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Dumarest of Terra #19
The Quillian Sector
The Cyclan was the greatest concentration of intelligence in a thousand worlds - and yet Earl Dumarest continued to elude it. For too long.
Bochner was the greatest hunter of a hundred worlds - a man more than wise to the wiles of beasts and men. And now he was on the trail of the most dangerous and most challenging quarry of his Earl Dumarest.
While Dumarest searched for lost Terra, the Cyclan and Bochner searched for him. Of all the nightmare worlds of the universe, the hunt this time was to lead to the Quillian Sector.
The Quillian the place where space goes mad...
(First published 1978)
Bochner was the greatest hunter of a hundred worlds - a man more than wise to the wiles of beasts and men. And now he was on the trail of the most dangerous and most challenging quarry of his Earl Dumarest.
While Dumarest searched for lost Terra, the Cyclan and Bochner searched for him. Of all the nightmare worlds of the universe, the hunt this time was to lead to the Quillian Sector.
The Quillian the place where space goes mad...
(First published 1978)
- GenresScience FictionFiction
158 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 5, 1978
About the author
E.C. Tubb
406 books88 followersEdwin Charles Tubb was a writer of science fiction, fantasy and western novels. He published over 140 novels and 230 short stories and novellas, and is best known for The Dumarest Saga (US collective title: Dumarest of Terra) an epic science-fiction saga set in the far future.
Much of Tubb's work has been written under pseudonyms including Gregory Kern, Carl Maddox, Alan Guthrie, Eric Storm and George Holt. He has used 58 pen names over five decades of writing although some of these were publishers' house names also used by other writers: Volsted Gridban (along with John Russell Fearn), Gill Hunt (with John Brunner and Dennis Hughes), King Lang (with George Hay and John W Jennison), Roy Sheldon (with H. J. Campbell) and Brian Shaw. Tubb's Charles Grey alias was solely his own and acquired a big following in the early 1950s.
An avid reader of pulp science-fiction and fantasy in his youth, Tubb found that he had a particular talent as a writer of stories in that genre when his short story 'No Short Cuts' was published in New Worlds magazine in 1951. He opted for a full-time career as a writer and soon became renowned for the speed and diversity of his output.
Tubb contributed to many of the science fiction magazines of the 1950s including Futuristic Science Stories, Science Fantasy, Nebula and Galaxy Science Fiction. He contributed heavily to Authentic Science Fiction editing the magazine for nearly two years, from February 1956 until it folded in October 1957. During this time, he found it so difficult to find good writers to contribute to the magazine, that he often wrote most of the stories himself under a variety of pseudonyms: one issue of Authentic was written entirely by Tubb, including the letters column.
His main work in the science fiction genre, the Dumarest series, appeared from 1967 to 1985, with two final volumes in 1997 and 2008. His second major series, the Cap Kennedy series, was written from 1973 to 1983.
In recent years Tubb updated many of his 1950s science fiction novels for 21st century readers.
Tubb was one of the co-founders of the British Science Fiction Association.
Much of Tubb's work has been written under pseudonyms including Gregory Kern, Carl Maddox, Alan Guthrie, Eric Storm and George Holt. He has used 58 pen names over five decades of writing although some of these were publishers' house names also used by other writers: Volsted Gridban (along with John Russell Fearn), Gill Hunt (with John Brunner and Dennis Hughes), King Lang (with George Hay and John W Jennison), Roy Sheldon (with H. J. Campbell) and Brian Shaw. Tubb's Charles Grey alias was solely his own and acquired a big following in the early 1950s.
An avid reader of pulp science-fiction and fantasy in his youth, Tubb found that he had a particular talent as a writer of stories in that genre when his short story 'No Short Cuts' was published in New Worlds magazine in 1951. He opted for a full-time career as a writer and soon became renowned for the speed and diversity of his output.
Tubb contributed to many of the science fiction magazines of the 1950s including Futuristic Science Stories, Science Fantasy, Nebula and Galaxy Science Fiction. He contributed heavily to Authentic Science Fiction editing the magazine for nearly two years, from February 1956 until it folded in October 1957. During this time, he found it so difficult to find good writers to contribute to the magazine, that he often wrote most of the stories himself under a variety of pseudonyms: one issue of Authentic was written entirely by Tubb, including the letters column.
His main work in the science fiction genre, the Dumarest series, appeared from 1967 to 1985, with two final volumes in 1997 and 2008. His second major series, the Cap Kennedy series, was written from 1973 to 1983.
