My previous reading venture was the prequel to the Lensman series by E. E. (Doc) Smith. That one was called Triplanetary. It was not well written, probably composed in haste to beat publishing deadlines (and to keep below some word number limit). It would be nice to read a version with the writing fleshed out. But I enjoyed this glimpse at a hyper-creative mind who wrote anticipating most devices used in Star Treks to come 25-30 years later, including sub-space radio. (Smith did not call it that.) There were shields, ray beams, and hyper-light drive. The only thing lacking was transporters. Some of the communicators were concealed so well on their bodies that not even the evil aliens, with their superior technology, could detect their presence.
Here is my favorite quote from Triplanetary -
(Earth agents Costigan and Capt. Bradley, along with the lovely Clio, have been taken captive and brought before their captor in his super-futuristic office) -
This was written - when, around 1934? Amazing.Costigan moved over to Clio and slowly took off her armor. Then, after a flashing exchange of glances and a muttered word, the two officers threw off their suits simultaneously and fired at the same instant; Bradley with his Lewiston, Costigan with a heavy automatic pistol whose bullets were explosive shells of tremendous power. But the man in gray, surrounded by an impenetrable wall of force, only smiled at the
fusillade, tolerantly and maddeningly. Costigan leaped fiercely, only to be hurled backward as he struck that unyielding, invisible wall. A vicious beam snapped him back into place, the weapons were snatched away, and all three captives were held to their former positions.
"I permitted that, as a demonstration of futility," the gray man said...
The Lewiston, by the way, is a type of ray gun named after the town of Lewiston, Idaho, that Smith had visited. He even named a spaceship after Boise, Idaho (the Boise).
) me 
Must find next book...