Second Stage Lensman

The incredibly over the top and amazing space warfare continues. There are a handful of Second Stage Lensman, those good enough at their craft to go beyond the Gray, and receive further treatment and training from the Arisians. Kimball Kinnison is one of them, and he and his fellows, some of the best aliens you will meet in SF books, go out to do further battle. That is not all though, as Second Stage Lensmen abilities are ideally suited to spying and information gathering. The Second Stage powers include the 'sense of perception', an ability to sense what is going on around you, which basically gives you x-ray vision and the ability to see in the dark, among other things. Mind control is another. The time spent with Nadreck, Worsel and Tregonsee, the other Second Stage Lensmen, is quite enjoyable.

Perhaps the best of the Lensman series, with Doc's best alien, Nadreck of Palain VII.

Finally the book I have been waiting for since 1982. I first read this book in the 1970's, and read it at least 50-60 times. However, it was lost while moving in 1982 and I have been searching avidly for it ever since. In this book, Kimball Kinnison does some of his best work as a lensman. However then best part about this book is we get to see the work of other lensman, as well as of the galactic patrol itself. In this we see that much of what makes people great are the people they associate with; a lesson of great value today. This is perhaps the inspiration for many of today's ensemble cast shows. An excellent read by one of the worlds greatest storytellers.

Possibly the best in the Series, though anyone would tell you, that is a difficult determination to make. The 5 most powerful "Second Stage" Lensmen do detective, spy and combat duty to ferret out and destroy the denizens of Boskone. The beams are hotter, the technology heavier, the battles bigger and the mental powers greater than ever before. See the sunbeam roast planets! This book is loaded with everything good about the Lensmen series. My favorite chapter is "Nadreck at Work", about a non oxygen breathing, Second Stage Lensman with a decidedly, uh, er, different moral outlook on things. Clarissa Kinnison, Kim's wife, comes into her own as a woman hero to make this series accessible to women also.