The first science fiction series written by E. E. "Doc" Smith, better known for his Lensman series. Smith started work on The Skylark of Space in 1913, though it was not published until 1928, making the work arguably the first Space Opera, and certainly the first major one. If you've enjoyed Star Wars then E.E. "Doc" Smith is a must and if Star Trek floats your boat you are going to find this fascinating reading. Richard Seaton, a chemist, discovers that an unknown extraterrestrial metal ("X") reacts with copper to provide total matter-energy conversion. Seeing the possibilities of this, he and his rich friend Martin Crane (who provides the initial capital) use it to build power stations - and a spacecraft, the "Skylark." The evil Marc DuQuesne, co-worker and collaborator with the highly pragmatic World Steel Corporation, wishes to steal it for himself, and descends to theft, threatening Seaton's new wife Dorothy. Everyone goes into space, looking for more metal "X" and other resources, and the story takes off from there. Frederik Pohl says of the book, "With the exception of the works of H. G. Wells, possibly those of Jules Verne-and almost no other writer-it has inspired more imitators and done more to change the nature of all the science fiction written after it than almost any other single work." Mike Ashley called it "the seminal space opera." Arthur C. Clarke stated outright that "Smith holds all the original Star Wars patents" Damon Knight, praised the novel for its "fast, lean plot, an air of excitement, . . . four characters who are comfortingly bigger than life and] the feeling that adventures are waiting everywhere," concluding that "In The Skylark, everything is big and simple."