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Dumarest of Terra #2
Derai
The rewards for winning: wealth, power and a lovely wife. Obviously it was worth Dumarest's while to enter the contest on Folgone, to try to secure a place of eternal glory for the ancient master of Caldor.
Not so obvious: the reality of the rewards. The wealth was confined to the restricted economy of a feudal planet. The power would be the privilege of walking a tight-rope between assassination and warfare. The lovely wife-to-be was also a psychotic telepath.
A final point: the contest was fixed.
Not so obvious: the reality of the rewards. The wealth was confined to the restricted economy of a feudal planet. The power would be the privilege of walking a tight-rope between assassination and warfare. The lovely wife-to-be was also a psychotic telepath.
A final point: the contest was fixed.
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1968
22 people are currently reading
170 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 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 28, 2022
the best pulp approaches its material with a straight face. characters may be sarcastic, characterization may be stylized and even cartoonish, but the tale itself is one of complete seriousness - despite the potential goofiness, the clichés, the pulpiness. the best pulp is utterly sincere. and so it is with the Dumarest of Terra saga.
Earl still wants to find Earth. he is still a jack-of-all-trades equipped with a sardonic nature, quick mind, and a fast draw. expert world-building is another of the series' hallmarks, done in the concise and elegant Jack Vance vein. also key to the series: compassion combined with a regular rejection of cruelty, greed, and selfishness. nice!
the devious human computers known as the Cyclan shift from the ambiguous enigmas of the first novel to the villainous threats that will plague Earl throughout his adventures. in some ways this second novel of the series is the formative volume - the villains are made clear and the tragic (oops, SPOILER) romance will inspire Earl to continually move forward. high-stakes gambling is a key part of the narrative, as it is key to so many of the Dumarest novels. Earl gambles again and again, and he doesn't always win. sometimes his bluffs don't work out that well.
ah, Earl. he really is a great, guilt-free hero. he doesn't talk much and what he says is very dry. he defends the weak, scorns the brutal, is amused by the silly & pretentious, and treats women exceedingly well. he also makes mistakes - he is not remotely an uberman. he's basically a down-to-earth and decent guy who a reader can actually identify with. although it would help if that reader were in top physical condition; the space chicks usually dig Earl's body before they eventually come to appreciate his soulfulness. Earl is a kind of Soldier of Zen.
hey it just occurred to me that my BIL's brother Dusty, a youthful & gung ho marine (and also a Buddhist, which is odd), would probably dig this series. Christmas gift? oh wait, maybe not. the series is also unapologetically progressive in how it views alien species & 'foreigners' in general, the weak & poor, etc. maybe i'll get Dusty some John Ringo instead.
anyway, best of all is Tubb's actual writing. it is tight, crisp, and vivid. it can also be surprisingly nuanced. the following pulpy scene occurs fairly early on and is admittedly slight - and yet turns out to be a cleverly apropos metaphor for the action within the narrative itself:
Already most of the auxiliary pods had been punctured and hung like ragged ribbons of mist at the end of the great, hemispherical body. Even as he watched, a swarm of local skylife darted from the clouds to tear at the intruder: rats worrying a dog. It fought back with the fringe of tentacles hanging from beneath its body, seizing its tormentors, sending them plummetting with ruptured gas-sacs. Others of their own kind ate them before they could hit the ground. Still others continued the attack.
"It hasn't got a chance," said Nada. "Not one." Her voice was thick with anticipation.
Abruptly the creature vomited in a desperate effort to gain height. A cloud of water vapor and ingested food sprayed in a kaledioscope of colored smoke. It rose a little, booming with terror and alarm, almost helpless here over flat country away from the strong thermals of its mountainous browsing grounds. High and to one side the keepers who had driven it to the city with air-blast and electric probe watched from the safety of their floating platforms.
"Soon," gloated Nada. "Soon!"
poor Earl is always stumbling upon these awful kinds of dogfights and other sadistic futuristic amusements (as well as cluelessly vicious characters like Nada). they always spell trouble. i'm really not sure why Earl is so eager to get back to Earth - he'll just find more of the same.
Earl still wants to find Earth. he is still a jack-of-all-trades equipped with a sardonic nature, quick mind, and a fast draw. expert world-building is another of the series' hallmarks, done in the concise and elegant Jack Vance vein. also key to the series: compassion combined with a regular rejection of cruelty, greed, and selfishness. nice!
the devious human computers known as the Cyclan shift from the ambiguous enigmas of the first novel to the villainous threats that will plague Earl throughout his adventures. in some ways this second novel of the series is the formative volume - the villains are made clear and the tragic (oops, SPOILER) romance will inspire Earl to continually move forward. high-stakes gambling is a key part of the narrative, as it is key to so many of the Dumarest novels. Earl gambles again and again, and he doesn't always win. sometimes his bluffs don't work out that well.
ah, Earl. he really is a great, guilt-free hero. he doesn't talk much and what he says is very dry. he defends the weak, scorns the brutal, is amused by the silly & pretentious, and treats women exceedingly well. he also makes mistakes - he is not remotely an uberman. he's basically a down-to-earth and decent guy who a reader can actually identify with. although it would help if that reader were in top physical condition; the space chicks usually dig Earl's body before they eventually come to appreciate his soulfulness. Earl is a kind of Soldier of Zen.
hey it just occurred to me that my BIL's brother Dusty, a youthful & gung ho marine (and also a Buddhist, which is odd), would probably dig this series. Christmas gift? oh wait, maybe not. the series is also unapologetically progressive in how it views alien species & 'foreigners' in general, the weak & poor, etc. maybe i'll get Dusty some John Ringo instead.
anyway, best of all is Tubb's actual writing. it is tight, crisp, and vivid. it can also be surprisingly nuanced. the following pulpy scene occurs fairly early on and is admittedly slight - and yet turns out to be a cleverly apropos metaphor for the action within the narrative itself:
Already most of the auxiliary pods had been punctured and hung like ragged ribbons of mist at the end of the great, hemispherical body. Even as he watched, a swarm of local skylife darted from the clouds to tear at the intruder: rats worrying a dog. It fought back with the fringe of tentacles hanging from beneath its body, seizing its tormentors, sending them plummetting with ruptured gas-sacs. Others of their own kind ate them before they could hit the ground. Still others continued the attack.
"It hasn't got a chance," said Nada. "Not one." Her voice was thick with anticipation.
Abruptly the creature vomited in a desperate effort to gain height. A cloud of water vapor and ingested food sprayed in a kaledioscope of colored smoke. It rose a little, booming with terror and alarm, almost helpless here over flat country away from the strong thermals of its mountainous browsing grounds. High and to one side the keepers who had driven it to the city with air-blast and electric probe watched from the safety of their floating platforms.
"Soon," gloated Nada. "Soon!"
poor Earl is always stumbling upon these awful kinds of dogfights and other sadistic futuristic amusements (as well as cluelessly vicious characters like Nada). they always spell trouble. i'm really not sure why Earl is so eager to get back to Earth - he'll just find more of the same.
May 16, 2020
Still driven by his search for Man's fabled birthplace, Earl Dumrest accepts a commission to guard the Lady Derai, heiress to the proud House of Caldor, on the feudal world of Hive.
Ace double, printed with "The Singing Stones"
Kelly Freas, J. Jones (cover art)
Ace double, printed with "The Singing Stones"
Kelly Freas, J. Jones (cover art)
April 21, 2024
The second book in this series doesn’t disappoint. Dumarest hires on to escort the Lady Derai to her home world of Hive. Dumarest discovers Derai is a telepath which only deepens the plot. This is a good science fiction adventure with plenty of action, intrigue, treachery, love—twists and turns everywhere. Dumarest also learns of a group with knowledge of the fabled “Earth.”
August 1, 2017
A fast and entertaining read.
May 29, 2023
Dumarest in Love with a Fragile Telepath
In Derai (1968), the second book in E. C. Tubb’s 33-volume (!) Dumarest series, E. C. Tubb’s hero Earl Dumarest, a penniless traveler searching for Earth, has made it to Kyle, a tourist world holding a festival celebrating life and death with all these creatures in the sky mating and being fought over and eaten (not unlike krill and larger predators in the sea), while on the ground hucksters tout VR torture and sex: “Hey, you there! Want to know what it’s like to be burned to death? Full-sense feelies give you the thrill of a lifetime! Genuine recordings of impalement, live-burial, flaying, dismemberment and many more. Sixteen different types of torture! You feel it, sense it, know what it’s like. Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!”
Dumarest is there earning a pittance by fighting people for entertainment. When his sadistic fighter partner Nada suggests pairing up with him, he refuses, quits the business, and runs into a monk of the (possibly benevolent) Universal Brotherhood who arranges for him to escort a strange silver-haired, long-necked aristocratic young woman called Lady Derai of House Caldor to her homeworld, Hive. Dumarest reckons that Derai’s fears that someone is trying to kill her are mere paranoia and takes the job because he wants to go to Hive anyway and because his pay will be two expensive High space travel tickets. He soon discovers that Derai is a telepath (a handy ability for gambling) and that she and he are falling in love.
On Hive, Tubb introduces more point of view characters: Derai’s bastard half-brother Blaine (musing about the fate by which their father didn’t marry his mother but did marry hers and about how the suitable motto of their House, “the Grasping Hand”); her uncle Emil (wanting to keep Derai under wraps to exploit her telepathy in the service of the House commerce in a jelly called ambrosaria made by mutated super bees); her cousin Ustar (a real aristo piece of work, sadistic, spoiled, entitled, and reckoning that he’ll marry Derai and control the House); the Old Man (the House patriarch kept alive on ambrosaria as a rotting vegetative bag of guts); and Regor (the House cyber, a creepy robotic man really working for “The power of central intelligence, the tremendous cybernetic complex which was the mind and heart of the Cyclan,” which wants to rule the human galaxy). Oh, and, for the first time in the series, a person of color, Yamay, a shrewd black businessman who’ll help Dumarest as far as it’ll be profitable for him (and maybe a little farther).
*Although Tubb has started introducing characters of color into his saga, he still isn’t writing LGBTQ characters (although Blaine perhaps leans a LITTLE that way vis-à-vis Dumarest).
The story is a compact, lurid, page turning, fast moving, interesting, unpredictable, pulpy space opera. It will soon have Dumarest et al traveling to a third world to participate in a deadly competition reminiscent of a Hunger Games for adults.
Here is a neat cover to the book by Bilal (more accurate than the one Goodreads offers):
Neither young nor old, Dumarest is a tall and handsome loner who’s visited multiple worlds on his quest for his homeworld, the mythical Earth, which he knows is a blasted world with some life surviving underground, while people he asks about it often respond, “Earth? Every world has earth!” He’s not a superman, being capable of making mistakes and getting injured, but he’s fast, ruthless, clever, cool, compassionate, reliable, and aware.
Belonging to the less is more ethos of the late 1960s and early 1970s sf publishing world, the novel has some neat sf writing:
“He [Regor] became a living part of an organism which stretched across the galaxy in an infinity of crystalline sparkles, each the glowing nexus of naked intelligence. A skein of misty light connected the whole so that it seemed to be a shifting kaleidoscope of brilliance and form. He saw it and at the same time was a part of it, sharing and yet owning the incredible gestalt of minds.”
Tubb writes some cool dialogue featuring the dry Dumarest:
‘Finish your wine,’ said Dumarest, ‘and learn something: trouble does not vanish because you run away from it.’
All that said, he can also write some corny and or stilted dialogue:
“‘Eat, My Lady,’ he said curtly. Didn’t she realise the importance of food? ‘Eat,’ he said again, his tone more gentle. ‘It will do you good.’
‘My name is Derai. Yours is Earl. Must we be so formal?’”
There is some sixties sexism and too much of the hero (ala James Bond, Conan, and Captain Kirk) being too irresistible to women while not needing to end up tied down: “I like to keep moving.” The fragile Derai is dependent on Earl and given to nightmares and fears. “‘You are a strange man,’ she murmured. ‘I have never met anyone like you before. With you I could be a real woman—you have strength enough for us both.” Earl says brusque things to her like “Stop acting like a child.” She is another woman (like the Matriarch’s ward in the first novel) who lacks experience with the realities of life for the majority of people.
Tubb’s bete noirs are cruel aristocrats like Ustar and cybers like Regor. He favors practical, hardworking, smart, outsider types like Yamay and Dumarest.
Tubb’s vision is grim. Of the three worlds here, Kyle, Hive, and Folgone, none are any kind of utopia or arcadia. “Folgone was a bleak place, a world of ice and frozen gases, the single planet of a white dwarf star. The surface was sterile; what life existed was buried deep in gigantic caverns lit and warmed by radioactive elements … a sealed prison of a world from which there could be no unauthorised escape.”
Of the characters, many are vile, and the relatively decent ones, like a few who get close to Dumarest, are unsafe. And there are plenty of bleak insights into human nature:
“‘When are you going to learn that subconscious thoughts have nothing to do with intended action? We are all of us beasts,’ he added. ‘Most of us learn to correctly judge what we see and hear.’ It was a lesson he had tried to teach her during the entire journey. He’d had little success.”
I am liking the Dumarest books plenty and will soon forge on to the third--
In Derai (1968), the second book in E. C. Tubb’s 33-volume (!) Dumarest series, E. C. Tubb’s hero Earl Dumarest, a penniless traveler searching for Earth, has made it to Kyle, a tourist world holding a festival celebrating life and death with all these creatures in the sky mating and being fought over and eaten (not unlike krill and larger predators in the sea), while on the ground hucksters tout VR torture and sex: “Hey, you there! Want to know what it’s like to be burned to death? Full-sense feelies give you the thrill of a lifetime! Genuine recordings of impalement, live-burial, flaying, dismemberment and many more. Sixteen different types of torture! You feel it, sense it, know what it’s like. Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!”
Dumarest is there earning a pittance by fighting people for entertainment. When his sadistic fighter partner Nada suggests pairing up with him, he refuses, quits the business, and runs into a monk of the (possibly benevolent) Universal Brotherhood who arranges for him to escort a strange silver-haired, long-necked aristocratic young woman called Lady Derai of House Caldor to her homeworld, Hive. Dumarest reckons that Derai’s fears that someone is trying to kill her are mere paranoia and takes the job because he wants to go to Hive anyway and because his pay will be two expensive High space travel tickets. He soon discovers that Derai is a telepath (a handy ability for gambling) and that she and he are falling in love.
On Hive, Tubb introduces more point of view characters: Derai’s bastard half-brother Blaine (musing about the fate by which their father didn’t marry his mother but did marry hers and about how the suitable motto of their House, “the Grasping Hand”); her uncle Emil (wanting to keep Derai under wraps to exploit her telepathy in the service of the House commerce in a jelly called ambrosaria made by mutated super bees); her cousin Ustar (a real aristo piece of work, sadistic, spoiled, entitled, and reckoning that he’ll marry Derai and control the House); the Old Man (the House patriarch kept alive on ambrosaria as a rotting vegetative bag of guts); and Regor (the House cyber, a creepy robotic man really working for “The power of central intelligence, the tremendous cybernetic complex which was the mind and heart of the Cyclan,” which wants to rule the human galaxy). Oh, and, for the first time in the series, a person of color, Yamay, a shrewd black businessman who’ll help Dumarest as far as it’ll be profitable for him (and maybe a little farther).
*Although Tubb has started introducing characters of color into his saga, he still isn’t writing LGBTQ characters (although Blaine perhaps leans a LITTLE that way vis-à-vis Dumarest).
The story is a compact, lurid, page turning, fast moving, interesting, unpredictable, pulpy space opera. It will soon have Dumarest et al traveling to a third world to participate in a deadly competition reminiscent of a Hunger Games for adults.
Here is a neat cover to the book by Bilal (more accurate than the one Goodreads offers):
Neither young nor old, Dumarest is a tall and handsome loner who’s visited multiple worlds on his quest for his homeworld, the mythical Earth, which he knows is a blasted world with some life surviving underground, while people he asks about it often respond, “Earth? Every world has earth!” He’s not a superman, being capable of making mistakes and getting injured, but he’s fast, ruthless, clever, cool, compassionate, reliable, and aware.
Belonging to the less is more ethos of the late 1960s and early 1970s sf publishing world, the novel has some neat sf writing:
“He [Regor] became a living part of an organism which stretched across the galaxy in an infinity of crystalline sparkles, each the glowing nexus of naked intelligence. A skein of misty light connected the whole so that it seemed to be a shifting kaleidoscope of brilliance and form. He saw it and at the same time was a part of it, sharing and yet owning the incredible gestalt of minds.”
Tubb writes some cool dialogue featuring the dry Dumarest:
‘Finish your wine,’ said Dumarest, ‘and learn something: trouble does not vanish because you run away from it.’
All that said, he can also write some corny and or stilted dialogue:
“‘Eat, My Lady,’ he said curtly. Didn’t she realise the importance of food? ‘Eat,’ he said again, his tone more gentle. ‘It will do you good.’
‘My name is Derai. Yours is Earl. Must we be so formal?’”
There is some sixties sexism and too much of the hero (ala James Bond, Conan, and Captain Kirk) being too irresistible to women while not needing to end up tied down: “I like to keep moving.” The fragile Derai is dependent on Earl and given to nightmares and fears. “‘You are a strange man,’ she murmured. ‘I have never met anyone like you before. With you I could be a real woman—you have strength enough for us both.” Earl says brusque things to her like “Stop acting like a child.” She is another woman (like the Matriarch’s ward in the first novel) who lacks experience with the realities of life for the majority of people.
Tubb’s bete noirs are cruel aristocrats like Ustar and cybers like Regor. He favors practical, hardworking, smart, outsider types like Yamay and Dumarest.
Tubb’s vision is grim. Of the three worlds here, Kyle, Hive, and Folgone, none are any kind of utopia or arcadia. “Folgone was a bleak place, a world of ice and frozen gases, the single planet of a white dwarf star. The surface was sterile; what life existed was buried deep in gigantic caverns lit and warmed by radioactive elements … a sealed prison of a world from which there could be no unauthorised escape.”
Of the characters, many are vile, and the relatively decent ones, like a few who get close to Dumarest, are unsafe. And there are plenty of bleak insights into human nature:
“‘When are you going to learn that subconscious thoughts have nothing to do with intended action? We are all of us beasts,’ he added. ‘Most of us learn to correctly judge what we see and hear.’ It was a lesson he had tried to teach her during the entire journey. He’d had little success.”
I am liking the Dumarest books plenty and will soon forge on to the third--
December 21, 2008
My rating of this book shows me to be a bit of a hypocrite... I recently criticised Chosen by Jerry Ibbotson for not bringing anything new to the table, and for being a little humourless, and here I am giving this book four stars (and very nearly five) despite there being barely a single word or idea in it that was new to me, and certainly nothing that made me crack anything other than a wry smile.
The difference I guess is that this kind of space adventure is my absolute favourite kind of book, and E.C. Tubb nails it on the head. Even if you've eaten a hundred chocolate biscuits before, the next one looks just as nice. This kind of stuff is my comfort food...
The difference I guess is that this kind of space adventure is my absolute favourite kind of book, and E.C. Tubb nails it on the head. Even if you've eaten a hundred chocolate biscuits before, the next one looks just as nice. This kind of stuff is my comfort food...
October 19, 2023
I just read this one, along with the first in the Dumarest series, over the past weekend, and I was impressed.
It's a 60s "pulp" sci-fi classic, and it's actually pretty good for what it is.
I bought the two first novels in this series in an old Ace Double edition because I've become obsessed with the Ace Double publications and have begun to collect them. I didn't expect to like these novels because everything I'd read about them pointed to them being cheesy, formulaic, and shallow. I guess they were a bit of each of those things, but I seriously enjoyed both of them. Sometimes you just have to pick up a cheesy, formulaic, and shallow genre novel or watch a cheesy, formulaic, shallow genre movie. Those are a good choice sometimes. As a high school teacher and an avid reader, I need intellectually low-stakes reading during the school year, so this one was a great choice. Still, it isn't without depth. It isn't Faulkner, or even P.K. Dick, but it's thought-provoking enough to scratch that itch without being too taxing after a long, intellectually exhausting day of teaching and grading.
I actually enjoyed this novel a bit more than the first one. That may be because I accidentally read them out of order, so this was my first exposure to the character, the world, and the prose of E.C. Tubb. He's a more than competent writer, and the story did a good job of delving into the classic space opera tropes without going too far out.
