The Skylark of Space

The Skylark of Space by Edward E. "Doc" Smith was written between 1915 and 1921 while Smith was working on his doctorate in chemistry. Though the original idea for the novel was Smith's, he co-wrote the first part of the novel with Lee Hawkins Garby, the wife of his college classmate and later neighbor Carl Garby. Lee Garby supplied the "love interest" in the novel.

The Skylark of Space is considered to be one of the earliest novels of interstellar travel and the first example of space opera. Originally serialized in 1928 in the magazine Amazing Stories, it was first published in book form in 1946 by the Buffalo Book Company.

The novel was followed by several sequels, beginning with Skylark Three, Skylark of Valeron and Skylark Duquesne. Bill Evans and Ron Ellik compiled The Universes of E. E. Smith (published by Advent) which is a concordance to both the Skylark and Lensman series.

It was hugely important to the very young stf field, (though its successor, Smith's Lensman series was even more so.)

Smith himself was nicknamed "Skylark Smith". NESFA's Skylark Award takes its name from this series as does two famous cars: Art Widner's Skylark of Foo and his later Skylark of Woo-Woo.

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Publication

1928

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