DUMAREST SAGA
5 primary works • 34 total works
Earl Dumarest, trans-galactic soldier of fortune, is still seeking his birthplace, the fabled planet Earth.
On the distant, decadent planet Dradea, he meets the mysterious, mutant woman Veruchia. She selected him from the gladiators' arena to become her servant. . . and more.
Soon, Dumarest discovers that she too is engaged in a quest - and that the fate of her planet hangs in the balance. Fascinated, compelled, he agrees to help her.
But then he must face bizarre perils which make the gladiatorial arena seem a haven of safety. . .
(First published 1973)
In the course of a continuing quest for his legendary birthplace, Earl Dumarest befriends a young man who says his home world was called Nerth.
New Earth, perhaps? Or even the original planet Dumarest seeks? He must find out.
And so Dumarest comes to Nerth - to discover that the Cyclan, his prime enemy in the cosmos, is already there . . . together with mysteries and terror that defy the imagination!
(First published 1975)
Earl Dumarest continues his desperate search for his birthplace, and seems to be coming close to the mythical planet Earth.
But his attention is temporarily diverted, as he is unexpectedly involved in a hunt for a nebulous ghost world in another galaxy.
It is rumoured that in this fabulous land lies the mysterious Castle of Heart's Desire, where every wish is fulfilled. If Dumarest can find it, then maybe - just maybe - he will be able to return to the planet of his birth.
(First published 1976)
On Angado's planet, there was a man who knew the whereabouts of the lost Earth. Earl Dumarest, born on Earth, longed to find the way home. Because they were comrades in arms, Angado would help Earl find that man - for a price.
For Angado was returning to a complex of high-tech cunning and high-wealth power . . . the prodigal son against whom all would plot. The Cyclan, who had put a fabulous price on Dumarest's head, were also closing in. But Dumarest was willing to stay to the bitter end - for the priceless reward of forgotten Terra.
(First published 1984)
Earls Dumarest's quest for his homeland - the legendary planet Earth - had been long and dangerous. Trekking across the galactic wastelands of the Milky Way, he had been pursued and hindered at every step by the deadly Cyclan.
Now, just as his search seems to be nearing its close, Dumarest is once again side-tracked - forced to lead an army for Zenya in the deadly feuds of the alien planet of Paiyar . . .
(First published 1974)
This collection brings together the first six titles in E. C. Tubb's epic SF saga, Dumarest, containing:
The Winds of Gath
Derai
Toyman
Kalin
The Jester at Scar
Lallia
The planet had two unique elements. One was that it produced the galaxy's most desirable hallucinatory drug. The other was that it was a stock broker's paradise.
The world was split into rich men's holdings - and every hour, every minute these were being traded on a continuous stock-market. Up and down went values as men conspired to seize others' properties, to push prices down and costs up. Their money game controlled everything else - the common people, workers, farmers, homes, lives, poverty and luxury . . .
Earl Dumarest went there to find his next stake. Find the drug-gem or manipulate the market - two possibilities. But behind the scenes stood the advisors of the inhuman Cyclan, determined to fix the odds against Dumarest . . .
(First published 1981)
"Welcome to the circus of Chen Wei! A spectacle of marvels culled from a thousand worlds! Things that will fill you with rapture!"
There could be little to surprise Dumarest. But Chen Wei's circus was special. It held Melome - the girl-child whose song could bring back forgotten data from the logs of lost spaceships and true visions of mythical Terra. She was surely the key to Dumarest's next step - but that circus was more than an entertainment. It was a deadly trap . . .
(First published 1983)
Only Earl Dumarest himself believed that there was ever a planet called Earth. He had been seeking it a long time - but nobody else at the crowded galactic centre believed in it. During his quest he had acquired some bits of information - a Terrestrial zodiac, and authentic painting of Luna, a general series of hints that he was getting closer.
The he learned of a man on Elysius who knew where Earth was, and who had the special coordinates that would take a starship directly to it. Though the man was dead, his widow knew where the data lay. But she demanded a price from Dumarest - a chore that involved a mining expedition which would bring her back a fortune . . . and for him the information he sought.
But the Terra Data would not be so easily come by!
(First published 1980)
Zabul was no ordinary world. It was a private religious sanctuary - location secret, visitors unwelcome. It was a world fanatically dedicated to one belief and to one goal. The belief that mankind originated on a single world . . . the goal was to find it.
To find Earth was a goal that Earl Dumarest shared. But how much did he really have in common with the zealot Terridae, who slept in caskets decorated with the zodiacs and dreamed of soaring towers of crystal and floating cities? And what were their despotic Guardians really after?
(First published 1981)
Many times, Dumarest's dream of Earth has almost cost him his life. As he journeys from world to world, restlessly moving outwards towards the edge of the galaxy where his goal lies, Dumarest must be alert, watchful. For there are new dangers - forces more powerful than man - which threaten his dream.
On a planet where violence and superstition hold sway, Dumarest forges a bond with the prophetess Kalin. And now, more than ever, he needs her.
Kalin. The mutant girl whose mysterious talent for seeing into the future has already saved him from Bloodtime on Logis, from space-disaster, from slavery on desolate Chron.
Kalin. Who can foretell the terrors yet to come.
(First published 1969)
There should have been soft breezes scented with entrancing perfumes, the soothing warmth of a golden sun, lakes of wine and mountains of grain, trees adorned with fruit and bud and flower, shrubs bearing a profusion of glittering gems. Herbs and spices to provide freedom from pain, a return to youthful zest, an end of aging and decay. Salves and ointments and natural fungi to cure all physical ills. . .
For this was Earth, that planet of legend, the paradise for which all yearned and hungered to find. The world of joy and beauty and riches beyond the wildest dreams.
Instead Earl Dumarest found a landscape of unremitting hostility. Could this really be the fabled home world for which he had spent his entire life searching . . . ?
(First published 2008)
Dumarest had learned in the hard school of experience and he came equipped with certain attributes. He had very fast reflexes, he carried a knife and knew how to use it, he wore travellers garb which, because of the metal mesh buried within the thermal plastic, gave him protection against the lash of a claw, the rip of thorns, the cut and thrust of edged weapons. Most important of all, he had an overriding determination to survive no matter what the cost.
On Gath this wasn't easy...
(First published 1997)
Earl Dumarest still seeks the mythical planet Earth . . . still roams alien and violent worlds. With him goes Mayenne, whose songs create joy and passion - or forgetfulness.
Together they are cast up on Tormyle, a planet from another galaxy; a planet unique throughout the Universe. For Tormyle is sentient - the most powerful intelligence in the Cosmos, constantly recreating itself.
Tormyle can be Paradise or Hell. Tormyle can manifest as a dragon or a knight on horseback, faceless behind the helmet. Tormyle understands nothing of humanity, of men and women, of emotion. And Tormyle will let no-one escape who cannot answer the unanswerable.
(First published 1973)