Order of Lensman Books

Lensman is a series of science fiction/space opera novels by American author E.E. “Doc” Smith. Smith originally wrote six novels in the series, and followed up with a sequel in 1960 (The Vortex Blaster). William B. Ellern would later write authorized sequels to the series.

E.E. “Doc” Smith began his Lensman series in 1934 with the novel Triplanetary. In actuality, Triplanetary had to be re-written to fit into the series. The series lasted seven novels, concluding in 1960 with The Vortex Blaster. Below is a list of E.E. “Doc” Smith’s books in order of when they were originally published (which is also their chronological order):

Publication Order of Lensman Books

Publication Order of Second Stage Lensman Books

Note: The Vortex Blaster is also known as Masters of the Vortex.

If You Like Lensman Books, You’ll Love…

• Safehold
• Future History
• Foundation

Lensman Synopsis: Triplanetary by E.E. Smith was first published in serial format in Amazing Stories and would become the start of the Lensman series. On a distant planet inhabited by a highly developed aquatic race called the Nevians, they have managed to harness the atomic power of iron and have a great need for the metal to generate energy, but their planet has almost no iron reserves. They build a spaceship to venture into the universe in order to find iron. Eventually they discover that Earth has an abundance of iron and the Nevians start to extract all the iron out of Pittsburgh with a special ray. This ray shoots into the city and immediately vaporizes and removes any iron from the buildings, machines, earth, and even from human blood. It is up to Conway Costigan, a mercilessly competent, two-fisted whiz agent of the military Triplanetary Service, and his colleagues to save the planet.