On 30/01/2026 11.41, Paul S Person wrote:

[1] Did anyone else notice that, at the end of one of the Lensmen
books, the boy is advised by a senior to marry the girl and the next
book starts with them being married long enough to have children (and
not, IIRC, infants either) with /no clue whatsoever where the babies
came from being provided/? This is the sort of thing that the later
sex-laded stories were reacting against.

"The boy"? I am assuming that you're referring to the roughly twenty-year
gap between _Second Stage Lensman_ and _Children of the Lens_. If so, Kinnison was probably 22 when he graduated from Wentworth Hall. The events of _Galactic Patrol_, _Gray Lensman_, and _Second Stage Lensman_ took about nine years by
my reckoning, so he would have been roughly thirty-one when he and MacDougall married. Not, in my mind, a "boy" any more.

And the "senior" wasn't another, higher-up officer, but Mentor of Arisia.

I think that most people, even in the 1950s, already knew where babies came from. Even an exceptionally naive twelve-year-old boy would at least be aware, from observation, that babies often followed marriage, even if he wasn't aware of all of the fluid dynamics and simple harmonic motion involved.

Smith didn't portray Kimball and "Red" having sex, it's true. He didn't portray the happy couple moving to the Second Galaxy, either. He also didn't portray Kimball taking a dump.

And your recollection that the Children of the Lens were not infants is
quite correct. The youngest -- the twins Camilla and Constance -- were
roughly sixteen when _Children of the Lens_ opens. Old enough that one
of them had to fend off a wolf when (IIRC) checking into some hotel.

There were plenty of allusions to sex in _Children of the Lens_, mostly
Kit noticing that his sisters were pretty hot and his mother was in
MILF territory herself. Serious implied incest -- enough to make RAH
proud -- even if the acts themselves were not portrayed.


--
Michael F. Stemper
Deuteronomy 24:17


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Wed, 25 Feb 2026 15:43:34 -0600, "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

On 30/01/2026 11.41, Paul S Person wrote:

[1] Did anyone else notice that, at the end of one of the Lensmen
books, the boy is advised by a senior to marry the girl and the next
book starts with them being married long enough to have children (and
not, IIRC, infants either) with /no clue whatsoever where the babies
came from being provided/? This is the sort of thing that the later
sex-laded stories were reacting against.

"The boy"? I am assuming that you're referring to the roughly

twenty-year

gap between _Second Stage Lensman_ and _Children of the Lens_. If so, Kinnison
was probably 22 when he graduated from Wentworth Hall. The events of _Galactic
Patrol_, _Gray Lensman_, and _Second Stage Lensman_ took about nine

years by

my reckoning, so he would have been roughly thirty-one when he and

MacDougall

married. Not, in my mind, a "boy" any more.

Apparently, you missed the fact that "the boy" was paired with "the
girl", thus recalling the use of "boy and girl" in romantic contexts.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
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In article <n099u9F6c9qU1@mid.individual.net>,
ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) wrote:

In article <10nnqe6$1430i$1@dont-email.me>,
Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

(Snip, re: the Lensman series

And your recollection that the Children of the Lens were not infants is >quite correct. The youngest -- the twins Camilla and Constance -- were >roughly sixteen when _Children of the Lens_ opens. Old enough that one
of them had to fend off a wolf when (IIRC) checking into some hotel.

There were plenty of allusions to sex in _Children of the Lens_, mostly
Kit noticing that his sisters were pretty hot and his mother was in
MILF territory herself. Serious implied incest -- enough to make RAH
proud -- even if the acts themselves were not portrayed.

I remember a prediction from Mentor that implied future brother-sisters
(all 4 of them) incest

I think Smith got away with about as much as Campbell would allow. Remember all the naked people in both the Skylark & Lensman universes?

Reading his detective novel is instructive.

?? ... looks through the ISFDB ... _Have Trenchcoat -- Will Travel_, I
wonder when it was written.

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. ?-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 25/02/2026 16.03, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <10nnqe6$1430i$1@dont-email.me>,
Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

On 30/01/2026 11.41, Paul S Person wrote:

[1] Did anyone else notice that, at the end of one of the Lensmen
books, the boy is advised by a senior to marry the girl and the next
book starts with them being married long enough to have children (and
not, IIRC, infants either) with /no clue whatsoever where the babies
came from being provided/? This is the sort of thing that the later
sex-laded stories were reacting against.

There were plenty of allusions to sex in _Children of the Lens_, mostly
Kit noticing that his sisters were pretty hot and his mother was in
MILF territory herself. Serious implied incest -- enough to make RAH
proud -- even if the acts themselves were not portrayed.

I think Smith got away with about as much as Campbell would allow.

You seem to have misspelled "F. Orlin Tremaine". Hope this helps.

Reading his detective novel is instructive.

I'd definitely like to, but haven't ever seen it on a shelf.


--
Michael F. Stemper
Exodus 22:21


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)