Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources LENSMAN Book series by E.E. Doc Smith

We were given a bunch of these books, a science fiction series, about the fate of our planet, written originally in the 1940's. Is anyone familiar with these? Would they be age appropriate reading for a gifted 11 year old who is a VORACIOUS consumer of books? Not sure if it's too adult oriented or how they end.

Not helpful, but that's a blast from the past for me! My father (now 80) was a fan of them when he was a young man, and I remember the old paperback copies around the house.

I am embarrassed to admit that I haven't read them. But there shouldn't be any significant amount of sex, given the era they were published in. I doubt that they would be as popular as they are if they had a sad ending, either. So I would probably say full steam ahead on these.

They'd be fine. I don't think they hold up that well writing-wise compared to some other golden-age sci-fi (think more pulpy space-opera). But at 11 if you like the genre I don't think that's going to be an issue.