"Smith, E E 'Doc' - SubSpace Vol 2 - Subspace Encounter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

Subspace Encounter

Sequel to Subspace Explorers
By E.E. СDoc' Smith

INTRODUCTION

SUBSPACE Encounter is the last science fiction written by Edward E. "Doc" Smith.
Other novels bearing his name and first published since his death in 1965 were either
expanded short stories or new books based on his notes or concepts-but this book is
Doc's work, and, except for an unpublished "whodunit," his last

In the late 1960s, rumors circulated among fans who had known him well that there
existed an unpublished sequel to Subspace Explorers, but since no manuscript surfaced,
the rumors died and the story was forgotten.

This was the situation when, in the winter of 1978, I visited David and Ruth Kyle in
Florida. Dave had begun writing additional Lensman stories at the suggestion of Frederik
Pohl, then an editor for a major paperback publisher; and Dave showed me a photocopy
of a Smith manuscript that Fred had sent him with the suggestion that he might be able to
use some of the ideas in his plotting.

I read the manuscript-and was startled to find notations in my own handwriting and
signed "LAE"-suggestions I had made to Doc early in 1965. The typescript was a copy of
material I had sent to Fred shortly after Doc's death, thinking then that something might
be done with it. But it was not a complete story.

Memory started working and pieces began falling into place. After returning home, taking
a copy of the script with me, I consulted my correspondence files and was able to
reconstruct the total picture.

In 1962, Doc had completed a novel called Subspace Safari, with John W Campbell's
Astounding Science Fiction in mind.

It was a sequel to a novelette, Subspace Survivors, which Campbell had published.
Campbell wanted extensive changes made-but Doc refused to rewrite the story,
disagreeing with John, so he had a novel on his hands which he couldn't even submit to
other magazines since he had used parts of the original novelette in the sequel.

He began reworking the manuscript and in the course of time decided the story could not
be told in one book. He completed the first section of the story, which he called
Subspace Explorers, and which appeared in book form in 1965. With the novel
accepted, he got to work on the second book, using me, by correspondence, as a
sounding board-then one evening he phoned to tell me of an exciting new idea for the
story that had just occurred to him. He began working on this development, sending me
the pieces as he wrote them, asking for my suggestions and comments. He took time out
to write Skylark DuQuesne for Fred Pohl-and then Doc died.

I felt the book should be published-but the story was incomplete. There were tantalizing
directions written on the part I had, such as, "See Page of the one-book version." I