Science Fiction My first love

As young sailor fresh out of boot camp my first (and only ship) was the USS Fulton, AS 11. A nuclear submarine tender docked at the State Pier in New London Connecticut. I was a veracious reader and wound up borrowing book from another sailor who was into Scifi. The first series was I read was E.E "Doc" Smith's Skylark series. I never got around to reading his Lensmen Series, but the Skylar series fascinated me. Richard Seaton had access to computers to do his bidding.

You have to remember this was 1968 and powerful computers were still in the realm of Science Fiction. We all dreamed of getting our hands on a real computer, but at the time that was all out of reach.

Skylark is a science fiction/ space opera, a four (4) book series. Book One, The Skylark of Space (first published in Amazing Stories in 1928) is revolutionary in the genre. A scientist discovers a space-drive, builds a star ship, and flies off with three companions to encounter alien civilizations and fight a larger-than-life villain. Skylark Three and Skylark of Valeron written during the 1930s, and Skylark DuQuesne (DuQuesne is pronounced "Du Kane"), written much later in 1963.
Though the dirst three books are close to 80 years old and hard to read given today's standards, the conflict in the stories is the part I enjoy. A good screen writer could update these stories and I believe they would make a great Scifi movie franchise.

The numerous Scifi books I've read since then entertained me, though many I've forgotten. The stories I will always enjoy the most are the ones were the technology takes a back seat to the conflict of man against the plots of men. Star wars(The original three). Star Trek (Any Series but the original show. Shatner Ugh) Babylon 5, Battle Star Galactica, The Last Star Fighter (Movie and Book). 2001 A Space Odyssey, X-Men. Early films like The Angry Red Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still, When Worlds Collide. The list goes on.

While I get into and enjoy Fantasy Fiction, I've read "The Hobbit" and "Lord Of the Rings and other series in that genre, Science Fiction stories about man's struggle against the his fellow man will remain my first love, because it always boils down to the hero's inner conflict not to (borrowing a familiar phrase) cross over to the dark side.