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Eclipsing Binaries by E.E. “Doc” Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the eighth in a 10 novel series which was mostly written by Stephen Goldin. Doc Smith wrote a novella called Imperial Stars which Goldin expanded into the first novel, and then Goldin wrote another 9 novels in a long story arc. But Smith is the famous one, so his name appears in large letters everywhere and Goldin is barely mentioned.

The setting is a universe where a Russian Feudal system has somehow become the dominant mode of government and of the language, so we see Russian words sprinkled throughout the conversations. Humanity has spread to a number of planets with varying characteristics. One of these is DesPlaines, a high gravity planet whose inhabitants have adapted by becoming shorter and stockier, and which has developed a unique attraction, The Circus of the Galaxy. What people don’t know is that this circus is also a key part of the secret service SOTE, the Service Of The Empire. This allows for an interesting twist for space opera, a series where the heroes do not have secret weapons or super powers, merely acrobatic training.

The conspiracy against the Imperial family has taken notice of the fact that so many of their plots have been foiled by Jules and Yvette d’Alembert. So they create doubles of the two agents who go around the galaxy getting other agents killed. The idea is to make these top agents useless since no one knows if it is the real agents or the traitorous doubles. But Jules and Yvette d’Alembert, top agents of SOTE, must get to the bottom and stop this plot. And they confront Lady A.’s conspiracy on a battlestation in space that was designed to lure them to their death. The book is fast-paced and a good combination of space opera with spy thriller. But since this a 10-novel story arc, each novel builds on what went before, so do not read them out of order.



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Planet of Treachery by E.E. “Doc” Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the seventh in a 10 novel series which was mostly written by Stephen Goldin. Doc Smith wrote a novella called Imperial Stars which Goldin expanded into the first novel, and then Goldin wrote another 9 novels in a long story arc. But Smith is the famous one, so his name appears in large letters everywhere and Goldin is barely mentioned.

The setting is a universe where a Russian Feudal system has somehow become the dominant mode of government and of the language, so we see Russian words sprinkled throughout the conversations. Humanity has spread to a number of planets with varying characteristics. One of these is DesPlaines, a high gravity planet whose inhabitants have adapted by becoming shorter and stockier, and which has developed a unique attraction, The Circus of the Galaxy. What people don’t know is that this circus is also a key part of the secret service SOTE, the Service Of The Empire. This allows for an interesting twist for space opera, a series where the heroes do not have secret weapons or super powers, merely acrobatic training.

The threat they deal with here is that the prison planet of Gastonia, the supposedly escape-proof destination for the worst criminals, is somehow springing a leak and those criminals are escaping. How, and where does Lady A. and her conspiracy fit into this? Jules and Yvette d’Alembert, top agents of SOTE, must get sent to this planet undercover, and it is up to them to find out what is going on and find a way out without any assistance from outside . The book is fast-paced and a good combination of space opera with spy thriller. But since this a 10-novel story arc, each novel builds on what went before, so do not read them out of order.



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The Purity Plot by E.E. “Doc” Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the sixth in a 10 novel series which was mostly written by Stephen Goldin. Doc Smith wrote a novella called Imperial Stars which Goldin expanded into the first novel, and then Goldin wrote another 9 novels in a long story arc. But Smith is the famous one, so his name appears in large letters everywhere and Goldin is barely mentioned.

The setting is a universe where a Russian Feudal system has somehow become the dominant mode of government and of the language, so we see Russian words sprinkled throughout the conversations. Humanity has spread to a number of planets with varying characteristics. One of these is DesPlaines, a high gravity planet whose inhabitants have adapted by becoming shorter and stockier, and which has developed a unique attraction, The Circus of the Galaxy. What people don’t know is that this circus is also a key part of the secret service SOTE, the Service Of The Empire. This allows for an interesting twist for space opera, a series where the heroes do not have secret weapons or super powers, merely acrobatic training.

Purity is a planet settled by fundamentalist religious groups, who seem to compete to see who can suffer the most, and the planet is perfect for suffering being cold and miserable. But now they are creating an army to take their ideas to the rest of the galaxy and purify everyone else. But are they doing this on their own, or is this part of the plot from Lady A.? The book is fast-paced and a good combination of space opera with spy thriller. But since this a 10-novel story arc, each novel builds on what went before, so do not read them out of order.



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Appointment at Bloodstar by E.E. “Doc” Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the fifth in a 10 novel series which was mostly written by Stephen Goldin. Doc Smith wrote a novella called Imperial Stars which Goldin expanded into the first novel, and then Goldin wrote another 9 novels in a long story arc. But Smith is the famous one, so his name appears in large letters everywhere and Goldin is barely mentioned.

The setting is a universe where a Russian Feudal system has somehow become the dominant mode of government and of the language, so we see Russian words sprinkled throughout the conversations. Humanity has spread to a number of planets with varying characteristics. One of these is DesPlaines, a high gravity planet whose inhabitants have adapted by becoming shorter and stockier, and which has developed a unique attraction, The Circus of the Galaxy. What people don’t know is that this circus is also a key part of the secret service SOTE, the Service Of The Empire. This allows for an interesting twist for space opera, a series where the heroes do not have secret weapons or super powers, merely acrobatic training.

In this novel we find that a number of nobles are dying mysteriously in ways not at all normal. It looks like a plot of assassination, but what does it aim at? The equally mysterious Lady A. seems to be behind it all. And somehow it all comes together at Bloodstar Hall, where Crown Princess Edna is to wed her consort. Jules and Yvette d’Alembert, top agents of SOTE, must get safeguard the Princess and the wedding, and stop Lady A.’s plot. The book is fast-paced and a good combination of space opera with spy thriller. But since this a 10-novel story arc, each novel builds on what went before, so do not read them out of order.



