E. E. Smith & Lee Hawkins Garby ~6 hr read

When chemist Richard Seaton discovers a metal that unlocks limitless power, he builds the first true spaceship, and races his ruthless rival across the galaxy to rescue a kidnapped love.

E. E. 'Doc' Smith's 1928 novel (with Lee Hawkins Garby) is the foundational classic of space opera. Rollicking, epic, hugely influential. Read it for the book that launched interstellar adventure SF, the Skylark, a mad-genius villain, and a headlong chase across the cosmos, brimming with the sense of wonder that defined a genre.

In its time

Published in 1928, during the 1920s, the pulp era proper.

Reading it

~6 hr read (a novel-length work, settle in).