Children of the Lens by E.E. 'Doc' Smith Book Review

Four star review for Children of the Lens by E.E. 'Doc' Smith

I didn’t read Children of the Lens because I was desperate to continue the series. If I’m honest, I struggled with the previous book. But I’d already come that far, and there’s a certain point where you stop asking whether you’re enjoying something and just need to see how it ends. I wanted the full picture.

This is the end of the Lensman series, and it knows it. The story jumps forward twenty years and centres on the Kinnison children—five of them, all impossibly gifted, all clearly designed to be the final answer to everything the series has been building toward. From the beginning, it feels bigger, but not necessarily in the way the earlier books did. Less physical, less grounded. More… conceptual.

A lot of what happens here takes place in the mind rather than in space. There are still battles, still stakes, but they feel different. It's quieter, in a strange way and more abstract. It took me a while to settle into that, and I’m not sure I ever fully did.

Part of the difficulty is that the children are so powerful that it removes a lot of the tension. You don’t really worry about them. You’re watching something unfold rather than wondering how it might go. And when a story leans that heavily toward inevitability, it changes the way you read it.

That said, I did find myself drawn in by the structure of it—the way everything is happening at once. Different characters, different missions, all moving toward the same point. It’s not always clean, and at times it’s actually a little hard to follow, but there’s something satisfying about watching all those threads slowly pull together.

Some elements feel like they should have mattered more than they do. The idea of the Black Lensmen, for example, had real potential, and then just… fades out. There are moments like that throughout—things that are introduced with weight but don’t quite land.

And then there’s the scale. By the time you reach the final act, everything has escalated so far that it almost becomes difficult to process. Entire systems, entire forces—it’s all so vast that it starts to lose shape. Not in a bad way exactly, just in a way that makes it harder to feel anything specific about what’s happening.

Reading it now in 2026, there are also parts that sit uncomfortably. The whole premise of the series rests on this long, controlled breeding program, and it’s impossible not to view that through a modern lens. It doesn’t disappear into the background. It’s there, and it shifts the tone in ways I don’t think the book fully reckons with.

Still, I’m glad I read it. Not because it suddenly won me over, but because it closes the loop. It answers the question I had when I finished the last book: where does this all go?

And even if the answer isn’t perfect, it’s complete. And sometimes that’s enough. But I won't be following this one up with a Reader's Companion unless it's requested.

Book Details

Title — Author Children of the Lens — E.E. “Doc” Smith

Paperback ISBN: 978-0425060797 (Berkley edition; varies by publisher/region)

Hardcover ISBN: 978-0870549489 (Fantasy Press / later reprints vary)

eBook ISBN: 978-1473208638 (Gollancz SF Gateway edition; varies by retailer)

Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Golden Age Sci-Fi

Tropes: Chosen one lineage; advanced alien mentorship; psychic warfare; galactic war; superweapon escalation; final battle; secret enemy reveal; multi-threaded mission; destiny vs free will; inherited power

Publisher: Originally Fantasy Press (1954)Later editions: Berkley, Panther Books, Gollancz, and others

Series: Lensman Series (Book 6 / Final)

Formats Available: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook (availability varies by region)

Where to Buy: Available via Amazon AU, Booktopia, Dymocks, The Book Grocer, World of Books, and independent bookstores across Australia

Silk & Sentences | Danielle Robinson - Literary Critic, Writer, Interior Curator

Danielle Robinson is a literary critic, writer, and interior curator whose work explores the relationship between literature, home, and heritage through a reflective lens. Holding a double degree in philosophy and theology, she brings academic rigour to her writing alongside a cultivated, deeply aesthetic sensibility. Danielle is an internationally published, multi-award-winning makeup artist and former fashion stylist and interior stager, with over 30 years’ experience shaping visual and cultural spaces. She reads widely and rigorously, reviewing more than 200 books each year as both an ARC reader and commissioned critic. Through her platform and podcast, Silk & Sentences, she considers literature not simply as text, but as atmosphere—something that informs the way we live, curate, and remember. She writes from her meticulously curated rural Queensland home, where she lives with Alex, her husband of 33 years, her dog, Oscar, and surrounded by family & close friends at every opportunity.