What do you think?
Rate this book
Dumarest of Terra #12
Eloise
Cyber Prime surveyed the domains of his vast scattered empire with trepidation. Central Intelligence had ruled the empire in the past. Now he knew that this gigantic computer was degenerating, breaking up after years of use.
Only one man could save them: Earl Dumarest, a lonely space traveller engaged on a long quest to find his birth planet, Earth. The Cybers must find and intercept him.
But before the Cybers discover Dumarest, they encounter Eloise, a beautiful seductress who drives logic from their minds . . .
Only one man could save them: Earl Dumarest, a lonely space traveller engaged on a long quest to find his birth planet, Earth. The Cybers must find and intercept him.
But before the Cybers discover Dumarest, they encounter Eloise, a beautiful seductress who drives logic from their minds . . .
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 18, 1975
7 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
E.C. Tubb
383 books85 followersEdwin Charles Tubb was a writer of science fiction, fantasy and western novels. He published over 140 novels and 230 short stories and novellas, and is best known for The Dumarest Saga (US collective title: Dumarest of Terra) an epic science-fiction saga set in the far future.
Much of Tubb's work has been written under pseudonyms including Gregory Kern, Carl Maddox, Alan Guthrie, Eric Storm and George Holt. He has used 58 pen names over five decades of writing although some of these were publishers' house names also used by other writers: Volsted Gridban (along with John Russell Fearn), Gill Hunt (with John Brunner and Dennis Hughes), King Lang (with George Hay and John W Jennison), Roy Sheldon (with H. J. Campbell) and Brian Shaw. Tubb's Charles Grey alias was solely his own and acquired a big following in the early 1950s.
An avid reader of pulp science-fiction and fantasy in his youth, Tubb found that he had a particular talent as a writer of stories in that genre when his short story 'No Short Cuts' was published in New Worlds magazine in 1951. He opted for a full-time career as a writer and soon became renowned for the speed and diversity of his output.
Tubb contributed to many of the science fiction magazines of the 1950s including Futuristic Science Stories, Science Fantasy, Nebula and Galaxy Science Fiction. He contributed heavily to Authentic Science Fiction editing the magazine for nearly two years, from February 1956 until it folded in October 1957. During this time, he found it so difficult to find good writers to contribute to the magazine, that he often wrote most of the stories himself under a variety of pseudonyms: one issue of Authentic was written entirely by Tubb, including the letters column.
His main work in the science fiction genre, the Dumarest series, appeared from 1967 to 1985, with two final volumes in 1997 and 2008. His second major series, the Cap Kennedy series, was written from 1973 to 1983.
In recent years Tubb updated many of his 1950s science fiction novels for 21st century readers.
Tubb was one of the co-founders of the British Science Fiction Association.
Much of Tubb's work has been written under pseudonyms including Gregory Kern, Carl Maddox, Alan Guthrie, Eric Storm and George Holt. He has used 58 pen names over five decades of writing although some of these were publishers' house names also used by other writers: Volsted Gridban (along with John Russell Fearn), Gill Hunt (with John Brunner and Dennis Hughes), King Lang (with George Hay and John W Jennison), Roy Sheldon (with H. J. Campbell) and Brian Shaw. Tubb's Charles Grey alias was solely his own and acquired a big following in the early 1950s.
An avid reader of pulp science-fiction and fantasy in his youth, Tubb found that he had a particular talent as a writer of stories in that genre when his short story 'No Short Cuts' was published in New Worlds magazine in 1951. He opted for a full-time career as a writer and soon became renowned for the speed and diversity of his output.
Tubb contributed to many of the science fiction magazines of the 1950s including Futuristic Science Stories, Science Fantasy, Nebula and Galaxy Science Fiction. He contributed heavily to Authentic Science Fiction editing the magazine for nearly two years, from February 1956 until it folded in October 1957. During this time, he found it so difficult to find good writers to contribute to the magazine, that he often wrote most of the stories himself under a variety of pseudonyms: one issue of Authentic was written entirely by Tubb, including the letters column.
His main work in the science fiction genre, the Dumarest series, appeared from 1967 to 1985, with two final volumes in 1997 and 2008. His second major series, the Cap Kennedy series, was written from 1973 to 1983.
In recent years Tubb updated many of his 1950s science fiction novels for 21st century readers.
Tubb was one of the co-founders of the British Science Fiction Association.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 5, 2022
what is the grim version of the word "madcap"? whatever that word is, it describes the Dumarest Saga as well as most of the novels in this series. Earl Dumarest's adventures take him to strange places, and in surprising ways; Tubb often suddenly truncates what appears to be a carefully set up narrative in one location so that Earl must quickly cope with an entirely new set of circumstances somewhere else. in this book, we move from broke down trader ship to desolate arctic waste to a city under the sway of control-freak robots. all courtesy of some kind of space-warp (depicted in a wonderfully hallucinatory sequence) and subsequent crash landing. as with the prior installment, the story is let down by the centralization of a female lead that can only be described as Another Shallow Bitch. that is not an interesting character type to me and I know the author can do better. it’s like in this book (and the last), Tubb was exorcising some demons he had about women. ugh, that’s just never a good look. the story itself is gripping and very readable, but the rote characterization of the superficial and predictably heartless Eloise makes this the nadir of the series so far.
June 23, 2020
DAW Collectors #143
Cover Artist: George Barr.
Name: Tubb, Edwin Charles, Birthplace: London, England, UK, (15 October 1919 - 10 September 2010)
Alternate Names: Stuart Allen, Ted Bain, Alice Beecham, Anthony Blake, Raymond L. Burton, Julian Carey, Julian Cary, Norman Dale, Robert D. Ennis, James Evans, R. H. Godfrey, Charles Gray, Charles Grey, Volsted Gridban, Alan Guthrie, George Holt, Gill Hunt, Alan Innes, Gordon Kent,
Julian Cary, Gregory Kern, King Lang, Mike Lantry, Nigel Lloyd, Arthur Maclean, Carl Maddox, Philip Martyn, L. C. Powers, Edward Richards, Brian Shaw, Roy Sheldon, Eric Storm, Andrew Sutton.
Edward Thomson, Ted Tubb, Edwin C. Tubb, Ken Wainwright, Frank Weight.
Cyber Prime surveyed the domains of his vast scattered empire with trepidation. Central Intelligence had ruled the empire in the past. Now Dumarest knew that this gigantic computer was degenerating, breaking up after years of use.
Only one man could save them: Earl Dumarest, a lonely space traveller engaged on a long quest to find his birth planet, Earth. The Cybers must find and intercept him.
But before the Cybers discover Dumarest, they encounter Eloise, a beautiful seductress who drives logic from their minds .
Cover Artist: George Barr.
Name: Tubb, Edwin Charles, Birthplace: London, England, UK, (15 October 1919 - 10 September 2010)
Alternate Names: Stuart Allen, Ted Bain, Alice Beecham, Anthony Blake, Raymond L. Burton, Julian Carey, Julian Cary, Norman Dale, Robert D. Ennis, James Evans, R. H. Godfrey, Charles Gray, Charles Grey, Volsted Gridban, Alan Guthrie, George Holt, Gill Hunt, Alan Innes, Gordon Kent,
Julian Cary, Gregory Kern, King Lang, Mike Lantry, Nigel Lloyd, Arthur Maclean, Carl Maddox, Philip Martyn, L. C. Powers, Edward Richards, Brian Shaw, Roy Sheldon, Eric Storm, Andrew Sutton.
Edward Thomson, Ted Tubb, Edwin C. Tubb, Ken Wainwright, Frank Weight.
Cyber Prime surveyed the domains of his vast scattered empire with trepidation. Central Intelligence had ruled the empire in the past. Now Dumarest knew that this gigantic computer was degenerating, breaking up after years of use.
Only one man could save them: Earl Dumarest, a lonely space traveller engaged on a long quest to find his birth planet, Earth. The Cybers must find and intercept him.
But before the Cybers discover Dumarest, they encounter Eloise, a beautiful seductress who drives logic from their minds .
April 19, 2019
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Dumarest series.
On the one hand, it's the source material for many childhood space opera fantasies. You've got Earl Dumarest hitch-hiking through the galaxy, working odd jobs while trying to get back to his homeworld: Earth. Dumarest if a skilled fighter and mentally agile. He's a jack of all trades and you under-estimate him at your peril.
But on the other, the characters are a bit flat. Every woman in Tubb's universe is lithe, thin and beautiful. A capricious spoiled brat to be tamed by Dumarest. And invariably they always are. A galaxy filled with space-hotties with daddy issues. Sure, great for a fantasy now and again, but after 12 books it's wearing a bit thin.
That being said, this book was quite readable. I probably would have finished it in a day had I not been distracted by life.
The story centers around a remote city surrounded by miles of ice. A seeming utopia, we quickly learn it's a computer managed prison. Alas, Dumarest must escape, all while bedding the hawest chic in the joint.
I complain about the characters being a bit flat, but there was at least one that developed as the story went along.
Read this book if you're a fan of the space opera pulps (like I am.) On that scale, it's pretty good. But it's unlikely to win too many literary prizes.
On the one hand, it's the source material for many childhood space opera fantasies. You've got Earl Dumarest hitch-hiking through the galaxy, working odd jobs while trying to get back to his homeworld: Earth. Dumarest if a skilled fighter and mentally agile. He's a jack of all trades and you under-estimate him at your peril.
But on the other, the characters are a bit flat. Every woman in Tubb's universe is lithe, thin and beautiful. A capricious spoiled brat to be tamed by Dumarest. And invariably they always are. A galaxy filled with space-hotties with daddy issues. Sure, great for a fantasy now and again, but after 12 books it's wearing a bit thin.
That being said, this book was quite readable. I probably would have finished it in a day had I not been distracted by life.
The story centers around a remote city surrounded by miles of ice. A seeming utopia, we quickly learn it's a computer managed prison. Alas, Dumarest must escape, all while bedding the hawest chic in the joint.
I complain about the characters being a bit flat, but there was at least one that developed as the story went along.
Read this book if you're a fan of the space opera pulps (like I am.) On that scale, it's pretty good. But it's unlikely to win too many literary prizes.
October 3, 2020
Just finished Dumarest 12 - Eloise.
I have to say I really enjoyed this one. Quite possibly my favourite of the saga so far. It had hints of HG Wells Morlocks from The Time Machine and a smattering of Logan’s Run about it... I loved it.
We find our hero having to make a quick exit from a world and so he spends a small fortune chartering a starship and insisting that he gives the co-ordinates once in space... to avoid any interception by the Cyclan.
The greedy captain agrees but later breaks his word and tries to take Dumarest captive, figuring he must be fugitive and therefore worth more!
Dumarest quickly dispatches the captain, but during the struggle the ship is caught in a ‘warp’ and thrown 500,000 light years across the galaxy and crashes on a barren ice world.
All of this takes place in the first forty pages or so... Dumarest and another surviving crew member then have to make their way across the frozen wastelands, injured, in the hope that they can reach safety.
As their food and medication depletes they struggle to make a descent into a city housed in a huge crater... Dumarest falls...
He regains consciousness a month later and discovers that he was caught by one of the city’s ‘monitors’. A type of robot with a human brain. The city itself is ‘Instone’ which turns out to be an abbreviation of ‘Installation One’ and is run by a super computer called Camolsaer.
The residents want for nothing... but this paradise is in fact a prison and the only escape is ‘conversion’. Death by another name, only here death means becoming one of the ‘monitors’. And at Instone the population is kept in check by ‘converting’ residents on a regular basis...
Dumarest needs to escape, and Eloise helps him...
I have to say I really enjoyed this one. Quite possibly my favourite of the saga so far. It had hints of HG Wells Morlocks from The Time Machine and a smattering of Logan’s Run about it... I loved it.
We find our hero having to make a quick exit from a world and so he spends a small fortune chartering a starship and insisting that he gives the co-ordinates once in space... to avoid any interception by the Cyclan.
The greedy captain agrees but later breaks his word and tries to take Dumarest captive, figuring he must be fugitive and therefore worth more!
Dumarest quickly dispatches the captain, but during the struggle the ship is caught in a ‘warp’ and thrown 500,000 light years across the galaxy and crashes on a barren ice world.
All of this takes place in the first forty pages or so... Dumarest and another surviving crew member then have to make their way across the frozen wastelands, injured, in the hope that they can reach safety.
As their food and medication depletes they struggle to make a descent into a city housed in a huge crater... Dumarest falls...
He regains consciousness a month later and discovers that he was caught by one of the city’s ‘monitors’. A type of robot with a human brain. The city itself is ‘Instone’ which turns out to be an abbreviation of ‘Installation One’ and is run by a super computer called Camolsaer.
The residents want for nothing... but this paradise is in fact a prison and the only escape is ‘conversion’. Death by another name, only here death means becoming one of the ‘monitors’. And at Instone the population is kept in check by ‘converting’ residents on a regular basis...
Dumarest needs to escape, and Eloise helps him...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2020
A rather weak episode in the quest. After crashing on a lonely icy planet Dumarest and his companion, a minstrel (yes, they do exist in the Dumarest universe) he finds himself in the city of Instone. Which is short for Installation One as we later learn.
The city is ruled by a machine with the charming name of Camolsaer. People live in comfort, but unfortunately at the time of "knelling" some of them will be chosen to be "converted". Doesn’t this sound exciting?
And, of course, a man like Dumarest, is immediately first on the list. Of course, the lady of the story is in love with him at first sight, or even before. And Eloise must be the most boring of Tubb’s female characters, which says a lot.
In the end, they escape, Dumarest leaves her alone. The guy in love with her dead. But luckily the minstrel steps in.
And how do they do it? Really embarrassing. Dumarest tells the machine that the next thing he is going to say will be the truth. And then: "Everything you have heard or learned is a lie." Well.
And does he get any new clues about Earth? No.
The city is ruled by a machine with the charming name of Camolsaer. People live in comfort, but unfortunately at the time of "knelling" some of them will be chosen to be "converted". Doesn’t this sound exciting?
And, of course, a man like Dumarest, is immediately first on the list. Of course, the lady of the story is in love with him at first sight, or even before. And Eloise must be the most boring of Tubb’s female characters, which says a lot.
In the end, they escape, Dumarest leaves her alone. The guy in love with her dead. But luckily the minstrel steps in.
And how do they do it? Really embarrassing. Dumarest tells the machine that the next thing he is going to say will be the truth. And then: "Everything you have heard or learned is a lie." Well.
And does he get any new clues about Earth? No.
November 23, 2020
It's okay, I guess.
This is one of those books where my feelings are thoroughly bland. It's not so bad that I think it should be avoided, so if you've any a priori draw (i.e, reading the series), go ahead, it's a moderately exciting sci-fi action-adventure romp. On the other hand, unless you have a specific reason to read *this* sci-fi action-adventure romp, you could probably do better pretty easily.
Some interesting ideas are touched on but not explored, there is an embarrassingly bad love triangle, there are some cool robots to fight, but nothing explored in too much detail or too clever.
This is one of those books where my feelings are thoroughly bland. It's not so bad that I think it should be avoided, so if you've any a priori draw (i.e, reading the series), go ahead, it's a moderately exciting sci-fi action-adventure romp. On the other hand, unless you have a specific reason to read *this* sci-fi action-adventure romp, you could probably do better pretty easily.
Some interesting ideas are touched on but not explored, there is an embarrassingly bad love triangle, there are some cool robots to fight, but nothing explored in too much detail or too clever.
December 14, 2020
Eloise (Dumarest 12) by E.C. Tubb
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
This book opens with the Cyber Prime contemplating the Dumarest Problem, specifically how to locate him and win the Affinity Twin secret. Despite the Cyclan ability to pontificate endlessly about their commitment to logic and reason, and their hope of being wired into a neural network when their bodies deteriorate, Dumarest's randomness and luck (and more than a small bit of the author's thumb on the scale) had continued to frustrate them. But this time they have him, they know he is heading toward the planet Tynar.
For his part, Dumarist is on a ship heading to Tynar. The crew has intuited that Dumarest would be far more valuable as a prize for whoever he is fleeing. But then the ship falls into a warp and crashlands on one of the strangest cultures of the Dumareverse.
Dumarest finds himself in Instone where people undergo a lottery where they disappear if their number is too low. The town is controlled by something called Camolsaer that relies on robots called Monitors to run the town. Dumarest, of course, sees this as an untenable situation, particularly since he has made enemies and it seems likely that the lottery can be rigged.
Will Dumarest escape Instone?
Will some scantily clad buxom babe confess her love for him?
Will the Cyclan realize that he's been thrown a million light-years in a random direction?
This is but Book 12 and there are another 14 books remaining.
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
This book opens with the Cyber Prime contemplating the Dumarest Problem, specifically how to locate him and win the Affinity Twin secret. Despite the Cyclan ability to pontificate endlessly about their commitment to logic and reason, and their hope of being wired into a neural network when their bodies deteriorate, Dumarest's randomness and luck (and more than a small bit of the author's thumb on the scale) had continued to frustrate them. But this time they have him, they know he is heading toward the planet Tynar.
For his part, Dumarist is on a ship heading to Tynar. The crew has intuited that Dumarest would be far more valuable as a prize for whoever he is fleeing. But then the ship falls into a warp and crashlands on one of the strangest cultures of the Dumareverse.
Dumarest finds himself in Instone where people undergo a lottery where they disappear if their number is too low. The town is controlled by something called Camolsaer that relies on robots called Monitors to run the town. Dumarest, of course, sees this as an untenable situation, particularly since he has made enemies and it seems likely that the lottery can be rigged.
Will Dumarest escape Instone?
Will some scantily clad buxom babe confess her love for him?
Will the Cyclan realize that he's been thrown a million light-years in a random direction?
This is but Book 12 and there are another 14 books remaining.
August 9, 2021
Tubb certainly packed a lot into these slim volumes. In this, the twelfth of the series, we get more of the Cyclan - almost in the background before now, here we get a glimpse of the problem that is driving them and, because of that, their threat seems greater.
Dumarest himself goes from planet to ship to planet. There's nothing unusual in that, but what is strange is that the volume's title and series characters don't meet until after the halfway point. Indeed, Eloise doesn't really feature that much, doing little but providing a backstory, inevitably filling in love with Dumarest and stoking the fires of jealousy.
As usual, Dumarest proves he has the skills to survive anywhere, albeit with a bit if luck (there always seems to be what he needs just lying around, he's like some precursor to MacGyver...). This volume builds to a breakneck escape sequence and then a time period measured in weeks is covered in just a couple of pages.
Dumarest himself goes from planet to ship to planet. There's nothing unusual in that, but what is strange is that the volume's title and series characters don't meet until after the halfway point. Indeed, Eloise doesn't really feature that much, doing little but providing a backstory, inevitably filling in love with Dumarest and stoking the fires of jealousy.
As usual, Dumarest proves he has the skills to survive anywhere, albeit with a bit if luck (there always seems to be what he needs just lying around, he's like some precursor to MacGyver...). This volume builds to a breakneck escape sequence and then a time period measured in weeks is covered in just a couple of pages.
September 25, 2018
Tubb knew how to tell a fine adventure story. Here, he dumps Dumarest into a frozen world before leading him to a Logan's Run–like city where the unfit are ruthlessly exterminated. It's all a fine yarn.
But, there are great characters too. Dumarest has already become quite well developed over the zoen books, but here we also come to know others such as Arbush and Eloise; the relations between them all and the thoughtful discussion of it is just as great as the adventure.
Chapter 1 also offers a fine look into the world of the Cyber.
But, there are great characters too. Dumarest has already become quite well developed over the zoen books, but here we also come to know others such as Arbush and Eloise; the relations between them all and the thoughtful discussion of it is just as great as the adventure.
Chapter 1 also offers a fine look into the world of the Cyber.
September 12, 2022
After a spaceship crash in an icy wasteland, Dumarest wakes to find himself in a city where everything is provided, and no one has to work. It would be a lovely place to stay, were it not for the regular cullings. He sets about escaping, egged on and romantically pursued by the Eloise of the title. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favourite of the series.
April 27, 2023
Actually, Dumarest's struggle against an evil giant computer tyrant and its huge lumbering servants powered by harvested human brains reminded me of nothing more than an episode of Tom Baker-era Dr Who--but without the humour and with an extremely shallow female lead:no competition to ANY of the companions. A rather weak entry in the series, but still fun in a "guilty pleasure" kind of a way.
October 15, 2019
As a fan of Earl I can just say, another well developed and thought through intriguing story.
May 30, 2020
One of the lesser episodes until now. Nothing much really happens. Although some more information on the Cyclan and the concept of the machine run city is interesting.
October 24, 2025
Even with the rather unappealing eponymous female lead character, there is a workable story here -- with elements of extreme winter survival and a Logan's Run vibe -- but a story that all gets a bit botched by a rather limp ending. Did the author simply run out of space within the 160 page max to give this a more graceful finish?
The intro chapter that gives us some more insights into the Cyclan culture is really the only truly interesting aspect of this downer of a book.
P.S. Minor bonus points for the cover artwork actually relating to the content within --a rarity at the time for this publisher and series.
The intro chapter that gives us some more insights into the Cyclan culture is really the only truly interesting aspect of this downer of a book.
P.S. Minor bonus points for the cover artwork actually relating to the content within --a rarity at the time for this publisher and series.
October 5, 2014
I have a long standing fascination with the Dumerest series. The novels have dated a fair bit since they were written -most notably the absence of computers- but the human experiences remain sound. The author's descriptive powers never fail to entrap me, yet so subtly I cant even say why.
April 1, 2016
Why is it that he always finds a wonderful man friend and the woman is a bit off? Always gorgeously beautiful but off. Has to be so he and the reader can happily leave her behind as he follows his dream.
October 7, 2008
good mindless SciFi
May 22, 2016
New author for me but will reading more of his books!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews