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Dumarest of Terra #17
Prison of Night
Urgent message from Central Intelligence to local Cyber agent: "You will proceed to the planet Zakym with the utmost dispatch. Dumarest is not to be killed or his intelligence placed in danger. This is of utmost priority. Once found he is to be removed from the planet immediately.
"Zakym is approaching a critical state as regards the stability of its present culture. Find Dumarest and move him before he becomes embroiled in a war!"
But Earl Dumarest, seeker of Lost Terra, was not ready to leave Zakym, world of the night rulers and the day people. He had a romance to defend, he had a mystery to be solved, and had his next step to the mysterious Sol system to be determined.
"Zakym is approaching a critical state as regards the stability of its present culture. Find Dumarest and move him before he becomes embroiled in a war!"
But Earl Dumarest, seeker of Lost Terra, was not ready to leave Zakym, world of the night rulers and the day people. He had a romance to defend, he had a mystery to be solved, and had his next step to the mysterious Sol system to be determined.
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 20, 1977
3 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
E.C. Tubb
382 books85 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 23, 2024
The first (and only?) book in the Dumarest series that is a direct sequel to its preceding entry (Haven of Darkness). The story has a lot going for it. There's plenty of action and intrigue (political and romantic), and an exciting if not hasty deus ex machina conclusion. Yet I found the early thread following a mysterious murder among the enigmatic monks in the Church of Universal Brotherhood on the mercenary planet of Ilyard to be the most intriguing. Tubb weaves the intrigue from that into the main thread quite deftly and unexpectedly. The encounters with the Sungari alien race, who were only hinted at in the previous book, are certainly the most bizarre and chilling yet encountered in the series and feel like something from the mind of Stanisław Lem. At the end, as is to be expected, Dumarest will ultimately move on to pursue his greater mission. This time, however, the personal cost is perhaps greater than he's yet had to bear, and he seems to do so a bit too stoically, even for him.
March 24, 2024
the planet Zakym is fascinating: an agrarian civilization governed by various human land-holders by day, an entirely different place by night when its true rulers the Sungari come out; a world in which the radioactivity of its twin suns causes the 'energy' of the deceased to remain as phantoms, eager to interact with the living. Zakym's nightworld is a place of horror, with any human caught out promptly slain; the portrait of a society that contends with ghosts by day and at nightfall encloses itself in various sealed castles and other sorts of buildings, forced to use tunnels to move about after dark, was fun to think about. Zakym is so fascinating to the author that this book is the first direct sequel in the series, continuing Earl's experiences in this strange place from the prior novel instead of hurtling him on elsewhere.
despite the complexity of this world, Tubb as usual is brisk and efficient in his storytelling. and, as always, acerbic in his critique of capitalism without constraint, wars of conquest, and hierarchical structures that dehumanize those lowest on the ladder. this is another typically fast-paced entry in this great adventure series, one which manages to juggle all of the sparsely-parsed details of life on this world with a plot about an invasion of Zakym, the galactic rivalry between the peace-loving Brotherhood and the hive-minded Cyclan, the mentality of mercenaries, meeting at long last the enigmatic alien Sungari (who are also colonists of this world), and whether or not a potential pregnancy is reason enough to compel the forever-questing Earl to finally remain with the woman who has currently captured his heart.
that last idea is not one that Earl himself spends a lot of time considering. but I appreciated how seriously the author presented Earl's love interest Lavinia's thought process on what that pregnancy could mean for her, for him, for their future together. perhaps the character Lavinia represents a turning point for E.C. Tubb: a number of his female leads in the mid-period of this series have been disappointingly shallow. not so Lavinia, who not only has Earl and a potential child on her mind, but also has the running of her property and the handling of various rivals to juggle. it's tough being the sole woman among this world's rulers and I really liked how fully fleshed out Tubb made this character.
