The Vortex Blaster

E. E. "Doc" Smith
The Vortex Blaster Cover

Masters of the Vortex

FKatterjohn
7/25/2019
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"Masters of The Vortex" is a departure for "Doc" Smith and for the Lensman series. Definitely in the Lensman Universe the main protagonist is not a Lensman. Placement in the series is problematic. Most often it is placed as book seven (last) in the series, some as book six of seven, others exclude it entirely.

Originally written as three short stories for the pulps "Comet" and "Astonishing Stories", it marks a change in writing style for Doc. Much more representative of the style he would adopt a few years later. Can be read as a standalone novel outside of the series.

Atomic vortices menace various planets throughout the universe. They can be eliminated with a carefully timed blast at the center of each Vortex. But timing and locating the correct amount of explosives at the center these atomic tornadoes is a difficult matter. A hit and miss problem for the average person.

Enter our protagonist Neal "Storm" Cloud and atomic engineer with a calculator fast brain. Being a quick read, I will not spoil the reasons Storm gets drawn into the effort of shutting down the vortices, nor his adventures afterwards.

My rating 4 stars, hope you agree.

If you wish to track down the pulps or download them. The three short stories that appear in Pulps, that make up the novel are;

"Comet" 7/41 "The Vortex blaster"

"Astonishing Stories" 6/42 "Storm Cloud on Deka"

"Astonishing Stories" 10/42 "Vortex Blaster Makes War".