The Winds of Gath: The Dumarest Saga Book 1
Contents:
The Lost Child of Lychford. A Long Day in Lychford. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? A Closed and Common Orbit. A Conjuring of Light. The Book of Dust: The Rise and Fall of D. The Dumarest eBook Collection. Spectrum of a Forgotten Sun. The Temple of Truth. The Jester at Scar. Eye of the Zodiac. A Science Fiction Tale. Galaxy of the Lost.
Slave Ship from Sergan. The Ghosts of Epidoris. The Eater of Worlds. Enemy of the State: Century of the Manikin. Science Fiction Mystery Tales. Fifty Days to Doom. City of No Return.
Death is a Dream. Dumarest was born on Earth, but had stowed away on a spaceship when he was a young boy and was caught. Although a stowaway discovered on a spaceship was typically ejected to space, the captain took pity on the boy and allowed him to work and travel on the ship. When the story opens in The Winds of Gath , Dumarest has traveled so long and so far that he does not know how to return to his home planet and no-one has ever heard of it, other than as a myth or legend. It becomes clear that someone or something has deliberately concealed Earth's location. The Cyclan, an organization of humans surgically altered to be emotionless known as Cybers , and on occasion able to link with the brains of previously living Cybers the better to think logically , seem determined to stop him from finding Earth.
Gath, like Mercury, does not revolve on its axis and possesses only the ribbon-like strip of habitable land between the sun-scorched side and the dark frozen side. Like Herbert, Tubb balances the almost medieval feudal with the futuristic. It's still entertaining enough, and the book is a quick read. Talk Not At All. No, cancel Yes, report it Thanks! A strong dislike for small-minded assholes. Earl Dumarest had stowed away on a ship leaving Earth at ten years of age.
Additionally, the Cyclan seeks a scientific discovery that Dumarest possesses, stolen from them and passed to him by a dying thief, which would vastly increase their already considerable power. Also appearing in many of the books is the humanitarian Church of Universal Brotherhood. Its monks are spread throughout many worlds as are the Cyclan, the two being arch-enemies - which does not make the Church Dumarest's ally, but in some instances they support each other.
Earl Dumarest, the protagonist of the series, is a galactic adventurer, sometime bodyguard, mercenary, gladiator, prospector, hunter, gambler and starship jack of all trades. Dumarest, as he is most often referred to in the books, is on a quest to return to the lost planet of his birth amongst the diverse and disparate worlds of the milky way galaxy.
His home planet is Earth. In all of the books the notion of there being a planet called Earth is laughable to most of the people he meets, and for those who have heard the name, it is only as a myth from the deep past often referred to alongside gamblers' paradises such as Jackpot , Bonanza and the mythical El Dorado. The Cyclan are a widespread organization dedicated to bringing order to the galaxy by means of pure logic.
Their primary agents, Cybers, are trained from childhood in countless mental disciplines involving mathematics and reasoning, and are modified at puberty to be unable to experience any emotion. These implants enable each Cyber to enter a trance-like state which enables instantaneous communication with the Cyclan central intelligence, even over interstellar distances.
This central intelligence is a gestalt organism consisting of the disembodied minds of former Cybers whose mental prowess has been demonstrated to be of value but whose bodies have grown too old to continue functioning. The ultimate reward to which all Cybers aspire is to be incorporated into the central intelligence. For these reasons, Cybers have an uncanny ability to extrapolate future events from existing data, and are highly prized and highly paid as advisors to rulers across the galaxy. A strong dislike for small-minded assholes.
The ability to keep his mouth shut. The ability to recognize an enemy. The ability to please a woman. A galaxy full of them! But do not take Earl Dumarest for a typical starship-hopping Lothario; indeed, he loves them all! But the love of Dumarest is, for many, the Kiss of Death. Rare is the woman who survives at the end of the tale. Often they are double agents, agents who will find Earl's loving ways to be anathema to their deceit, and in the end, will give him their secrets Or they are adventurers and travelers themselves, and see in Earl a kindred spirit, and so come to his aid.
And sometimes they are maidens in need of a rescuer - a role custom-made for Dumarest! No matter the nature of the lady in question, they will fall for Earl's manly charms. Gentleman Earl will also fall in love, a deep and abiding love, one that would end his quest, far from Earth, in the arms of a loving companion Each novel features a uniquely enchanging woman; yet no woman is destined to love Earl beyond novel's end.
The Earl Dumarest Saga is a long one - it includes over 30 novels, written over the course of 40 years! They feature fun stuff like deadly arena fights, races to the death, a sentient planet, a cyborg cult. The writing is tight, never self-indulgent, and reminiscent of Jack Vance at his driest.
Earl himself is a man's man, good in a fight, good in a hunt, good in the sack - and always respectful of women. He's no James Bond; he is is a cruelty-free Everyman, although a far more studly and competent version. You can read one of these 70s-style, quasi-pulp Earl Dumarest novels in maybe a couple hours or so. They are a lot of fun! View all 10 comments. The Dumarest novels were a fixture in the secondhand bookshops of my youth. However, where advent The Dumarest novels were a fixture in the secondhand bookshops of my youth.
However, where adventuring, political intrigues, and world-building are concerned, this is a pretty satisfying tale. Feb 22, Jared Millet rated it really liked it Shelves: There were two problems: But lo and behold, some kind soul of a publisher released them all as cheap ebooks! Well, here we go.
Dumarest saga
The first book begins with Dumarest at a dead end on the planet Gath. Oct 13, Angus McKeogh rated it it was ok. But this is the short first novel in a series of something plus books following a space traveler trying to return to Earth. The first chapter was in this vein, then a corny almost fantasy novel follows in all the successive chapters, excepting the final few paragraphs that refer to the initial narrative again.
Apart from the Perry Rhodan series, this may well qualify as the longest literary Space Opera of the Twentieth Century, at once both generally unrecognised and under-rated, it comprises of some 31 volumes published at roughly six-monthly intervals between and , with a further two volumes published in and Dumarest is a seasoned fighter with lightning responses, working his passage around a galaxy of thousands of planets, attempting to return to the planet he ran away from as a Apart from the Perry Rhodan series, this may well qualify as the longest literary Space Opera of the Twentieth Century, at once both generally unrecognised and under-rated, it comprises of some 31 volumes published at roughly six-monthly intervals between and , with a further two volumes published in and Dumarest is a seasoned fighter with lightning responses, working his passage around a galaxy of thousands of planets, attempting to return to the planet he ran away from as a child: Earth however, so everyone believes, is a myth, but Dumarest picks up clues on his long journey, along with a secret which could put the Cyclan - a ruthless semi-religious brotherhood of scarlet-robed human computers who have had all their emotions suppressed in order to maximise the efficiency of their minds - in complete control of the Galaxy.
The environments and societies are unremittingly bleak, controlled by exploitative corporate or feudal regimes, well-realised if a little romantic in style. The books are episodic and tend to become repetitive. Dumarest, for instance, is inevitably romantically pursued by unfeasibly beautiful women and on at least one occasion by a man while being pursued for quite different reasons by the agents of the Cyclan, who are more often than not despatched efficiently at the end of each book by our hero. Thus, Dumarest is driven on, both by the object of his search, and the pursuit by his enemies.
Frustratingly, the saga was not concluded until with the final volume 'Child of Earth' not long before Tubb's death in It would make a good TV series. Certainly I always had a soft spot for the agents of the Cyclan who not only make excellent and dangerous adversaries but have fabulous scarlet robes. The Cyclan are dedicated to statistics, facts, analysis, deduction and prediction, which is how they are often able to deduce Dumarest's most probable location.
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They are the wicked Sherlock Holmes's of Space, the Evil Accountants of Satan, implanted with cybernetic links which, when they place themselves in deep trance, put them in communion with the rulers of the Brotherhood; a gestalt of disembodied brains from retired Cyclan agents, hidden deep below ground on a secret planet. It doesn't take the powers of the Cyclan to deduce fairly early on in the series that the secret home-world of the Cyclan is Earth.
While travelling frozen, his starship is commandeered by the Matriarch of Kund and her entourage, who charter the ship to take them to Gath. Gath, like Mercury, does not revolve on its axis and possesses only the ribbon-like strip of habitable land between the sun-scorched side and the dark frozen side. At the time of the famous storms, a geological formation in the mountains causes the wind to produce sounds which register on the human brain as the voices of the dead.
Dumarest gets himself unwillingly involved in the politics between the Matriarch and a sadistic spoiled prince of another planetary dynasty, just as everyone is joining the journey to the mountains to experience the voices of the storm. Like Herbert, Tubb balances the almost medieval feudal with the futuristic. Dec 30, Rob Thompson rated it really liked it Shelves: Dumarest of Terra is a volume series of science fiction novels by Edwin Charles Tubb. Each story is a self-contained adventure, but throughout the series, Earl Dumarest, the protagonist, searches for clues to the location of his home world, Earth.
Dumarest is a galactic adventurer, sometime bodyguard, mercenary, gladiator, prospector, hunter, gambler and starship jack of all trades. Dumarest, as he is most often referred to in the books, is on a quest to return to the lost planet of his birth Dumarest of Terra is a volume series of science fiction novels by Edwin Charles Tubb. Dumarest, as he is most often referred to in the books, is on a quest to return to the lost planet of his birth amongst the diverse and disparate worlds of the milky way galaxy.
His home planet is Earth. In all of the books the notion of there being a planet called Earth is laughable to most of the people he meets, and for those who have heard the name, it is only as a myth from the deep past The stories are set in a far future galactic culture that is fragmented and without any central government. Dumarest was born on Earth, but had stowed away on a spaceship when he was a young boy and was caught. Although a stowaway discovered on a spaceship was typically ejected to space, the captain took pity on the boy and allowed him to work and travel on the ship.
When the story opens in The Winds of Gath, Dumarest has traveled so long and so far that he does not know how to return to his home planet and no-one has ever heard of it, other than as a myth or legend.
It becomes clear that someone or something has deliberately concealed Earth's location. The Cyclan, an organization of humans surgically altered to be emotionless known as Cybers , and on occasion able to link with the brains of previously living Cybers the better to think logically , seem determined to stop him from finding Earth.
Additionally, the Cyclan seeks a scientific discovery that Dumarest possesses, stolen from them and passed to him by a dying thief, which would vastly increase their already considerable power. Also appearing in many of the books is the humanitarian Church of Universal Brotherhood.
Its monks are spread throughout many worlds as are the Cyclan, the two being arch-enemies - which does not make the Church Dumarest's ally, but in some instances they support each other. In this first book we are on Gath, a world with a unique tourist attraction. A mountain sized white noise amplifier.
With no indigenous economy other than the tourist slave labor trade Dumarest struggles to break free from this dead end world. Dumarest becomes attached to the retinue of the Matriarch of Kund and unwittingly finds himself embroiled in the vicious and complex political intrigues of the Matriarch's court. After some keen detective work from Dumarest and the ensuing deadly battle with the Cyclan, Dumarest prevails and escapes from the Backwater planet. A quick and exciting read, and while all of the 'rules' of the rest of the series are not quite in place, this first novel sets up the remainder of series nicely.
Aug 11, Charles rated it liked it Shelves: This is the first of the Dumarest series. It's not bad but some of the later ones are better, I thought. Jul 28, Nils Jeppe rated it liked it.
The Winds of Gath (Dumarest, book 1) by E C Tubb
This one is a tough one. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the whole "winds" mystery, and Winds of Gath also rubs my love for golden era science fiction just the right way. On the other hand calling the characters two-dimensional card-board cutouts would be doing an injustice to card-board cutouts.
The story itself also lacks depth; it's a pulp-ish concatenation of usually fairly random action sequences. It's still entertaining enough, and the book is a quick read. It doesn't get boring, but it d This one is a tough one. It doesn't get boring, but it does leave the reader with a bit of an "uh, so that was it? Even the main event - when the Winds of Gath rise - felt underwhelming. Since very little technology is described in detail, it has aged fairly well - it's really more an adventure novel than a science fiction novel in many way.
If you are into the "lone wanderer in space" type of fiction, then you'll enjoy this.