Lord Tedric
Series: Lord Tedric 1
Reviewed date: 2005 Sep 8
Rating: 3
188 pages
The Lord Tedric series was conceived by E. E. "Doc" Smith and written by Gordon Eklund after Doc's death. It is a space opera in the grand tradition of Doc's Lensman series.
As in all the great space operas, a vast Empire of Man rules the galaxy. Philip Nolan, Matthew Carey, and Tedric graduate at the top of their class at the Imperial Academy and are commissioned as officers in the elite Corps of One Hundred. Their first mission: join the flagship Eagleseye and put down the workers' rebellion on the mining planet Evron Eleven. But at Evron Eleven they encounter a battleship of the alien Wykzl, who are intent on taking Evron Eleven's dalkanium ore for themselves.
Lord Tedric is an interesting juvenile novel. That is, it is aimed at a ten- to fifteen-year-old audience. The plot is exciting but formulaic and obvious. The main space battle is dead boring, and Tedric's winning tactic stretches the limits of believability: he wins a space battle by distracting the enemy battleship and leading it too close to a black hole.
Still, it's a fun read. I recommend it to young readers.