Skylark DuQuesne

Blurb

Skylark DuQuesne was the final novel in the epic Skylark series by E. E. Smith. Written as Dr. Smith's last novel in 1965 and published shortly before his death, it expands on the characterizations of the earlier novels but with some discrepancies. The most significant point is that Dr. Marc DuQuesne, the major villain of the three previous novels, is shown to have matured, reformed, and offered a chance at what amounted at pardon for his prior crimes against the heroes.
The book ends with Seaton and DuQuesne teaming up to perpetrate a galaxy-wide genocide against the Chlorians, causing all their suns to go nova. "The Chlorians died in their uncounted trillions. The greeny-yellow soup that served them for air boiled away. Their halogenous flesh was charred, baked and desiccated in the split-second of the passing of the front wave from each exploding double star, moments before their planets themselves started to seethe and boil. Many died unaware. Most died fighting. Most died in terrible, frantic effort to escape... But they all died."