 in the magazine Amazing Stories, it was first published in book form in 1946 by The Buffalo Book Co. The Skylark of Space is often categorized as the first literary space opera (in the complimentary sense), complete with protagonists perfect in mind, body, and spirit, who fight against villains of absolute evil.

The Skylark of Space is available to read free on-line from Project Gutenberg.

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.

A pioneer of the space opera, E. E. "Doc" Smith (1890–1965) profoundly influenced the development of American science fiction. Smith's books include the classic Lensman series. Jack Williamson is the author of numerous classic novels, including The Humanoids and Terraforming Earth. He has been inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

The incredible staship Skylark Three has fought the Fenachone Supermen to a standstill, and Richard Seaton has gone back to his first love - exploration. Roaming the galaxy, he discovers a world of disembodied intelligences; a world of four dimensions where time was insanely distorted and matter obeyed no terrestrial laws, where 3-dimensional intellects were barely sufficient to thwart invisible mentalities! Meanwhile, the villainous DuQuesne is allying himself with the remnants of the Fenachrone, and planning his next attack...

Dick Seaton & Marc DuQuensne are the deadliest enemies in the Universe--their feud has blazed among the stars & changed the history of a thousand planets. But now a threat from outside the Galaxy drives them into a dangerous alliance as hordes of strange races drive to a collision with mankind. Seaton & DuQuensne flight & slave side by side to fend off the invasion--as Seaton keeps constant, perilous watch for DuQuesne's inevitable double-cross.

All the creative energies of the West have been directed into space exploration and development - dozens of new worlds are being opened up. Left behind on Earth are the sluggish remnants of former greatness.

But in the East, a mighty dictatorship has arisen - a single absolute monarch rules: The Nameless One of the East.

What follows is a raging conflict, on Earth and in space - conflict as only master pulp storyteller E.E. "Doc" Smith can write it.

Bursting right through the four-dimensional travel zone of subspace, Tellurian psiontists make an amazing discovery on the other side.

Beyond the bounds of subspace, a parallel universe is cruelly ruled by a violent, murderous empire, the Justiciate, where psiontists are ruthlessly hunted down and fed to giant eagles.

And within the Justiciate are lodged spies and traitors, dedicated to its overthrow - evil agents of the proud Garshan 'master race'.

The arrival of the psiontists from Tellus triggers off a truly spectacular space adventure...