Masters of the Vortex

E. E. “Doc” Smith

Read by Harley James

(4.6 stars; 17 reviews)

"Masters of the Vortex" is a 1960 novel by E.E. "Doc" Smith which incorporates and expands upon three short stories, "The Vortex Blaster", "Storm Cloud on Deka", and "The Vortex Blaster Makes War". Somewhat confusingly, it was originally published under the title "The Vortex Blaster", the same name as the first short story, before being republished as "Masters of the Vortex". It is the final novel, or a spinoff, of The Lensmen stories. It follows the adventures of Neal "Storm" Cloud, a brilliant mathematician who makes it his personal mission to snuff out wiild nuclear vortexes all over the galaxy, at great risk to his own safety. He visits multiple alien worlds and their intelligent species, and gains a crew and a protege. Can he successfully destroy the nuclear vortexes? And are all of them random occurrences, or are they being used for nefarious means? (Summary by Harley James) (6 hr 51 min)