Be aware, the book is a bit outdated. There isn't anything hateful or bigoted in the story, but it's narrow in representation, and the romantic situations are explicitly heteronormative. To be honest, the romantic subplot felt pretty forced and was my least favorite part, but I read it as a piece from its time, and none of these things got in my way, maybe because I grew up in the 70s.
4.75 stars out of 5 stars, so I have to round it up.
It's a 60s "pulp" sci-fi classic, and it's actually pretty good for what it is.
I bought the two first novels in this series in an old Ace Double edition because I've become obsessed with the Ace Double publications and have begun to collect them. I didn't expect to like these novels because everything I'd read about them pointed to them being cheesy, formulaic, and shallow. I guess they were a bit of each of those things, but I seriously enjoyed both of them. Sometimes you just have to pick up a cheesy, formulaic, and shallow genre novel or watch a cheesy, formulaic, shallow genre movie. Those are a good choice sometimes. As a high school teacher and an avid reader, I need intellectually low-stakes reading during the school year, so this one was a great choice. Still, it isn't without depth. It isn't Faulkner, or even P.K. Dick, but it's thought-provoking enough to scratch that itch without being too taxing after a long, intellectually exhausting day of teaching and grading.
I actually enjoyed this novel a bit more than the first one. That may be because I accidentally read them out of order, so this was my first exposure to the character, the world, and the prose of E.C. Tubb. He's a more than competent writer, and the story did a good job of delving into the classic space opera tropes without going too far out.
Be aware, the book is a bit outdated. There isn't anything hateful or bigoted in the story, but it's narrow in representation, and the romantic situations are explicitly heteronormative. To be honest, the romantic subplot felt pretty forced and was my least favorite part, but I read it as a piece from its time, and none of these things got in my way, maybe because I grew up in the 70s.
4.75 stars out of 5 stars, so I have to round it up.
Read
July 30, 2017Still on my Dumarest journey.
I want to give this 3.5 stars. Showed a human side to Earl I didn't know he could ever have, so, there's that.
Not so much sci-fi as the first one ( Winds Of Gath), but still adventurous enough.
I suspect Cyclan is actually Earth, but, please, goodreaders, no spoilers. Still got 31 more books to go.
Meanwhile! EC Tubbs repeats like mad, lazy old lovable coot. I read Toyman (book 3) first about 15 or 20 years ago. So, when reading Book 1, Winds Of Gath for the first time last month, there was a scene where the cyber there contacted Cyclan via mental power...and the scene seemed so familiar to me! Imagine my surprise on reading Book 2, and seeing the exact same process described as another cyber contacted Cyclan! I'll paste the passages here soon.
All in all, I enjoyed myself. I wasn't expecting much, just wanted to have some harmless old-school fun, and I got it. Looking forward to buying the next book, Toyman, the book that started it all for me some 15 to 20 years ago.
Meanwhile, how do I place a picture here??
I want to give this 3.5 stars. Showed a human side to Earl I didn't know he could ever have, so, there's that.
Not so much sci-fi as the first one ( Winds Of Gath), but still adventurous enough.
I suspect Cyclan is actually Earth, but, please, goodreaders, no spoilers. Still got 31 more books to go.
Meanwhile! EC Tubbs repeats like mad, lazy old lovable coot. I read Toyman (book 3) first about 15 or 20 years ago. So, when reading Book 1, Winds Of Gath for the first time last month, there was a scene where the cyber there contacted Cyclan via mental power...and the scene seemed so familiar to me! Imagine my surprise on reading Book 2, and seeing the exact same process described as another cyber contacted Cyclan! I'll paste the passages here soon.
All in all, I enjoyed myself. I wasn't expecting much, just wanted to have some harmless old-school fun, and I got it. Looking forward to buying the next book, Toyman, the book that started it all for me some 15 to 20 years ago.
August 16, 2024
“Derai” by E. C. Tubb (1968)
Overall Rating 7/10 – You read my mind!
Plot
Our protagonist, Earl Dumarest, finds himself escorting a beautiful telepath back to her home world that she had recently fled from. But, in doing so, he finds himself entangled within a distant world’s politics. A problem that becomes more convoluted when the telepath falls in love with him …
Writing Style
Easy, flowing sentences. The occasional loss of fluidity. An occasional spattering of obscure words
Very modern style. Quite easy to watch the film unfold in your head as you read the words.
Point of View/Voice
Written in the 3rd Person / Past Tense (standard convention)
Critique
This is the second E. C. Tubb novel I have read and it was quite different from the first one (Moon Base). I was still offered a very modern writing style (no longer a surprise as I had experienced it previously) and that was all to the good. However, I struggled to stay focused with this book as the plot jumped around like a feral flying flea. Add to that, confusion as to who the characters were (trying to remember so much while casting yourself onto a trampoline can be challenging) and you find yourself wondering what on Earth is going on. Well, not on ”Earth” since the novel is set in a distant Cosmos.
Whilst we are talking about “Earth”, the book is part of a series where the protagonist is on an adventure to find Earth. I obviously have not read the last book in the series and don’t know if the poor bugger actually makes it or not.
Notwithstanding the confuddledness I encountered reading this book, I will be reading some more of the series and, definitely, more of the author.
Overall Rating 7/10 – You read my mind!
Plot
Our protagonist, Earl Dumarest, finds himself escorting a beautiful telepath back to her home world that she had recently fled from. But, in doing so, he finds himself entangled within a distant world’s politics. A problem that becomes more convoluted when the telepath falls in love with him …
Writing Style
Easy, flowing sentences. The occasional loss of fluidity. An occasional spattering of obscure words
Very modern style. Quite easy to watch the film unfold in your head as you read the words.
Point of View/Voice
Written in the 3rd Person / Past Tense (standard convention)
Critique
This is the second E. C. Tubb novel I have read and it was quite different from the first one (Moon Base). I was still offered a very modern writing style (no longer a surprise as I had experienced it previously) and that was all to the good. However, I struggled to stay focused with this book as the plot jumped around like a feral flying flea. Add to that, confusion as to who the characters were (trying to remember so much while casting yourself onto a trampoline can be challenging) and you find yourself wondering what on Earth is going on. Well, not on ”Earth” since the novel is set in a distant Cosmos.
Whilst we are talking about “Earth”, the book is part of a series where the protagonist is on an adventure to find Earth. I obviously have not read the last book in the series and don’t know if the poor bugger actually makes it or not.
Notwithstanding the confuddledness I encountered reading this book, I will be reading some more of the series and, definitely, more of the author.
May 18, 2018
Two books in, and I'm still loving this series. In this one, Dumarest is hired as an escort for Derai, a young aristocrat from the backwater planet Hive who is on the run from her family - who may or may not want her dead - and from the sinister Cyclan, who are after her for her telepathic abilities. Dumarest falls once more into the Han Solo trap. He just wants to do the job and get paid, but can't help getting sucked in deeper than he means to.
There was a style of TV show from the 60s to the 80s such as Have Gun, Will Travel; Kung Fu; The A-Team; The Incredible Hulk, in which a stranger walks into town, takes a job, ends up helping someone out of a problem, then wanders off into the sunset. The Dumarest series is very much like a space operatic version of that show, as if it were written by the likes of Mike Resnick, Jack Chalker, and Fred Saberhagen. Knowing that there are 30 more of these to go I worry a little about formula setting in, but it's early days yet and Dumarest kicks ass.
There was a style of TV show from the 60s to the 80s such as Have Gun, Will Travel; Kung Fu; The A-Team; The Incredible Hulk, in which a stranger walks into town, takes a job, ends up helping someone out of a problem, then wanders off into the sunset. The Dumarest series is very much like a space operatic version of that show, as if it were written by the likes of Mike Resnick, Jack Chalker, and Fred Saberhagen. Knowing that there are 30 more of these to go I worry a little about formula setting in, but it's early days yet and Dumarest kicks ass.
December 24, 2023
Not so hot on the heels of (finally) reading Book 1, I've smashed out Book 2, Derai, and traveller Dumarest finds himself in another bind with a rich telepath who falls in love with him and Earl gets his broke arse dragged in to rich folks' problems.
There's really not a whole lot of sci-fi happening in this series to date, this volume far less than the first, apart from it being something of a decorative backdrop to a story that seems to echo elements of Dune mixed with a liberal dose of tropes for good measure. I thought about halfweay through reading this that I would likely have more fun continuing on reading the Burroughs Warlord of Mars series (which I dropped after the first 3 books). I mean, I was really looking for a bit of a winddown read for the year, but I could probably dig a bit deeper in to the shelf of shame for a better read. But this one was at hand, and it's a serviceable read.
On to Book 3! Because I'm a masochist, apparently...
There's really not a whole lot of sci-fi happening in this series to date, this volume far less than the first, apart from it being something of a decorative backdrop to a story that seems to echo elements of Dune mixed with a liberal dose of tropes for good measure. I thought about halfweay through reading this that I would likely have more fun continuing on reading the Burroughs Warlord of Mars series (which I dropped after the first 3 books). I mean, I was really looking for a bit of a winddown read for the year, but I could probably dig a bit deeper in to the shelf of shame for a better read. But this one was at hand, and it's a serviceable read.
On to Book 3! Because I'm a masochist, apparently...
July 18, 2024
I found this book better than the first one in the series, The Winds of Gath, despite the ending and the continuing questionable women characters. Mainly because despite the grimdark setting, there was more than one supporting character that wasn't completely selfish.
I started this series because of the influence it had on the Traveller RPG, and this book continues to emphasize elements that made it into that game, including psionics and feudalism in space.
So, about that ending:
I started this series because of the influence it had on the Traveller RPG, and this book continues to emphasize elements that made it into that game, including psionics and feudalism in space.
So, about that ending:
January 24, 2018
Dumarest escorts a fragile little lady to her home planet Hive. Which, surprise, surprise, is ruled by eleven families. A feudal society. She is a telepath and as such the object of interest for the Cyclan. Of course, she falls in love with Earl and he with her, we are led to believe.
He first escapes the attack of the mutant killer bees then he follows Derai and her family to another planet where the patriarch of the family is supposed to get thousand years of subjective dream bliss. Not without a fight for life and death.
Dumarest survives, girl dies. Dumarest moves on.
Part 2 of the saga without affinity twin. But nice enough.
He first escapes the attack of the mutant killer bees then he follows Derai and her family to another planet where the patriarch of the family is supposed to get thousand years of subjective dream bliss. Not without a fight for life and death.
Dumarest survives, girl dies. Dumarest moves on.
Part 2 of the saga without affinity twin. But nice enough.
December 17, 2020
The second book of the Dumarest Saga sees Earl travel across three planets, in a near-breathless story that suffers for the book's brevity. What could have been a big set piece is brushed over as we see Earl enter a competition and come out the other side with hardly a mention of what happens during.
At the same time, we get to see that it's not all adventure in Earl's travels. We know he has been to more worlds since leaving Gath, presumably with not enough happening to make a book out of them. We also meet more characters from his past, at least one of whom is willing to die for the charismatic hero.
Worse, Dumarest suffers his first loss of a loved one in the series.
At the same time, we get to see that it's not all adventure in Earl's travels. We know he has been to more worlds since leaving Gath, presumably with not enough happening to make a book out of them. We also meet more characters from his past, at least one of whom is willing to die for the charismatic hero.
Worse, Dumarest suffers his first loss of a loved one in the series.
April 26, 2020
My favorite write is Vance. Especially his stories about space-travelers are enjoyed. But Tubb also has a good knack of writing in this genre. This series is about Dumarest, a space traveler going from planet to planet to find his original home, planet Earth. I like the descriptions of the planets, cultures and habits he encounters. All imaginations of Tubb.
This is #2 in the series of 32 where he encounters Derai from the planet Hive. She is a telepath and the love of his life. But, as you can imagine, this will not last. Otherwise his space-traveling days are over.
This is #2 in the series of 32 where he encounters Derai from the planet Hive. She is a telepath and the love of his life. But, as you can imagine, this will not last. Otherwise his space-traveling days are over.
April 1, 2021
Dumarest is hired by Derai as her bodyguard. Derai is a telepath and also royalty. She has been afraid all her life and finally with Dumarest she feels safe. It appears she finds the mind of Earl Dumarest much more straightforward than most others in a world of schemers out for what they can get. Dumarest is in love and Derai finds an important clue. This is a quick read, 125 pages and the action compels one to just see what happens next.
May 31, 2022
A classic, some parts obvious.
E c tubb was a giant of the,science fiction community. Wrote under many names so he could have multiple stories in the pulps. These stories helped to inspire the traveller role playing game. I suggest buying and reading the six pack or gateway edition.
E c tubb was a giant of the,science fiction community. Wrote under many names so he could have multiple stories in the pulps. These stories helped to inspire the traveller role playing game. I suggest buying and reading the six pack or gateway edition.
October 6, 2024
I have no idea where the book cover relates to the story!! I see a lot of people have up with the 33 book series after this second instalment- to be fair it’s a big ask: like 70s Flash Gordon meets 60s Star Trek meets a Dune meets chaos. Basically Earl (it’s a first name not a noble title) must be the sexiest and hardest man in the galaxy.
April 8, 2020
My kingdom for pulp that knows what it is. A fast pace, compelling world-building and a large ensemble of characters make up for the sometimes iffy prose. It's a fast, fun read and that's what you want when you pick up a book like this.
September 21, 2022
Entertaining enough, but doesn't persuade me to keep going with the absurdly long Dumarest series for the long haul. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
February 18, 2018
Fun novel with bit of intrigue. Dated very well. Enjoyed the main character Ear! ;)
April 18, 2019
Much too similar to the last one.
February 2, 2021
I liked this book, but it is too short. Would liked to have learnt more about the history of the characters and locations.
November 28, 2022
Not as inspired as its predecessor, but even if the central ideas aren't as arresting, they're far from bad, and the details are still competently relayed.
February 22, 2023
Afraid it was not good enough to convince me in continuing with the series (as I was initially planning): it shows its age too much to make it worthwhile.
February 23, 2014
‘Still driven by his search for Man’s fabled birthplace, Earl Dumarest accepts a commission to guard the Lady Derai, heiress to the proud House of Caldor on the feudal world of Hive.
On Derai’s home planet Dumarest had hoped to meet a living witness to to Earth. But instead he finds himself in the list of the deadly Contest on Folgone – with the Lady of Caldor as prize.
And on Folgone, for the first time, Dumarest confronts the Cybers, ruthless, emotionless tools of a great Gestalt which holds the mighty of the universe in its grip – a power which may yet provide him with the key to his quest for Earth.’
Blurb from the 1976 Arrow paperback edition
Dumarest is commissioned as bodyguard and escort to Derai, a daughter of Calder, one of the ruling families of the planet Hive.
Dumarest, on the journey to Hive, where he hopes to find someone who has a clue to the location of Earth, deduces that Derai is telepathic. Upon arrival, he becomes involved, against his better judgement, in Derai’s family politics. Her great-great grandfather has been kept alive long beyond his years by the use of the royal jelly produced by the mutated bees of the planet. It is a resource rigorously controlled by a cabal of the Families. The grandfather, however, has become so transformed by the jelly that he can no longer communicate.
The Calder family had engaged a cyber of the sinister Cyclan, to advise them, but the Cyclan have ulterior motives. Their true objective is Derai, since the power of telepathy could be of enormous benefit to the emotionless cybernetic brotherhood.