In recent years Tubb updated many of his 1950s science fiction novels for 21st century readers.
Tubb was one of the co-founders of the British Science Fiction Association.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 25, 2024
Tracked by a cold blooded professional hunter hired by the Cyclan, this entry sees Dumarest and his party, including the hunter, crash land on a hostile, remote planet. His hiring by the Cyclan is essentially an acknowledgement that, at least as far as tracking Dumarest goes, their analytical methods may be inferior to the hunter's more instinctive methods, with his innate understanding of predator/prey relationships.
There is plenty of action and adventure as they struggle for survival against all manner of deadly sea and land monstrosities. Yet it's the hunter's detached assessment of, and growing admiration for Dumarest and his skills for evading pursuit that proves most interesting. As well, the awkward situation he finds himself in, forced to cooperate closely with Dumarest for their mutual survival and in order to ultimately deliver him alive to the Cyclan. Yet without arousing Dumarest's suspicions as to his true purpose. The general setting, a dense region of space called the Quillian Sector, known for its bizarre spatial anomalies and their strange behavioral effects makes for a potentially interesting wildcard, though Tubb hardly leverages it within the plot.
There is plenty of action and adventure as they struggle for survival against all manner of deadly sea and land monstrosities. Yet it's the hunter's detached assessment of, and growing admiration for Dumarest and his skills for evading pursuit that proves most interesting. As well, the awkward situation he finds himself in, forced to cooperate closely with Dumarest for their mutual survival and in order to ultimately deliver him alive to the Cyclan. Yet without arousing Dumarest's suspicions as to his true purpose. The general setting, a dense region of space called the Quillian Sector, known for its bizarre spatial anomalies and their strange behavioral effects makes for a potentially interesting wildcard, though Tubb hardly leverages it within the plot.
January 5, 2025
another enjoyable entry. a bit more slowly paced than usual, with fully two-thirds of the book being a leisurely set up to the action in the last third: a crash landing on a planet of almost total wilderness and a number of unpleasant creatures. in the marooned group are both Earl and his secret enemy, a hunter hired to capture him.
Tubb has such a deft hand with characterization. as is typical for the series, Quillian Sector has a fully fleshed-out cast, with their various quirks, plans, backgrounds, and relationships given space to unfold and become eventually clear to the reader and to Earl. one of the most striking is the hunter, a loathsome nihilist who is studying Earl as closely as Earl is sizing up everyone else. equally well-characterized are Earl's current romantic partner, an amazonian young woman - it was interesting reading about the tension between her insecurities & tenderness and her commanding physical stature - and what by now is a familiar type for the series: the Older Lady Who Has Been Around, usually selfish and cynical, this one with an interest in deadly weaponized rings. there are other similarly complex characters in the cast. of course, nearly all of them will be dead by the time the novel ends - as is the case with most of the books in this series. life in the Dumarest Saga is a fleeting thing.
Tubb has such a deft hand with characterization. as is typical for the series, Quillian Sector has a fully fleshed-out cast, with their various quirks, plans, backgrounds, and relationships given space to unfold and become eventually clear to the reader and to Earl. one of the most striking is the hunter, a loathsome nihilist who is studying Earl as closely as Earl is sizing up everyone else. equally well-characterized are Earl's current romantic partner, an amazonian young woman - it was interesting reading about the tension between her insecurities & tenderness and her commanding physical stature - and what by now is a familiar type for the series: the Older Lady Who Has Been Around, usually selfish and cynical, this one with an interest in deadly weaponized rings. there are other similarly complex characters in the cast. of course, nearly all of them will be dead by the time the novel ends - as is the case with most of the books in this series. life in the Dumarest Saga is a fleeting thing.
March 23, 2018
This is the nineteenth in the saga of Earl Dumarest trying to find his way home to Earth - Earth the mythic planet in which almost none of the galaxies inhabitants believe. Dumarest believes, he was born there, but now it is lost.
In this installment E. C. Tubb reminds me of why I was so charmed by this series years ago: While Dumarest is searching for mention of Earth the Cyclan are desperate to find Dumarest and so he is being hunted by Bochner. The ship they are both traveling on through the Quillian sector is sabotaged and the crash land on a dangerous planet, where they must survive the dangers of being adrift at sea, strange alien ecology - and each other.
