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Pawn of the Omphalos
Very good +, as new, unread, a perfect copy with the exception of one tiny tear on top back cover. E.C. Tubb, a British writer who a giant of the sci-Fi genre.
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 12, 1980
20 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 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 19, 2022
I think reading this impulse buy from the used bookstore taught me that I don't much care for stories about gamblers. They tend to be gary-stu's, their knack with games of chance seeming to translate into a wondrous array of skills that show them to be the most admirable specimens of masculinity, enviable dare-devils with a keen eye to human behavior that lets them play others like fiddles.
Aside from the lead possessing this most eye-rolling of character resumes (along with an obnoxiously contrary attitude towards everything and everyone), the story was just baffling in its plot and direction, beginning as sci-fi, then very early on becoming fantasy - a genre shift I thought might be temporary, but in reality was the entirety of the book.
It's only saving grace, I think, was being short enough that I actually finished it.
Aside from the lead possessing this most eye-rolling of character resumes (along with an obnoxiously contrary attitude towards everything and everyone), the story was just baffling in its plot and direction, beginning as sci-fi, then very early on becoming fantasy - a genre shift I thought might be temporary, but in reality was the entirety of the book.
It's only saving grace, I think, was being short enough that I actually finished it.
September 21, 2015
Yawn of the Omphalos. What a boring and confusing turd of a novel. At first it is sci-fi then something happens and suddenly it's sword and sorcery with nary an explanation. The titular object is nothing more than a macguffin. This is like terrible Robert E. Howard
fanfic.
fanfic.
March 7, 2015
Read this as a teen and really enjoyed it. I have a feeling I would not enjoy it as much reading it again so many years later.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews