The Vortex Blaster

Description

The Vortex Blaster is a great novel by E. E. Smith, and one that brought even more fame and recognition to the author already known for his Lensman series.

The universe of the novel is the same as the one familiar to fans from the Lensman novels. The human planets of the galaxy are threatened by extremely strong, seemingly unstoppable atomic vortices that grow continuously by means of swallowing everything that crosses their way.

The hero who sets out to save the galaxy is Neal Cloud, also nicknamed Storm, a brilliant nuclear engineer and mathematician. His plan is to blow up the vortices with the help of explosives placed inside the vortex at exactly the right moment, but it turns out that calculating when that moment comes, let alone placing the explosive properly is not at all easy. If the explosive is not placed properly or the timing is not right, the explosion only splits the vortex into more, smaller vortices that start growing, too, so Cloud’s responsibility is huge. The situation is worsened when Cloud’s family is killed by a failed attempt to blow up a vortex, a tragedy that affects Cloud profoundly. He leaves the nuclear laboratory where he works, but his brain never stops working, so he comes up with the exact calculation of when and how the explosive should be placed to extinguish the vortex.

His calculations prove to be correct and he becomes the galaxy’s ultimate expert in vortex blasting. His new job takes him from planet to planet in the galaxy, but the Galactic Patrol soon realizes that they need to be able to reproduce the technology and the methods used by Cloud to prevent further tragedies, should anything happen to Cloud. He starts working with Joan Janowick, a computer expert tasked with building a computer to recreate whatever Cloud does to blow up vortices. The two fall in love and connect in a special way that allows them to discover the source of the vortices and to solve the problem for good.
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