Tubb's descriptive skills are formidable in this one, as he describes the planet I could see the images swimming before my eyes. The artistic skills of Gale Andrel are also beautifully described and, s the best sci-fi does, predict a future technology that had not yet come into being when the story was written.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this anachronism of early sci-fi
In this installment E. C. Tubb reminds me of why I was so charmed by this series years ago: While Dumarest is searching for mention of Earth the Cyclan are desperate to find Dumarest and so he is being hunted by Bochner. The ship they are both traveling on through the Quillian sector is sabotaged and the crash land on a dangerous planet, where they must survive the dangers of being adrift at sea, strange alien ecology - and each other.
Tubb's descriptive skills are formidable in this one, as he describes the planet I could see the images swimming before my eyes. The artistic skills of Gale Andrel are also beautifully described and, s the best sci-fi does, predict a future technology that had not yet come into being when the story was written.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this anachronism of early sci-fi
May 31, 2026
review of
E.C. Tubb's The Quillian Sector
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - May 31, 2026
As I've written in earlier Tubb reviews, the owner of a local bkstore that I like, Caliban, recommended Tubb to me so I read his standalone Moon Base & liked it & then bought a lot of 16 "Dumarest of Terra" bks on eBay. I've been working my way thru those. This is #19 of that series. I don't usually read series & reading these reinforces that it's better for me to not do so. The repetitiveness, alone, gets too annoying for me after awhile. STILL, I can appreciate the challenge that Tubb sets himself to up the trials & tribulations ante w/ each successive novel - something he's very good at.
Earl of Dumarest has frequent attempts taken on his life. Here, he barely escapes a construction 'accident':
"Luck was with him. A second later, or had he been less fast, he would have been crushed and buried like an insect. As it was, he felt the impact on his left shoulder, the barest touch of the debris which rasped down the sleeve of his coverall, the blow throwing him further in the direction of his fall. He hit a slope, rolling, falling, to land on the water-logged clay at the foot of the cutting as over him showered the mass of clay, dirt and rubble.
"Too much rubble. It pressed on his back, drove his face into the water as it piled on his head, his shoulders, trapping his entire body with a layer of dirt which pressed with an iron hand. A hand which could kill, which would kill within minutes unless he could some way to breathe." - p 18
Later, the man who fails to kill him w/ the 'accident' tries to kill him in the construction worker group shower.
""Waiting for me, friend? Well, now, that's nice of you. A pity you're going to have another accident." His laughter was soft, feral, devoid of amusement. "A fatal one this time."
"Dumarest threw the soap.
"It flashed from his hand to drive against the giant's face, to land beneath one of the thick eyebrows and to slam against the eye with a force which tore the orb from its socket, to leave an ugly red hole streaming blood." - p 23
I'm reminded of a scene in "The Chronicles of Riddick" in wch Riddick kills a man by ramming a tin tea-cup into his chest. I'm further reminded of someone I knew who was in prison telling me about guys scooping each other's eyeballs out w/ spoons. In other words, just about anything can be a weapon.
As is serially the case, Dumarest has to move on to another dangerous planet, out of the frying pan, into the fire.
"Vult was as Allain had claimed: a mad world inhabited by the insane. In the sky, the sun, huge, mottled with flaring patches of lemon and orange, burned with a relentless fury, and at night the stars glittered like a host of hungry, watching eyes. Stars which were close, suns which filled space with conflicting energies, radiations which disturbed the delicate neuron paths of the brain, dampening the censor so that between thought and action there was little restraint. A harshly savage world where only the strong could hope to survive." - p 47
There's another bk in this series where there's a mad city, rather than a whole world. The city having become mad as a result of its in-grown isolation. I'm further reminded of H. G. Wells's story "The Country of the Blind", another condition brought about by in-grown isolation.
My growsing about the annoyingness of the repetitiveness is becoming repetitively annoying.
"It came from the aura surrounding the tremendous installation of central intelligence, the radiated power of the great cybernetic complex which was the heart of the Cyclan. One day, he would be a part of that installation. His body would age and fail but his brain would be saved, removed from his skull and joined in series with millions of other brains taken from cybers who had lived before him and now continued to live as disembodied brains in vats of nutrient fluid. He would live as they lived, totally divorced from the irking irritations of the body, able to concentrate on matters of pure thought. A time of endless tranquility in which he and they would work to solve each and every problem of the galaxy.
