"Starkly Astounding Space-Opera Adventure!"
Based on E.E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" series. Characters are Lensmen trying to thwart the agents of Eddore. The prize is the entire universe. Humanity is just a pawn in the game. But pawns can be promoted.
"Lensmen are responsible for the defense of Civilization itself. Lensmen always go in.
"Such is the Lensman's Load.
"Welcome to the Universe of the Lens.
"Welcome to total war."
From the back cover:
Good & Evil
Before the creation of myriad planets of the galaxies, two worlds, and two races were already ancient - and already locked in a war of extinction. Even Arisia's supreme powers of the mind cannot restrain the Eddonian lust for dominance. Quarter or compromise is impossible. The only possible outcome is complete, utter annihilation.
The prize: the entire universe. The pawns on this final battleground: the young races of the galaxies - young races like humanity.
But pawns can be promoted. The Arisians have forges, eon by eon, a weapon of prodigious power, a hammer of war to smash Eddore and rid the universe of their transdimensional evil.
The Lensmen of the Galactic Patrol.
Eddore too, has its playing pieces, arrayed in a network of drugs and crime that riddles the galaxies. Their conspiracy has infiltrated every world of Civilization with tentacles of corruption and decay. Their reach is universal, their power all but unstoppable, their ruthlessness and cruelty absolute. Many lives will be lost - Lensmen's lives. But Lensmen are responsible for the defense of Civilization itself. Lensmen always go in.
Such is the Lensman's Load.
Welcome to the Universe of the Lens.
Welcome to total war.