The Skylark of Space is one of the earliest novels of interstellar travel. Originally serialized in 1928 in the magazine Amazing Stories, it was first published in book form in 1946 by The Buffalo Book Co. It was written between 1915 and 1921 by chemical engineer Edward E. "Doc" Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby, the wife of his college classmate and later neighbor Carl Garby. The Skylark of Space is often categorized as the first literary space opera (in the complimentary sense), complete with protagonists perfect in mind, body, and spirit, who fight against villains of absolute evil. The ''Skylark'' series has been in and out of print ever since its first publication, in both hardback and paperback editions, and is considered a classic of pulp science fiction. Frederik Pohl says of the book, "With the exception of the works of H. G. Wells, possibly those of Jules Verne and almost no other writer it has inspired more imitators and done more to change the nature of all the science fiction...
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