3.5 stars
despite the complexity of this world, Tubb as usual is brisk and efficient in his storytelling. and, as always, acerbic in his critique of capitalism without constraint, wars of conquest, and hierarchical structures that dehumanize those lowest on the ladder. this is another typically fast-paced entry in this great adventure series, one which manages to juggle all of the sparsely-parsed details of life on this world with a plot about an invasion of Zakym, the galactic rivalry between the peace-loving Brotherhood and the hive-minded Cyclan, the mentality of mercenaries, meeting at long last the enigmatic alien Sungari (who are also colonists of this world), and whether or not a potential pregnancy is reason enough to compel the forever-questing Earl to finally remain with the woman who has currently captured his heart.
that last idea is not one that Earl himself spends a lot of time considering. but I appreciated how seriously the author presented Earl's love interest Lavinia's thought process on what that pregnancy could mean for her, for him, for their future together. perhaps the character Lavinia represents a turning point for E.C. Tubb: a number of his female leads in the mid-period of this series have been disappointingly shallow. not so Lavinia, who not only has Earl and a potential child on her mind, but also has the running of her property and the handling of various rivals to juggle. it's tough being the sole woman among this world's rulers and I really liked how fully fleshed out Tubb made this character.
3.5 stars
October 29, 2012
I'm used to the Dumarest series being very episodic, each book being self-enclosed and not dependent upon the previous. This one starts as an aftermath to something before (book #16, as it turns out): Dumarest is a landowner on the strange planet of Zakym and is entangled in local affairs, politially with the leadership council and romantically with another landowner. Not having read Haven of Darkness, I flip-flopped from feeling behind on matters to being intrigued by the backstory and half-discussed events and the way that they didn't have to be explicitly spelled out in order for the reader to interpolate things.
The story's end, unfortunately,
The story's end, unfortunately,
February 5, 2022
...and so I come full circle. Prison Of Night was the first Dumarest novel I read, after seeing a review of it in Starburst magazine. I would have been eleven or twelve. I must have been so confused.
This is the first (maybe only) Dumarest novel that follows on from the previous, continuing the story from that volume. So, not only did I come in at what ultimately turned out to be the halfway point of the entire series, but I came in half way through a story. And yet it still piqued my interest enough to hunt out previous volumes and continue to buy new ones. Then, forty years later, I'm re-reading the series, for the first time in the correct order.
This volume corrects some of the problems I had with the previous. We still don't know what causes Delusia, but at least the Sungari are, in more ways than one, brought into the light. It also felt a bit like Tubb had upped his game in terms of complexity - I mean, you aren't going to get much in a slim volume, but with swathes of the book taking place away from Dumarest, setting up the second half, it just felt less formulaic and mire thought out.
This is the first (maybe only) Dumarest novel that follows on from the previous, continuing the story from that volume. So, not only did I come in at what ultimately turned out to be the halfway point of the entire series, but I came in half way through a story. And yet it still piqued my interest enough to hunt out previous volumes and continue to buy new ones. Then, forty years later, I'm re-reading the series, for the first time in the correct order.
This volume corrects some of the problems I had with the previous. We still don't know what causes Delusia, but at least the Sungari are, in more ways than one, brought into the light. It also felt a bit like Tubb had upped his game in terms of complexity - I mean, you aren't going to get much in a slim volume, but with swathes of the book taking place away from Dumarest, setting up the second half, it just felt less formulaic and mire thought out.
February 22, 2020
First novel in this series in which the story actually spans over 2 books. Dumarest remain with Lavina on Zakym and gets entangled in their war over territory, inheritance and power. He finally gets to know what lives beneath the surface...
Nice follow up and satisfying conclusion.
Nice follow up and satisfying conclusion.
May 29, 2018
I just have to read a Dumarest novel from time to time. What an unrecognised genius.
October 27, 2025
A first in the Dumarest of Terra series: a direct sequel to the previous book (in this case, a follow-up to" Haven of Darkness"). I think that's a positive development, since it means that the publisher at the time was no longer handcuffing the author with "Must be <170 pages and able to be read as a stand-alone novel" publishing demands. The extra "elbow room" in the overall page count could have theoretically allowed some deeper plotting by the author than what was the norm for the series thus far.
That said, this was not a easy-breezy book, even in Earl "I'm stoic AF" Dumarest terms. His semi-crippling guilt for using and later killing the navigator in the previous book, his somewhat cold-ish demeanor with the Damsel-of-the-Week, and the gritty open warfare with mercenaries and pretend heirs (all the while coached & puppeted by yet another Cyclan-of-the-Week); it never 100% clicked with me. I was not especially fascinated by the planet of Zakym, to be honest.
I did appreciate the cool descriptions and reveals of who/what the Sungari are, and the sequence where they offed the token Cyclan in a gruesome manner was pretty bad ass too.
But I'm glad our boy has now moved on in his search for Earth ().
3.5 stars
Aside: hooray! I am exactly 50% done with the Dumarest series, and on target to finish before the New Year :)
That said, this was not a easy-breezy book, even in Earl "I'm stoic AF" Dumarest terms. His semi-crippling guilt for using and later killing the navigator in the previous book, his somewhat cold-ish demeanor with the Damsel-of-the-Week, and the gritty open warfare with mercenaries and pretend heirs (all the while coached & puppeted by yet another Cyclan-of-the-Week); it never 100% clicked with me. I was not especially fascinated by the planet of Zakym, to be honest.
I did appreciate the cool descriptions and reveals of who/what the Sungari are, and the sequence where they offed the token Cyclan in a gruesome manner was pretty bad ass too.
But I'm glad our boy has now moved on in his search for Earth ().
3.5 stars
Aside: hooray! I am exactly 50% done with the Dumarest series, and on target to finish before the New Year :)
June 1, 2023
Quick read and # 17 in the series. These books can mostly be read in any order although this time I am reading in order since I have all but the last two which are specialty published and I look at the price and say no. I will see if I still say no in several years, when I have completed reading and re-read the others. I first encountered the series in the 1970s and read a fair number. I found many in the series used a few years ago and now occasionally pick one up to read. The variety of cultures and worlds in this series in vast. The villains are evil and power hungry. Fun science fiction adventure books.
February 4, 2016
In Prison of Night Earl Dumarest's newest adventure starts on the world of Zakym, where it seems he has it all: A lovely, wealthy woman (one of the rulers of the planet in fact) is his lover and is wholly obsessed with him. He has comfort, status, everything. As it is Dumarest however, all he wants is to leave as soon as a spaceship arrives and continue his long, relentless search for Earth.
The world is interesting, the humans rule the day but keep curfew at night due to an old pact with the other inhabitants of the world, the Sungari. It is to the Sungari that Dumarest must go if he is to survive the attack launched against him by an off-worlder, spurred on by Dumarests old enemies the Cyclan. As always the world building fascinates me, though he never really develops any of them completely, Tubb's ever creative new worlds fascinate me.
I have not read the previous book in the saga, Haven of Darkness, is one I have not yet acquired. As usual however, you really do not have to have read previous books to get the hang of any one in this series. It is pure space opera with the stern hero, the lovely women falling at his feet, the insurmountable odds that he always surmounts... it is predictable, what my father called a 'pot boiler' and despite all that I have a totally irrational fascination and delight with this series. It is true love - I see all it's faults, acknowledge all the criticisms ever launched against it and still want to own, read and re-read them.
The world is interesting, the humans rule the day but keep curfew at night due to an old pact with the other inhabitants of the world, the Sungari. It is to the Sungari that Dumarest must go if he is to survive the attack launched against him by an off-worlder, spurred on by Dumarests old enemies the Cyclan. As always the world building fascinates me, though he never really develops any of them completely, Tubb's ever creative new worlds fascinate me.
I have not read the previous book in the saga, Haven of Darkness, is one I have not yet acquired. As usual however, you really do not have to have read previous books to get the hang of any one in this series. It is pure space opera with the stern hero, the lovely women falling at his feet, the insurmountable odds that he always surmounts... it is predictable, what my father called a 'pot boiler' and despite all that I have a totally irrational fascination and delight with this series. It is true love - I see all it's faults, acknowledge all the criticisms ever launched against it and still want to own, read and re-read them.
April 11, 2016
A few interesting factors, new alien life form, new way of killing someone, dead walking.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews