The tenth book in the Dumarest of Terra series by E.C. Tubb continues Earl Dumarest’s search for Earth, the all but forgotten planet of his birth.  My review of this one might be a bit odd and skewed, as I’ve been using it as my commute/travel book since May, and I’ve just recently finished it in November.  The book is only 159 pages long, but I’m also not commuting very often these days, as I work from home.

In spite of how long it took me to read, it’s actually a very fast reading book.  Tubb moves his plots along, with a good amount of action and typically not a lot of fat.  In a lot of ways, these books feel like reading films.  They’re more complex than a typical TV show episode, but not much more than a typical film, especially from the golden age of efficient genre films, the 1980s.

This time around, Earl gets into a bad situation pretty early on.  While recovering he befriends some odd folks who send up a lot of red flags.  Things go from bad to worse, and Earl finds himself honor bound to go and do something that seems pretty impossible.  There’s a cast of scuzzy and untrustworthy characters, some wild set pieces and strange cultures, and a couple twists and turns that you’ll likely not see coming.  I’ve said it before, but at least so far in this series, Tubb has managed to keep the books tonally familiar without feeling formulaic.

Though by no means as obvious and egregious as some of his contemporaries, Tubb does let some vague racism and misogyny leak in.  I’ve read worse.  Much worse.  But it’s here, and worth noting.  Again, I’d put it on par with a typical 1980s Hollywood action film, but not as bad as a James Bond film.

I’m speculating here, but it may border on spoilers, so beware of this paragraph if that’s important to you.  I’ve been thinking for the last couple of books that something big is going to have to happen soon.  It feels like Earl is getting very close to his goal.  Very close.  Yet I know that this is not quite a third of the way through the series.  I assume some big set-back must be ahead.  I thought it would happen in the last book. I really thought it would happen in this one.  I guess we’ll see in Zenya.  I’ve got a digital copy of that, but I’m not sure when I’ll spool it up.  Maybe in the new year. 

I enjoyed this one more than the previous book, Mayenne, but so far none have reached the heights of my favorite book in the series, Lallia.  Maybe next time.

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