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Getaway World (Family d’Alembert, #4) by E.E. “Doc” Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the fourth in a 10 novel series which was mostly written by Stephen Goldin. Doc Smith wrote a novella called Imperial Stars which Goldin expanded into the first novel, and then Goldin wrote another 9 novels in a long story arc. But Smith is the famous one, so his name appears in large letters everywhere and Goldin is barely mentioned.

The setting is a universe where a Russian Feudal system has somehow become the dominant mode of government and of the language, so we see Russian words sprinkled throughout the conversations. Humanity has spread to a number of planets with varying characteristics. One of these is DesPlaines, a high gravity planet whose inhabitants have adapted by becoming shorter and stockier, and which has developed a unique attraction, The Circus of the Galaxy. What people don’t know is that this circus is also a key part of the secret service SOTE, the Service Of The Empire. This allows for an interesting twist for space opera, a series where the heroes do not have secret weapons or super powers, merely acrobatic training.

In this novel the threat they deal with is a number of mysterious disappearances of the major crooks in a number of worlds. They must be going somewhere, but where, and why? Jules and Yvette d’Alembert, top agents of SOTE, must infiltrate this world, find out who is doing this and why, and stop this plot. And just to make everything more difficult, the daughter of the head of SOTE, Helena, has decided to try her hand at field work by infiltrating the planet as well, so they also need to get her back and prevent her from falling into the hands of the enemy. As the SOTE second-in-command, she has too much critical information. The book is fast-paced and a good combination of space opera with spy thriller. But since this a 10-novel story arc, each novel builds on what went before, so do not read them out of order.



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The Clockwork Traitor: Family d’Alembert Book 3 by E.E. “Doc” Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the Third in a 10 novel series which was mostly written by Stephen Goldin. Doc Smith wrote a novella called Imperial Stars which Goldin expanded into the first novel, and then Goldin wrote another 9 novels in a long story arc. But Smith is the famous one, so his name appears in large letters everywhere and Goldin is barely mentioned.

The setting is a universe where a Russian Feudal system has somehow become the dominant mode of government and of the language, so we see Russian words sprinkled throughout the conversations. Humanity has spread to a number of planets with varying characteristics. One of these is DesPlaines, a high gravity planet whose inhabitants have adapted by becoming shorter and stockier, and which has developed a unique attraction, The Circus of the Galaxy. What people don’t know is that this circus is also a key part of the secret service SOTE, the Service Of The Empire. This allows for an interesting twist for space opera, a series where the heroes do not have secret weapons or super powers, merely acrobatic training.

In this novel the threat they deal with is an android robot that looks perfectly human. It was developed specifically to appeal to the Crown Princess, who is going around the Empire to meet and assess possible consorts, and the idea is that this robot will capture her heart and be the enemy within when she ascends to the throne. Jules and Yvette d’Alembert, top agents of SOTE, must find out which of the suitors is the robot and stop this plot. The book is fast-paced and a good combination of space opera with spy thriller. But since this a 10-novel story arc, each novel builds on what went before, so do not read them out of order.



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Stranglers’ Moon by E.E. “Doc” Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the second in a 10 novel series which was mostly written by Stephen Goldin. Doc Smith wrote a novella called Imperial Stars which Goldin expanded into the first novel, and then Goldin wrote another 9 novels in a long story arc. But Smith is the famous one, so his name appears in large letters everywhere and Goldin is barely mentioned.

The setting is a universe where a Russian Feudal system has somehow become the dominant mode of government and of the language, so we see Russian words sprinkled throughout the conversations. Humanity has spread to a number of planets with varying characteristics. One of these is DesPlaines, a high gravity planet whose inhabitants have adapted by becoming shorter and stockier, and which has developed a unique attraction, The Circus of the Galaxy. What people don’t know is that this circus is also a key part of the secret service SOTE, the Service Of The Empire. This allows for an interesting twist for space opera, a series where the heroes do not have secret weapons or super powers, merely acrobatic training.

In this novel the threat they deal with is a number of mysterious disappearances on the equivalent of Las Vegas, a moon devoted to gambling. Normally the idea is to just take people’s money, not their lives. But Jules and Yvette d’Alembert, top agents of SOTE, must get to the bottom and stop this plot. The book is fast-paced and a good combination of space opera with spy thriller. But since this a 10-novel story arc, each novel builds on what went before, so do not read them out of order.



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The Imperial Stars by E.E. “Doc” Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the first in a 10 novel series which was mostly written by Stephen Goldin. Doc Smith wrote a novella called Imperial Stars which Goldin expanded into this novel, and then Goldin wrote another 9 novels in a long story arc. But Smith is the famous one, so his name appears in large letters everywhere and Goldin is barely mentioned.

The setting is a universe where a Russian Feudal system has somehow become the dominant mode of government and of the language, so we see Russian words sprinkled throughout the conversations. Humanity has spread to a number of planets with varying characteristics. One of these is DesPlaines, a high gravity planet whose inhabitants have adapted by becoming shorter and stockier, and which has developed a unique attraction, The Circus of the Galaxy. What people don’t know is that this circus is also a key part of the secret service SOTE, the Service Of The Empire. This allows for an interesting twist for space opera, a series where the heroes do not have secret weapons or super powers, merely acrobatic training.

In this opening novel the threat they deal with is a pretender to the throne who is plotting to take over via a coup. Jules and Yvette d’Alembert, top agents of SOTE, must get to the bottom and stop this plot. The book is fast-paced and a good combination of space opera with spy thriller.



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