"The reward of every cyber, but one which would be denied to him should he fail." - p 67
Yes, that's a recurrence. From my POV it's a nice touch b/c as an individualist hedonist the idea of being a brain-in-a-vat functioning as a component of a group mind is extremely unpleasant. Hence, having the Cyclan be Dumarest's enemy works for me. My sympathy is 100% on Dumarest's side.
One of the characters who's most sympathetic for me is an artist named Gale who makes her living off of documenting rare natural phenomena.
""Success, Gale?"
""Leo!" She smiled as she saw him. "Yes, I think so. Did you catch that interplay over the western horizon a few minutes ago? It was superb! That recording alone will sell at least a hundred thousand copies on Eltania."" - p 70
Coincidentally. it was nightime when I read this & it was just a few minutes after I'd tried to take a picture of a large orange crescent moon next to a 10 or so story bldg to the west of my POV. The view was spectacular. Alas, by the time I steadied the camera, the moon was below the horizon & the only pictures I managed to get were failures b/c of their blurriness. Still, the way that effort played into this bk's story was an interesting interplay.
""Once, on Sante, I saw a man who had fasted for thirty days. It was a show at a carnival and I think he was doing it for a bet. If he lasted for thirty-seven days he would have beaten the record."
[..]
"Gale Andrei snapped, "Meaning me, I suppose. Hell, can't you talk about anything but food? I'm starving!"
""Not starving," he corrected. "You just want to eat. You're not really hungry yet. It's just that your stomach is accustomed to being filled at regular intervals and has started to complain. Just be patient. In a few days it will pass."" - p 119
Holger Meins, of the Red Army Faction, went on hunger strike in prison for 66 days, at wch point he died, weighing only 86 pounds.
The longest I've ever fasted for was 28 days (twice). It wasn't THAT hard but I doubt that I cd do it now, at age 72.
Dumarest was on a spaceship that's crashed. Among his fellow survivors is a bounty hunter who's after him named Bochner. Since Dumarest is wanted alive by the Cyclan, Bochner hasn't tried to kill him & Dumarest is unaware of Bochner's purpose. Bochner, who's been shacking up w/ Gale, another survivor, talks, using typical sociopathic logic, w/ Dumarest about what to do about the woman.
"["]What if rescue does not arrive?"
""We live."
""Of course, but how? I mean in what manner? Three men and only one woman—you recognize the problem? The captain, I think, can be left out of the equation, but there is still you and me. Frankly, the need of a woman is, to me, only a minor irritation, but there is a question of principle. Of precedence. You understand?"" - pp 144-145
ANYWAY, it all works out ok in the end (except for Gale) & closure is provided, as per formula. Given that the formula has long since worn thin for me, I was less than enthusiastic about this one but as a standalone (in other words, it's not necessary to read the series) I can recommend it (sortof).
E.C. Tubb's The Quillian Sector
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - May 31, 2026
As I've written in earlier Tubb reviews, the owner of a local bkstore that I like, Caliban, recommended Tubb to me so I read his standalone Moon Base & liked it & then bought a lot of 16 "Dumarest of Terra" bks on eBay. I've been working my way thru those. This is #19 of that series. I don't usually read series & reading these reinforces that it's better for me to not do so. The repetitiveness, alone, gets too annoying for me after awhile. STILL, I can appreciate the challenge that Tubb sets himself to up the trials & tribulations ante w/ each successive novel - something he's very good at.
Earl of Dumarest has frequent attempts taken on his life. Here, he barely escapes a construction 'accident':
"Luck was with him. A second later, or had he been less fast, he would have been crushed and buried like an insect. As it was, he felt the impact on his left shoulder, the barest touch of the debris which rasped down the sleeve of his coverall, the blow throwing him further in the direction of his fall. He hit a slope, rolling, falling, to land on the water-logged clay at the foot of the cutting as over him showered the mass of clay, dirt and rubble.
"Too much rubble. It pressed on his back, drove his face into the water as it piled on his head, his shoulders, trapping his entire body with a layer of dirt which pressed with an iron hand. A hand which could kill, which would kill within minutes unless he could some way to breathe." - p 18
Later, the man who fails to kill him w/ the 'accident' tries to kill him in the construction worker group shower.
""Waiting for me, friend? Well, now, that's nice of you. A pity you're going to have another accident." His laughter was soft, feral, devoid of amusement. "A fatal one this time."
"Dumarest threw the soap.
