As good as I remembered and leaves me eager for the next one. First time I read this was 1969 and many times thereafter. A fabulous series. ( )

I read the first novel in the 'Dumarest of Terra' series last year. I enjoyed 'Winds of Gath' but did not have the second volume.

In 'Derai' Earl Dumarest continues to search for 'Earth' moving through 2 new planets, hooking up with another couple of cute gals, dealing with treachery and the evil Cybers of the Cyclan en-route.

It is a formula. Does this mean it is bad? NO

The books are short and the pace moves along quickly. This is refreshing compared to the 900 page slabs some SF authors churn out these days.

2 Down 31 more to go.

4 Stars awarded for Fun Science Fiction Adventure. ( )

See The Winds of Gath. ( )

For my money, the Dumarest Saga of E.C. Tubb ranks up there as one of the best science fiction series written in English.

Set in the far distant future, when mankind has spread across the galaxy, they feature the inimitable Earl Dumarest, a man with lightning fast reflexes who is forever trying to find the home world he fled as a child and has long since lost: Earth.

The galaxy he travels through is a hard, deadly place for a man with no affiliations and little money. Tubb pulls no punches in his depictions of the many harsh, hellish worlds and people whom Dumarest encounters, and invariably survives, if only just, during his quest.

Perhaps one of the best things about this series (which consists of some 32 books) is that each book is short, with no unnecessary padding; they're generally between 150 and 190 pages long. So they're a reasonably quick read, too.

I recommend reading all books in the series, preferably in the intended order. If you can, though, avoid the Arrow Books editions - the cover illustrations are, to put it simply, the pits. The artists clearly had never read the books, or if they did, didn't bother to note down a lot of details about the scenes they chose to portray in these illustrations, e.g. clothing, weaponry, etc. Shame on Arrow Books for using such second-class amateurs.

Did I mention? Unlike the seemingly interminable Wheel of Time series of Robert Jordan, or the never-ending Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson - both of which I find way too verbose, i.e. a lot of words pass by without very much happening - the Dumarest Saga has an actual ending - in volume 32, The Return, Dumarest finds his way home! ( )

Wow this book cost me 50p..new ( )