The original Arrow paperbacks of the seventies had cover artwork which ranged from the adequate to the bizarre and, on one occasion, plagiaristic since the artwork was copied from Roger Dean’s cover for Steve Howe’s ‘Beginnings’ album. In this instance, Dumarest is portrayed in boots, skimpy undercrackers, a futuristic helmet and an unfeasibly large gun.
One wonders what demographic the publishers were aiming at.
Despite the misleading cover art and the rather populist nature of the series, the writing is solid and there is decent characterisation. Tubb takes a generally nihilistic view of Humanity, a species which has spread throughout the galaxy and yet is still driven by stupidity, cruelty, greed, pride and lust. The saga of Dumarest is filled with the tragic lives of those he meets along the way, and more often than not, his friends die.
Like Asimov’s Foundation universe, Tubb’s is refreshingly free of intelligent alien species, although alien fauna and flora abound. In ‘Derai’ we have the mutated bees as well as a large plant on the planet Folgone which grows six-foot pods in which a human can be sealed. The human, slowly digested by the plant, experiences a subjective thousand years of virtual fantasy existence and finally has his intelligence subsumed into the tree, still aware.
Tubb was a master of these little flourishes, adding a touch of spicy colour to his dark industrial gothic brew.
On Derai’s home planet Dumarest had hoped to meet a living witness to to Earth. But instead he finds himself in the list of the deadly Contest on Folgone – with the Lady of Caldor as prize.
And on Folgone, for the first time, Dumarest confronts the Cybers, ruthless, emotionless tools of a great Gestalt which holds the mighty of the universe in its grip – a power which may yet provide him with the key to his quest for Earth.’
Blurb from the 1976 Arrow paperback edition
Dumarest is commissioned as bodyguard and escort to Derai, a daughter of Calder, one of the ruling families of the planet Hive.
Dumarest, on the journey to Hive, where he hopes to find someone who has a clue to the location of Earth, deduces that Derai is telepathic. Upon arrival, he becomes involved, against his better judgement, in Derai’s family politics. Her great-great grandfather has been kept alive long beyond his years by the use of the royal jelly produced by the mutated bees of the planet. It is a resource rigorously controlled by a cabal of the Families. The grandfather, however, has become so transformed by the jelly that he can no longer communicate.
The Calder family had engaged a cyber of the sinister Cyclan, to advise them, but the Cyclan have ulterior motives. Their true objective is Derai, since the power of telepathy could be of enormous benefit to the emotionless cybernetic brotherhood.
The original Arrow paperbacks of the seventies had cover artwork which ranged from the adequate to the bizarre and, on one occasion, plagiaristic since the artwork was copied from Roger Dean’s cover for Steve Howe’s ‘Beginnings’ album. In this instance, Dumarest is portrayed in boots, skimpy undercrackers, a futuristic helmet and an unfeasibly large gun.
One wonders what demographic the publishers were aiming at.
Despite the misleading cover art and the rather populist nature of the series, the writing is solid and there is decent characterisation. Tubb takes a generally nihilistic view of Humanity, a species which has spread throughout the galaxy and yet is still driven by stupidity, cruelty, greed, pride and lust. The saga of Dumarest is filled with the tragic lives of those he meets along the way, and more often than not, his friends die.
Like Asimov’s Foundation universe, Tubb’s is refreshingly free of intelligent alien species, although alien fauna and flora abound. In ‘Derai’ we have the mutated bees as well as a large plant on the planet Folgone which grows six-foot pods in which a human can be sealed. The human, slowly digested by the plant, experiences a subjective thousand years of virtual fantasy existence and finally has his intelligence subsumed into the tree, still aware.
Tubb was a master of these little flourishes, adding a touch of spicy colour to his dark industrial gothic brew.
February 17, 2014
This book continues Dumarest's wanderings around the galaxy, still trying to find a way to get home. The ideas about the Cyclans mentioned in the first book (The Winds of Gath) are further developed in this book, hinting at some larger plan they have. This book explores not one but two new planets, showing their politics and specifics about their biology.
While I was not surprised that Derai fell in love with Dumarest (weak, helpless female being protected by a strong, principled male with no designs on her), I did find it rather less likely that he fell in love with her so quickly.
The ending tied things up in an expected fashion, leaving Dumarest free to continue his saga.
It's still solid space opera, and I'll be listening to the third book, Toyman, soon.
I received a copy of the audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
While I was not surprised that Derai fell in love with Dumarest (weak, helpless female being protected by a strong, principled male with no designs on her), I did find it rather less likely that he fell in love with her so quickly.
The ending tied things up in an expected fashion, leaving Dumarest free to continue his saga.
It's still solid space opera, and I'll be listening to the third book, Toyman, soon.
I received a copy of the audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 3, 2012
Earl Dumarest on his quest to find his home planet Earth takes on the job of escorting home a runaway noble girl who seems to be insane. For Dumarest, this seems to be an easy, lucrative job that will bring him one step closer to his goal, but things don't turn out as neat as expected.
Read more
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June 9, 2013
A bit more split up than some of the later books. It also doesn't come across as well when almost every major plot point (dangerous prospecting, a royal family, a maze of death, a mysterious and troubled girl) is used with more detail in later books (#5, #5, #7, and #9, respectively).
September 22, 2013
Good ol' vintage Sci-Fi, I fear I have been consuming too many of these books recently.
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