The Vortex Blaster by E.E. “Doc” Smith [Review]

Written during the early 1940s, the Vortex Blaster by E.E. “Doc” Smith is from a series of novelettes set in his Lensman universe where deadly “atomic vortex’s” can spontaneously erupt destroying everything in its vicinity. The protagonist Neal Cloud in fact lost his family to such an occurrence, and has pledged his life as a result to eradicating their presence. Utilizing a mind capable of making lightning calculations, Cloud fearlessly plunges into the very heart of the maelstrom that is an “atomic vortex” using equipment provided by the Galactic Patrol, where he deploys strategically placed explosives to collapse the volatile disturbance. It’s clear that Smith was interested in further exploring this universe he’d created, unfortunately both the publisher and the editor decided to pull the plug on the series. While familiarity with the Lensman certainly makes for an enjoyable read, falling in the twenty year period between Second Stage Lensmen and Children of the Lens, the novelette easily stands on its own.