What do you think?
Rate this book
Dumarest of Terra #15
Spectrum of a Forgotten Sun
Fictional Novel, Sci-Fi, Juvenile Literature
155 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1976
7 people are currently reading
91 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 10, 2023
I've mentioned this particular character template before, one that's been annoying me in the last few novels of this series: Another Shallow Bitch. here she is again! even though this type was present all along in the series, rarely until the last few books was she actually the romantic lead. she was often more like Another Shallow Supporting Bitch who Earl will attempt to ignore while protecting his kinder or at least less evil preferred partner.
this book is a bit of a turning of the page for this type, because ASB in Spectrum is a fun and reasonably well-drawn character. she's full of interesting surprises and her shallow evil is at least given an understandable reason: her toxic culture shaped her and she has a love/hate relationship with the idea of "pride" - a foundational concept within her society. she's regal, ruthless, bloodthirsty and at times nearly feral, yet is often compellingly sympathetic as well. everything about her just screams Danger! Danger! This Shallow Bitch Will End You, Earl Dumarest! also she has long, pointy, razor-edged nails that shoot deadly darts, which is of course delightful. although Earl doesn't really appreciate that. nor her style of adorning herself with tons of bling, which he thinks looks cheap. different strokes I guess.
this was a reasonably entertaining entry in the series. first half finds Earl aboard a ship carrying some sort of space-plague. a gripping and also pretty gross sequence. a brief sojourn in a lavish care facility for richie rich types, who are easily hypnotized by various emotion-projecting works of art set up in the adjoining art gallery. I could have stayed on that planet a bit longer. then the second half, set on ASB's homeworld, where Earl is guilt-tripped into being her champion, kills a couple assholes and an assholish giant lizard, and plays father figure to a sweet, naïve lad (another character template in this saga). on to the next one!
this book is a bit of a turning of the page for this type, because ASB in Spectrum is a fun and reasonably well-drawn character. she's full of interesting surprises and her shallow evil is at least given an understandable reason: her toxic culture shaped her and she has a love/hate relationship with the idea of "pride" - a foundational concept within her society. she's regal, ruthless, bloodthirsty and at times nearly feral, yet is often compellingly sympathetic as well. everything about her just screams Danger! Danger! This Shallow Bitch Will End You, Earl Dumarest! also she has long, pointy, razor-edged nails that shoot deadly darts, which is of course delightful. although Earl doesn't really appreciate that. nor her style of adorning herself with tons of bling, which he thinks looks cheap. different strokes I guess.
this was a reasonably entertaining entry in the series. first half finds Earl aboard a ship carrying some sort of space-plague. a gripping and also pretty gross sequence. a brief sojourn in a lavish care facility for richie rich types, who are easily hypnotized by various emotion-projecting works of art set up in the adjoining art gallery. I could have stayed on that planet a bit longer. then the second half, set on ASB's homeworld, where Earl is guilt-tripped into being her champion, kills a couple assholes and an assholish giant lizard, and plays father figure to a sweet, naïve lad (another character template in this saga). on to the next one!
January 3, 2024
A very solid Dumarest tale that felt like a bit of a welcome departure from some of the usual Dumarest tropes and character archetypes. Earl's love interest in particular was not only beautiful, but clever, capable, driven and ultimately devious. He also fosters a touching paternal relationship with a smart but naive orphan boy, for more than just selfish reasons. It's a relationship which unexpectedly helps lead him to the uncovering of an enormously valuable clue to Earth's location, hinted at in the title, from a very cool archaeological discovery. In more typical fashion, he manages to cheat death a few times, engages in some gnarly hand to hand combat to the death, kills a giant alien monster single handedly, etc. Still, in at least one of these instances, he actually has somebody else to thank for saving his bacon, which is not usually how things go down in Earl town.
August 12, 2009
this was the first of the Dumarest series that I read and I really liked it. Unfortunately, I haven't found any of the few others I've read to be quite as good, though they are adequate space opera. This one had something special, I thought.
May 31, 2024
There are more than 30 novels in the Dumarest Saga by EC Tubb. I’ve read the first three books in the series and I’ve now jumped ahead to number 15, Spectrum of a Forgotten Sun. From the first three books, I’ve noticed a formula to these stories…but its one that works, if you are in a mind for it.
Earl Dumarest, a space adventurer, is seeking his way back to long lost Earth. Dumarest left Earth as a child and has travelled so far into space that to those inhabitants in his current environs it exists only as a legend. The series chronicles his adventures in his search and hopefully inevitable return to Earth.