"It flashed from his hand to drive against the giant's face, to land beneath one of the thick eyebrows and to slam against the eye with a force which tore the orb from its socket, to leave an ugly red hole streaming blood." - p 23
I'm reminded of a scene in "The Chronicles of Riddick" in wch Riddick kills a man by ramming a tin tea-cup into his chest. I'm further reminded of someone I knew who was in prison telling me about guys scooping each other's eyeballs out w/ spoons. In other words, just about anything can be a weapon.
As is serially the case, Dumarest has to move on to another dangerous planet, out of the frying pan, into the fire.
"Vult was as Allain had claimed: a mad world inhabited by the insane. In the sky, the sun, huge, mottled with flaring patches of lemon and orange, burned with a relentless fury, and at night the stars glittered like a host of hungry, watching eyes. Stars which were close, suns which filled space with conflicting energies, radiations which disturbed the delicate neuron paths of the brain, dampening the censor so that between thought and action there was little restraint. A harshly savage world where only the strong could hope to survive." - p 47
There's another bk in this series where there's a mad city, rather than a whole world. The city having become mad as a result of its in-grown isolation. I'm further reminded of H. G. Wells's story "The Country of the Blind", another condition brought about by in-grown isolation.
My growsing about the annoyingness of the repetitiveness is becoming repetitively annoying.
"It came from the aura surrounding the tremendous installation of central intelligence, the radiated power of the great cybernetic complex which was the heart of the Cyclan. One day, he would be a part of that installation. His body would age and fail but his brain would be saved, removed from his skull and joined in series with millions of other brains taken from cybers who had lived before him and now continued to live as disembodied brains in vats of nutrient fluid. He would live as they lived, totally divorced from the irking irritations of the body, able to concentrate on matters of pure thought. A time of endless tranquility in which he and they would work to solve each and every problem of the galaxy.
"The reward of every cyber, but one which would be denied to him should he fail." - p 67
Yes, that's a recurrence. From my POV it's a nice touch b/c as an individualist hedonist the idea of being a brain-in-a-vat functioning as a component of a group mind is extremely unpleasant. Hence, having the Cyclan be Dumarest's enemy works for me. My sympathy is 100% on Dumarest's side.
One of the characters who's most sympathetic for me is an artist named Gale who makes her living off of documenting rare natural phenomena.
""Success, Gale?"
""Leo!" She smiled as she saw him. "Yes, I think so. Did you catch that interplay over the western horizon a few minutes ago? It was superb! That recording alone will sell at least a hundred thousand copies on Eltania."" - p 70
Coincidentally. it was nightime when I read this & it was just a few minutes after I'd tried to take a picture of a large orange crescent moon next to a 10 or so story bldg to the west of my POV. The view was spectacular. Alas, by the time I steadied the camera, the moon was below the horizon & the only pictures I managed to get were failures b/c of their blurriness. Still, the way that effort played into this bk's story was an interesting interplay.
""Once, on Sante, I saw a man who had fasted for thirty days. It was a show at a carnival and I think he was doing it for a bet. If he lasted for thirty-seven days he would have beaten the record."
[..]
"Gale Andrei snapped, "Meaning me, I suppose. Hell, can't you talk about anything but food? I'm starving!"
""Not starving," he corrected. "You just want to eat. You're not really hungry yet. It's just that your stomach is accustomed to being filled at regular intervals and has started to complain. Just be patient. In a few days it will pass."" - p 119
Holger Meins, of the Red Army Faction, went on hunger strike in prison for 66 days, at wch point he died, weighing only 86 pounds.
The longest I've ever fasted for was 28 days (twice). It wasn't THAT hard but I doubt that I cd do it now, at age 72.
Dumarest was on a spaceship that's crashed. Among his fellow survivors is a bounty hunter who's after him named Bochner. Since Dumarest is wanted alive by the Cyclan, Bochner hasn't tried to kill him & Dumarest is unaware of Bochner's purpose. Bochner, who's been shacking up w/ Gale, another survivor, talks, using typical sociopathic logic, w/ Dumarest about what to do about the woman.
"["]What if rescue does not arrive?"
""We live."
""Of course, but how? I mean in what manner? Three men and only one woman—you recognize the problem? The captain, I think, can be left out of the equation, but there is still you and me. Frankly, the need of a woman is, to me, only a minor irritation, but there is a question of principle. Of precedence. You understand?"" - pp 144-145
ANYWAY, it all works out ok in the end (except for Gale) & closure is provided, as per formula. Given that the formula has long since worn thin for me, I was less than enthusiastic about this one but as a standalone (in other words, it's not necessary to read the series) I can recommend it (sortof).
December 30, 2010
A Corner of Space Worth Exploring
The Quillian Sector, book nineteen in the Dumarest saga, widens the scope a little by focusing on a whole region of space rather than a single world. Earl Dumarest's search for Earth carries him through this sector and into a complex web of trade, politics and power, with the Cyclan's agents, as always, working to bring him down.
I enjoyed the broader canvas. Tubb gives a real sense of how the worlds of the sector connect and compete, and the intrigue is more layered than in some instalments. The supporting cast is colourful, there are some excellent tense set pieces, and Dumarest's ability to read a situation and act decisively is on fine display.
It does feel like a bridge between bigger moments in the saga, and readers new to the series will find little help in catching up. But Tubb's lean, atmospheric writing makes it a pleasure to read, and it adds depth to the universe Dumarest wanders through. Four stars.
The Quillian Sector, book nineteen in the Dumarest saga, widens the scope a little by focusing on a whole region of space rather than a single world. Earl Dumarest's search for Earth carries him through this sector and into a complex web of trade, politics and power, with the Cyclan's agents, as always, working to bring him down.
I enjoyed the broader canvas. Tubb gives a real sense of how the worlds of the sector connect and compete, and the intrigue is more layered than in some instalments. The supporting cast is colourful, there are some excellent tense set pieces, and Dumarest's ability to read a situation and act decisively is on fine display.
It does feel like a bridge between bigger moments in the saga, and readers new to the series will find little help in catching up. But Tubb's lean, atmospheric writing makes it a pleasure to read, and it adds depth to the universe Dumarest wanders through. Four stars.
April 6, 2022
The back cover blurb on this book specifically mentions Bochner, a great hunter. And yet my problem with the book is exactly that character.
For the mist part, he is a minor character in the story and, when he does appear, there doesn't seem to be a reason for him being there. The Cyclan hire him to hunt Dumarest, but then the Cyclan manipulate cargoes to ensure that Dumarest is on a specific ship and, from there, can extrapolate his on going movements, even when the unforeseen happens.
It's almost as though this story is setting up Bochner as a future adversity. Two caveats here, firstly I can't remember whether Bochner appears in future volumes - he might, in which case this book has done it's job. Secondly, although it's only 160 pages, circumstances meant it took me longer than it should to read this book and I may have forgotten a pertinent fact/section.
Still, another decent story in the saga, just different enough to keep things interesting.
For the mist part, he is a minor character in the story and, when he does appear, there doesn't seem to be a reason for him being there. The Cyclan hire him to hunt Dumarest, but then the Cyclan manipulate cargoes to ensure that Dumarest is on a specific ship and, from there, can extrapolate his on going movements, even when the unforeseen happens.
It's almost as though this story is setting up Bochner as a future adversity. Two caveats here, firstly I can't remember whether Bochner appears in future volumes - he might, in which case this book has done it's job. Secondly, although it's only 160 pages, circumstances meant it took me longer than it should to read this book and I may have forgotten a pertinent fact/section.
Still, another decent story in the saga, just different enough to keep things interesting.
July 21, 2020
Full review of the series in the last volume.
September 29, 2013
In The Quillian Sector, Dumarest finds himself in the titular neighborhood in space - supposedly known for its many unpredictable factors. Those factors don't really play into the story much, though. In it, the Cyclan (cyborgs who are after Dumarest cause he knows some of their secrets) have hired a famous and cruel hunter to find Dumarest. Meanwhile, Dumarest has found work as a gambling manager on a passenger ship. Of course, yet another lovely woman, this one the ship's engineer, finds herself besotted with Dumarest.
October 26, 2014
Another cyber, another space ship crash, more death, another betrayal, a beautiful competent woman, new alien creature peril...this time a version of shark while adrift on salt water. Rescue coming in a strange form and Dumarest shows mercy to a deadly enemy. Only hanging chad for me was the boy he refused a ride from a horrific planet because it would mean his death...when the reader knows full well the next handler will take his money and he will die. I wanted someone to offer the boy a place for less money. Unrealistic but it stuck with me right through...the fate of the boy.
September 15, 2010
One of my favourite Dumarest novels. Tubb is always at his best when the protagonist is battling for survival or journeying through space. In this, its both.
May 30, 2016
One of the best in the series.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews