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sfian's review
adventurous
fast-paced
4.0
In much the same way that Ian Fleming (or, arguably, the producers of the Craig version of Casino Royale) made a game of poker exciting for those of us who don't understand the game of poker, here Tubb makes future stock-exchange dealings tense for those of us who don't trade.
I'm not sure I fully understood what was going on in the penultimate chapter - perhaps because Tubb did some hand-waving around the book's financial background - but I flew through as I eventualy would the final chapter action scene.
A quieter, smaller scale adventure for Dumarest. Yes, there are set pieces, but the once-obligatory knife fight has gone, as has the death of many minor (and sometimes not-so) characters, as Earl gets closer to his goal and the Cyclan get closer to Earl...
bookcrazylady45's review
3.0
So much hopelessness. Always such pitiful men at the end of their rope and no help in sight. Always a strong friend who could become an enemy, always a beautiful woman who helps but betrays and frequently dies. Always a book or artifact with the clue to home, almost within touching distance and then through error, misfortune, insanity, greed, destruction...the chance to see and know is lost. Another new twist and interesting world and how he fits in and manipulates it, gains ship fare and escapes his dread enemy and leaves woman and friend behind.
sirchutney's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Earl Dumarest continues to follows false trails as he searches to find the legendary and long lost planet called Earth.
This is the 24th book in the 'Dumarest of Terra' series of science fiction novels. The planet in this book possessed two unique elements. One was it produced the galaxy’s most desirable hallucinatory drug. The other was it was a stock broker’s paradise.
The world was split into affluent men’s holdings – and every hour, every minute these were being traded on a continuous stock-market. Up and down went values as men plotted to seize others’ properties, to force prices down and costs up. Their money game controlled everything else – the common people, workers, farmers, homes, lives, poverty and luxury.
Dumarest goes 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.
Another good pulp science fiction story in the long running saga.
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