This one starts with Dumarest as a mercenary in a pitched battle on the planet Hoghan. To make matters worse, he is on the losing side. After his capture he is “shanghaied” into assisting the noblewoman Dephine in a heist to steal valuables from a space-port and flee Hoghan in the space vessel Varden. Things go awry and Dumarest must improvise and flee Hoghan in the proverbial “hail of bullets” only to discover that someone onboard has contracted a mysterious plague that threatens to annihilate everyone on board. All this and only in the first half of the novel… gripping stuff!
Spectrum of a Forgotten Sun is in the same mould as the previous Dumarest offerings but has enough zest to keep it interesting.
Dephine is a proxy for the few other female counterparts I’ve encountered in the other Dumarest stories. Beautiful, mysterious, devious, and desperately in need of aid from Earl. There is nothing else here to examine, she exists merely to give impetus, driving our main character from one scenario to the next…and I’m okay with that.
Earl Dumarest is his usual self…taciturn, brooding, canny and lethal. He adapts to circumstances quickly which is appropriate as things move along very swiftly here…and I’m okay with that as well.
At approximately 150 pages in length, this is a short novel that has a lot going on. In the fashion of the best space operas, it spans worlds, has intrigues, duels, alien monsters…and what would appear to be a damsel in distress. As mentioned before, E C Tubb has a formula at work here. There are the same set-pieces but he moves them around and spices it all up so that it remains palatable. Even though I read this one out of sequence, it was an enjoyable read. I will continue to pick up this series as I find it.
Earl Dumarest, a space adventurer, is seeking his way back to long lost Earth. Dumarest left Earth as a child and has travelled so far into space that to those inhabitants in his current environs it exists only as a legend. The series chronicles his adventures in his search and hopefully inevitable return to Earth.
This one starts with Dumarest as a mercenary in a pitched battle on the planet Hoghan. To make matters worse, he is on the losing side. After his capture he is “shanghaied” into assisting the noblewoman Dephine in a heist to steal valuables from a space-port and flee Hoghan in the space vessel Varden. Things go awry and Dumarest must improvise and flee Hoghan in the proverbial “hail of bullets” only to discover that someone onboard has contracted a mysterious plague that threatens to annihilate everyone on board. All this and only in the first half of the novel… gripping stuff!
Spectrum of a Forgotten Sun is in the same mould as the previous Dumarest offerings but has enough zest to keep it interesting.
Dephine is a proxy for the few other female counterparts I’ve encountered in the other Dumarest stories. Beautiful, mysterious, devious, and desperately in need of aid from Earl. There is nothing else here to examine, she exists merely to give impetus, driving our main character from one scenario to the next…and I’m okay with that.
Earl Dumarest is his usual self…taciturn, brooding, canny and lethal. He adapts to circumstances quickly which is appropriate as things move along very swiftly here…and I’m okay with that as well.
At approximately 150 pages in length, this is a short novel that has a lot going on. In the fashion of the best space operas, it spans worlds, has intrigues, duels, alien monsters…and what would appear to be a damsel in distress. As mentioned before, E C Tubb has a formula at work here. There are the same set-pieces but he moves them around and spices it all up so that it remains palatable. Even though I read this one out of sequence, it was an enjoyable read. I will continue to pick up this series as I find it.
December 15, 2019
It was an oké story but not certainly not one of my favourites. Didn't really care much for Delphine as a person or woman for that matter, way to unnatural for my taste. Loved the youth and interactions between him and Earl the most. Would have been nice to find out more about what happens in his future life...
July 4, 2024
240704 Spectrum of a Forgotten Sun (Dumarest 15) by E.C. Tubb
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
We are fifteen volumes into the Dumarest saga, and there are two things that you must keep in mind. First, Earl Dumarest wants to find his forgotten, mythical home planet of Earth. Second, he wants to stay away from the clutches of the galaxy spanning scientific-religious cult of the Cyclan.
This “pull/push” framing was a staple of television during the 1960s. Think of television series like The Fugitive, The Immortal, and The Invaders. The hero wanted to find something, which kept him moving around, and he needed to escape someone, which provided tension.
Tubb wrote the Dumarest saga during the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. So, he was undoubtedly swamped with that story-telling technique. In addition, his stories reek of film noir. Earl Dumarest is Phillip Marlow among the stars. He realizes that life is brutal, everyone lies, there is no morality, no one can be trusted, but he has an unfailing moral code where he will kill only the right person and only for the right reason, and he will be loyal to good people while recognizing the frauds.
Dumarest #15 finds Earl Dumarest on the losing end of a mercenary war. Faced with slavery or signing up for a long enlistment with the winners, Earl is rescued by the femme fatale, Dephine, who needs his help to steal a shipment from a warehouse. The pair find themselves riding High on a spaceship, which is afflicted by a plague. Earl is saved again by Dephine, who is naturally immune to the plague and concocts a serum. To pay the debt, Earl is then persuaded to take Dephine back to her home planet, Emijar.
Emijar is a typical society in Dumarest’s universe. It is ruled by a decaying aristocracy of families. This aristocracy places a high value on personal honor, dueling, and earning manhood by hunting the dangerous Olcept. Dumarest has to fight for Dephine’s honor. He also helps a crippled heir attain manhood. Most importantly, he gets another clue to locating the fabled Earth.
Does he stay with Dephine?
Do the Cyclan make an appearance on Emijar?
Does Dephine fulfill her role as femme fatale?
There are another twenty-two volumes left in the saga. You will have to read them to get your answer.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
We are fifteen volumes into the Dumarest saga, and there are two things that you must keep in mind. First, Earl Dumarest wants to find his forgotten, mythical home planet of Earth. Second, he wants to stay away from the clutches of the galaxy spanning scientific-religious cult of the Cyclan.
This “pull/push” framing was a staple of television during the 1960s. Think of television series like The Fugitive, The Immortal, and The Invaders. The hero wanted to find something, which kept him moving around, and he needed to escape someone, which provided tension.
Tubb wrote the Dumarest saga during the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. So, he was undoubtedly swamped with that story-telling technique. In addition, his stories reek of film noir. Earl Dumarest is Phillip Marlow among the stars. He realizes that life is brutal, everyone lies, there is no morality, no one can be trusted, but he has an unfailing moral code where he will kill only the right person and only for the right reason, and he will be loyal to good people while recognizing the frauds.
Dumarest #15 finds Earl Dumarest on the losing end of a mercenary war. Faced with slavery or signing up for a long enlistment with the winners, Earl is rescued by the femme fatale, Dephine, who needs his help to steal a shipment from a warehouse. The pair find themselves riding High on a spaceship, which is afflicted by a plague. Earl is saved again by Dephine, who is naturally immune to the plague and concocts a serum. To pay the debt, Earl is then persuaded to take Dephine back to her home planet, Emijar.
Emijar is a typical society in Dumarest’s universe. It is ruled by a decaying aristocracy of families. This aristocracy places a high value on personal honor, dueling, and earning manhood by hunting the dangerous Olcept. Dumarest has to fight for Dephine’s honor. He also helps a crippled heir attain manhood. Most importantly, he gets another clue to locating the fabled Earth.
Does he stay with Dephine?
Do the Cyclan make an appearance on Emijar?
Does Dephine fulfill her role as femme fatale?
There are another twenty-two volumes left in the saga. You will have to read them to get your answer.
September 23, 2025
Dumarest catches the plague and ends up on a world where duelling happens at the drop of a hat. While still enjoyable, the series is starting to feel a bit repetitive, but this one felt so very over-familiar that I began to wonder if I read it already, before I started to keep track. At the time of writing, the ebook has an absolutely shocking number of typos.
October 12, 2019
Good old-fashioned sci fi.
June 13, 2020
A bit dull, this one. Half of it is spent on a ship where a plague-like disease is going around. The second part made it up a bit by the interesting anthropology of the planet he lands on.
June 28, 2020
Better than average Dumarest book. Interesting culture. The search continues and a new clue...
April 6, 2016
Took a break from series for a couple days and come back refreshed and able to enjoy again. One really should not read a series like peanuts, the repetition of the bones of the history becomes tedious and spoils some of the enjoyment and makes you think less of the book. I found that recently with the Anita Blake series. The sameness of so much took away from the pleasure and yet, since each book must stand alone for those who have never read other books in the series, those bones are necessary and most people probably read one book a year in the series, unlike me who starts from book number 1 and reads through to the latest and this series has 31 book and this one is number 15...I think my problem is I was reading them too fast and too close together. The creativity of new worlds, new characters, new dangers is still astonishing. I am happy to be able to continue.
February 1, 2015
My latest in the ongoing quest to read the entire Earl Dumarest saga.
In this one I was once again impressed by the quality of descriptive writing that E.C. Tubb employed for these books.
In this one Earl planet hops a bit, there is plague in space, fighting, a primitive world where he must overcome insurmountable odds of both men and nasty alien beasties. There is the woman who wants him desperately too...
Not having read any of the saga for a while I really enjoyed it.
In this one I was once again impressed by the quality of descriptive writing that E.C. Tubb employed for these books.
In this one Earl planet hops a bit, there is plague in space, fighting, a primitive world where he must overcome insurmountable odds of both men and nasty alien beasties. There is the woman who wants him desperately too...
Not having read any of the saga for a while I really enjoyed it.
May 25, 2015
1977 grade C-
Dumarest book 15
Dumarest book 15
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews