Galactic Patrol

Synopsis:

Kimball Kinnison is a Lensman and an officer of the Galactic Patrol, a kind of interstellar police force with almost unlimited powers. The Lens gives its wearer a variety of mental capabilities, including those needed to enforce the law on alien planets, and to bridge the communication gap between different life-forms. It can provide mind-reading and telepathic abilities. Kinnison is sent on a mission to fight the pirates of Boskone, an evil empire of enormous power and unimagined technological capabilities.

Review:

The Galactic Patrol has been given the ultimate weapon in its war against the evil pirate Boskone: The Lens. But even though the Patrol's Lensmen are the most feared peacekeepers in the galaxy, they aren't quite sure how to use their unique gift. Things are about to change, however. Kimball Kinnison has just graduated from the academy, and now that's he's earned his Lens, he's determined to figure out how it works. Kinnison begins his journey of discovery by taking command of the Brittania, an experimental ship that's as likely to kill him as it is the Boskone raiders it was built to fight. That leads him on a series of whirlwind adventures that include a visit to the planet Arisia--where the mysterious creators of the Lens make their home--and end up in a confrontation with Helmuth, who may well be Boskone himself. Although this is the third book in the Lensman series, it's the novel where, as SF critic John Clute puts it, "the story has started, and it does not stop." This is a rip-roaring tale of heroes, aliens, space battles, and bold deeds, the stuff that Golden Age science fiction was built from.