Series ✦ Penny’s Take
Triplanetary
E. E. Smith · 2007
70/100
👍 Worth It
E. E. 'Doc' Smith opens the Lensman sequence with audacious scope — the destruction of Atlantis, Roman-era manipulation, World Wars, and then first contact with aliens who have been steering human evolution for eons — and the ambition alone earns a look. The pulp prose is dated and the 1930s characterization of women has not aged well, but Reed McColm's audiobook narration is well-regarded and the world-building pays off richly across the series. Best for Golden Age enthusiasts and Lensman completists, not casual readers.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: action violence including planetary destruction and combat · dated 1930s pulp racial and gender attitudes. We still scored it 70; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety71
Substance / usefulness75
Craft & writing66
Originality79
Evidence & accuracy84
Hype vs delivers79
Age-fit68
👁 Human-eye gut-check68
Penny’s verdict70
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