F/SF

I enjoyed all three of David A. Kyle's Lensman novels the first time I
read them, and I'm enjoying the re-reads. Z-Lensman carries the series
to a satisfying conclusion.

The exploration of Palainian culture and physiology is well-done, the
latter especially. The physical and biological nature of Palanians and
other "frigid, poison-breathing types" is made much clearer than in
the original Lensman series (and is done so in Kyle's usual
descriptive asides; here tell rather than show is effective.) Nadreck
doesn't quite come off as an individual, though. We rarely encounter
Palanians other than Nadreck in the original series - I only remember
the one Virgil Samms meets on Pluto. In Z-Lensman a minor character, a
normal Palanian naval crewman, given a casual un-grammatical speech
style, suddenly makes us realize there is an entire planet of
non-Lensman, non-extraordinary operatives, living out normal mundane
lives. Makes me want to know more.

Consider the nature of telephathic communication. Do Palanians
phonate? They have lungs. They breathe gasses. They are said to speak
in the narratives, but is that literal? In Z-Lensman, Cloud says he
never learned to speak Palanian. Again, is that literal, or does it
mean he never learned to interpret Palanian thought projections? Does
Nadreck telepath in English (or Spaceal or whatever is the common Patrol
language)?

We know Rigellians do not phonate, neither do they hear. Did they
ever, or were they telephathic from the beginnings of sentience? (Are
sub-sentient Rigellian animals telepathic?) If Rigellians have always
been telephathic, did they develop mental speech? Do they communicate
in "words", whatever that might mean? I've assumed Smithian telepathy
involves at least in part the stimulation of speech centres (he
describes characters hearing voices in their heads.) If the Rigellians
had speech, perhaps they use their speech centres for telepathy. If
they never had speech, how do they exchange meaning? How do species
who never had speech communicate telepathically, amongst themselves,
and with species who do use "mental speech"?

Palanian ethics are also explored, in the usual brief Kyle manner, and
particularly in a coda, but not unsatisfyingly. There is a very
interesting and sympathetic treatment of religion and how it could fit
into the Smith universe (Smith never dealt directly with religion.)

Benson Cloud appears again, and is much more interesting and
sympathetic than he was in the previous book. There is a good
exploration of the "burden of the Lens" through his feelings. The
connection with Neal Cloud the Vortex Blaster is finally made use of,
albeit too briefly, but also in service to the theme of the various
sorts of extra-ordinariness.

The thematic fibers of the two previous novels are spun together into
very satisfying thread and woven into a very satisfying tale. ( )

I don't think this book was about Nadreck of Palain at all, even by the standards of the first two Second Stage books. It's a competent enough conclusion to the story, but by this point, I was getting pretty tired of the whole thing. Kyle does mindless action-adventure all right, but Doc does it much better. Again, it focuses quite a lot on Cloudd, but I liked him, so that's all right. (originally written November 2007)