History Literature / SkylarkSeries

-->''"I'm here to bring you a message: to tell you that humanity has never been conquered permanently and never will be so conquered. Humanity has triumphed and will continue to triumph over all the vermin infesting all the planets of all the solar systems of all the galaxies of all surveyed space."''
---> -- Dick Seaton

* BadAssBookworm: Richard "Dick" Seaton. This guy is a master marksman, tennis champion, hunter, trapper, intergalactic explorer, smiter of evil aliens, ''and'' a he's got a PhD in chemistry. He's not a bad engineer either. (And he's pretty good at sleight-of-hand...)

* {{Catch-22 Dilemma}}: The Norlaminians are stuck technologically because their planet utterly lacks metal X, which is essential to put their advanced theory into practice. They do have primitive rockets, but all expeditions to the nearest X-rich solar system have failed. Though they can project themselves to other planets of their solar system, they cannot travel between stars this way, since that requires metal X.

* ExpansionPackWorld: In ''Skylark Three'' we learn that Osnome is just one inhabited planet in a solar system[[note]]or more accurately, small stellar cluster[[/note]] containing literally hundreds of worlds, which have the same culture and ProudWarriorRace attitudes. Since the planets have some level of contact before the heroes arrive, this introduces some FridgeLogic into the Kondal-Mardonale feud. It is later explained that the reason why the Urvanians did not try to conquer Osnome while it was divided was because none of those planets have access to metal X, which allows space flight.

* MortonsFork: The Norlaminians are stuck technologically because their planet utterly lacks metal X, which is essential to put their advanced theory into practice. They do have primitive rockets, but all expeditions to the nearest X-rich solar system have failed. Though they can project themselves to other planets of their solar system, they cannot travel between stars this way, since that requires metal X.

* EnergyBeings: The "pure intellectuals" -- immortal creatures made of thought.
** Arguably [[Franchise/StarTrek the Q continuum]] by any other name, except Smith did it first.
*** "Smith did it first" is a fairly safe bet in an awful lot of SF tropes, if Wells and Verne didn't get there before him. Arthur C. Clarke stated outright that "Smith holds all the original ''Star Wars'' patents", and he was sufficiently well informed about SF in general (as well as being personally acquainted with or a direct contemporary of many of its greats) that there seems little reason to doubt him.

** Arguably the Q continuum by any other name, except Smith did it first.

* NameOfCain: Marc [=duQuesne's=] name is a relatively subtle pun[[note]]compared to some other examples, like [[ComicBook/XMen Cain Marko]][[/note]] on "mark of Cain".

* ParanoiaFuel:
** The Fenachrone have mapped out the entire galaxy. Furthermore, they could invade at any time they want.
** By the end of ''Skylark Three'', the heroes can project themselves anywhere, can destroy whole planets with ease, and can reconstruct a perfect record of what anyone did at any point in the past. [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou Just imagine that kind of power in the hands of a totalitarian state.]]

* EvilIsCool: [=DuQuesne=]. Come on, admit it.

* EveryoneIsArmed: by ''Skylark [=DuQuesne=]'', all the heroes are in the habit of going constantly armed... and need to. Even as early as ''Skylark Three'', they [[TwentyFourHourArmor wear armor whenever they are out in public]] in order to defend themselves against [=Duquesne=]'s minions.

* FantasticRacism: Kondalians believe that they are superior to Mardonalians, and vice-versa. [[ValuesDissonance Note that the Kondalians are among the good guys.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: As BadAss and intelligent as [=DuQuesne=] is, and even though he is willing to enter an EnemyMine situation when he needs it, it doesn't change the fact that his goal is to ''kill'' Seaton [[EvilIsPetty in order to have a monopoly on metal X]].

* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: Kondal and Mardonale are in the middle of one at the time of FirstContact. Also, the heroes get involved in these against the "evil" races and the same fate is planned for the Urvanians before the existence of the Fenachrone changes the dynamic. Given that the Fenachrone and Chlorans have no problem doing it to others, the heroes' willingness to go to this extreme is at least understandable.

* MindOverMatter: the ultimate expression both of sentient life within the universe (the Immortals) and Dick Seaton's research.

* ParanoiaFuel: The Fenachrone have mapped out the entire galaxy. Furthermore, they could invade at any time they want.

* ProudWarriorRace: The Osnomians.
** The Urvanians and the Fenachrone also qualify, even though the latter are the enemy (as are the former, temporarily).

* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Rovol has little patience for Seaton's unwillingness to relax. When Seaton tells Crane that he thinks that talking about their work is forbidden while the Norlaminians are on break, Rovol scolds him the way one would a child.

* TheAlliance: Seaton and Crane create one of these to fight off the Fenachrone, by visiting all the inhabitable planets in Osnome's system, to convince the locals to join them in their cause. Most wind up hailing them as "Overlords".

* {{90% of Your Brain}}: The misconception that humans use only 10% of their brains is repeated here.

* MidSeasonUpgrade: The heroes start with the first ''Skylark'', which first gets upgraded in the middle of the first book when they land on Osnome, and then gets upgraded again in the eponymous ''Skylark Three'' when they first encounter the [[KnightOfCerebus Fenachrone]].

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Played with in a bizarre way. The heroes land on a planet, Osnome, which contains a high concentration of heavy elements. Thus, Seaton and [=DuQuesne=] refuse to eat any food they are offered before they test it. However, Seaton then gives the Emperor of Mardonale salt and pepper, at a point when he doesn't know anything about ''his'' biochemistry. Apparently the barriers only work one way.

* SpaceElves: The Norlaminians, and to a lesser extent, the Dasorians. Unlike the other species in their system, they are PerfectPacifistPeople who simply desire knowledge, and the only reason they have not spread throughout space is because they lack the reassures to build a spacecraft. Both species are immediately friendly to Seaton and crew, and the Norlaminians tried to help the Dasorians out in the past.

* TheFederation: Seaton and Crane create one of these to fight off the Fenachrone, by visiting all the inhabitable planets in Osnome's system, to convince the locals to join them in their cause. Most wind up hailing them as "Overlords".

* ExpansionPackWorld: In ''Skylark Three'' we learn that Osnome is just one inhabited planet in a solar system[[note]]or more accurately, small stellar cluster[[/note]] containing literally hundreds of worlds, which have the same culture and ProudWarriorRace attitudes. Since the planets have some level of contact before the heroes arrive, this introduces some FridgeLogic into the Kondal-Mardonale feud.

* HumanAliens: Many. In this series, humanlike intelligent species naturally develop on Earthlike planets.

* GravitSucks: [=DuQuesne's=] ship is caught in the pull of a dead star. Notably it induces a sickening sensation of ''falling'' even though the characters are now used to freefall.

* ScienceMarchesOn: The series' technology is heavily dependent on ether. The "orders" of energy, in general, don't fit with anything known to modern science. Ironically, when it was first published, the blurb praised how [[BlatantLies "realistic"]] the science behind the story was.
** The implication is that first order effects correspond to electromagnetic forces, while second and third order effects encompass the then-developing vision of the strong and weak nuclear forces but with a mechanism encompassing what we currently would call preon theory; there is nothing in Smith's canon to suggest that the forces are long-range. Gravity as we understand it is the prototypical -- but explicitly not the only -- fourth order force. Gravity is also explicitly a faster-than-light effect in the Skylark novels, which can be assumed to retcon inertial dampening and the non-relativistic flight of the Skylark.
** Considering what we now know about the formation of planets and chemical elements, it is extremely unlikely that Osnome would have such an abundance of heavy elements, and that light elements would be so rare.

* {{Egopolis}}: Mild case with [=DuQuesne=]'s starships: the ''Capital D'' and the ''DQ'', although it could be argued that since [=DuQuesne=]'s ultimate aim is to destroy Seaton, it's natural for him to want a ship which is at least as powerful and preferably more so.

* WhatTheHellHero: At the beginning of ''Skylark Three'', Dorothy and Margaret are horrified when they find out that Dunark has come to get supplies in order to commit genocide against an invading species. However, [[ValuesDissonance Seaton and Crane say that it's either the Osnomians or their enemies]].

* EveryoneIsArmed: by ''Skylark [=DuQuesne=]'', all the heroes are in the habit of going constantly armed... and need to.

** The lower orders correspond to electromagnetic effects, although when he first wrote the outlines in 1916, the fluid-drop model of the atom was still valid (electrons embedded in a gloop of positive charge) and he chose to keep consistency with this to the end. The higher orders correspond to smaller and smaller orders of subatomic particles. In effect what we would call quarks, subquarks, sub-subquarks etc (although it's not a true prediction since the electron appears to be indivisible).
*** The way this troper understood it, the first three "orders" were electromagnetic forces, more or less. The fourth was gravity. Fifth and up would, as noted above, probably be closest to QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything in terms of modern-day TechnoBabble.
*** Actually, the text explicitly reads "sub-electrons of the first and second type," even in the original version of ''Skylark Three'' maintained at Project Gutenberg. The implication is that first order effects correspond to electromagnetic forces, while second and third order effects encompass the then-developing vision of the strong and weak nuclear forces but with a mechanism encompassing what we currently would call preon theory; there is nothing in Smith's canon to suggest that the forces are long-range. Gravity as we understand it is the prototypical -- but explicitly not the only -- fourth order force. Gravity is also explicitly a faster-than-light effect in the Skylark novels, which can be assumed to retcon inertial dampening and the non-relativistic flight of the Skylark.
** Another example, unrelated to ether or FasterThanLightTravel, is that the series seems to believe that "qualia" (perceptions of phenomena such as colors) are completely subjective and can change from person to person. It is currently believed that they aren't.
*** Actually, it's revealed that different ''races'', Tellurians and Osnomians, perceive some qualia differently.

* {{Egopolis}}: Mild case with [=DuQuesne=]'s starships: the ''Capital D'' and the ''DQ''.

* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: Kondal and Mardonale are in the middle of one at the time of FirstContact. Also, the heroes get involved in these against the "evil" races.

* MindOverMatter

* TechnologyLevels: Though it should be noted that this is averted with the people of Osnome, who are more advanced than Earth in mechanics, but less advanced in chemistry.