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To Venus! To Venus! / The Jester at Scar
Ace Double #81610. Cover art by Frank Kelly Freas (The Jester at Scar) and John Schoenherr (To Venus! To Venus!)
To Venus! To Venus! 128 pages
The Jester at Scar 126 pages
To Venus! To Venus! 128 pages
The Jester at Scar 126 pages
- GenresScience FictionFiction
254 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
16 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.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 16, 2019
review of
E.C.Tubb's / David Grinnell's The Jester at Scar / To Venus! To Venus!
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - March 14-16, 2019
I've only read one other Grinnell bk, The Edge of Time (my review's here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ). Here's an excerpt from that review:
"As for the Grinnell? I liked it. His name seemed vaguely familiar so I did a little online research & learned from Wikipedia that:
""Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990) was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell.
""A founding member of the Futurians, he was a leading influence on science fiction development and fandom in the 20th-century United States.
""Ursula K. Le Guin called Wollheim "the tough, reliable editor of Ace Books, in the Late Pulpalignean Era, 1966 and ’67, " which is when he published her first two novels, in an Ace Double."
"- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_...
"I'm impressed. I tend to think of the Futurians as the founders of 'zines, even tho that's probably not historically accurate. I reckon he used a pen-name to avoid criticism that he was publishing his own work. Dunno. I have plenty of bks published by Ace & by DAW Books, another press I take for granted was his given the 'coincidence' of the initials. Now I'll remember him & look for more of his work."
As w/ The Edge of Time I'd say Grinnell/Wollheim leans toward the Hard Science end of the SF spectrum. But before I get into that, I'll start w/ the E.C.Tubb side of this Ace Double. I think this is probably the 1st Tubb I've read.
The main character, Dumarest, was born on Earth but moved away as a child. Now, the people he encounters on other planets think that Earth is just a myth.
"Dumarest looked down at his hand where it was clenched around the glass. "Earth is no legend," he said flatly. "The planet is real and, one day, I shall find it."" - p 15
The "Jester" of the title is the ruler of the planet Jest who's recently married. As, I suppose, has always been typical of marriages between royalties, the marriage is one of financial benefit or alliance rather than one based around, say, a shared affection for cross-breeding Virmillion hot-dogs w/ Poontangian fruit-waterers.
"He glanced at her, noting the thin arrogance of her profile, the imperious tilt of her head. Strange how those with the least reason adapted the greater dignity, stranger still how the bare facts could be transmuted by pompous phraseology. He, the ruler of Jest, had married the daughter of Elgone, the Elder of Eldfane. If the people thought of it as a love-match, they were more stupid than he guessed. As a dowry she had brought him one hundred thousand tons of basic staples, the revenues from her estate on Eldfane, a million units of trading credit to be used on her home world, the services of an engineering corps for three years; and the promise of an obsolete space vessel when one should be available." - p 20
& all I got was this lousy t-shirt. Given that, I probably wdn't've been able to resist the suit.
""I see," said Dumarest. He frowned at the mechanism riding between the shoulders. "What would happen if I fell and buried my shoulders deep in mud?"
""The air-cell would continue to work under all conditions, sir."
""And suppose, at the same time, a fungi exploded and coated me with dangerous spores?"
""The filters would take care of that. Spores down to microscopic dimensions would be caught in one or the other of the treble filters. I am perfectly willing to deonstrate the suit under any conditions you may select, sir."
""Do that," suggested Dumarest. "Wear one and follow an expedition; test it as they order. If you remain alive and well you may possibly sell them—next year."" - p 28
When I went shopping for a suit & I duplicated Dumarest's apparently wise consumer savvy I was thrown out of the store, & none too gently. It was obvious that they weren't mycologists. But what about Tubb?
"Dumarest took a small folder from his pocket. It was filled with colored depictions of various types of fungi both in their early stage of growth and at maturity. He riffled the pages and found what he wanted. Holding the page beside the hemispheres at his side he checked each of fifteen confirming details.
"Slowly he put the book away.
"It was the dream of every prospector on Scar. It was the jackpot, the big find, the one thing which could make them what they wanted to be. There were the rare and fabulously valuable motes which could live within the human metabolism, acting as a symbiote and giving longevity, heightened awareness, enhanced sensory appreciation and increased endurance.
"There was golden spore all around him, in a place which he had almost died to find." - p 42
Any story in wch flipping a coin is featured can't be all bad. Instead of organizing my bks on shelves by color, I organize them by whether they have coin tosses or not. That's my only criteria of differentiation.
"A coin rested beside the bottle."
[Yes, coins, too, get tired. Esp coins in Money Against Capitalism ( https://youtu.be/-yi9PTR99xE ).]
"He picked it up and tossed it to Heldar. "Look at it," he invited. "It will decide your fate."
""My lord?"
"On one side you will see the head of a man. I have scratched a line across his cheek, a scar. The other side bears the arms of Jest. Spin the coin. Should it fall with that side uppermost you will receive your needed treatment, but if the other side whould be uppermost, the scar, then you belong to this world and I will not help you."" - p 49
Instead, Heldar shoved the coin in Jocelyn's nose slot, pulled his leg, & collected the harvest from his mouth.
"This batch was for testing and disposal. The rest would be for slicing and dehydrating by a quick-freeze process which kept the flavor intact. It would be packed for the markets of a hundred worlds. Gourmets light years apart would relish the soups and ragouts made from the fungi harvested on Scar." - p 62
All that just from one sovereign's mouth. What if he'd pulled on his cock-ring?
"Verification of anticipated movement of quarry received. Obtain ring and destroy Dumarest. - p 81
****************************************
I really got this bk for David Grinnell's To Venus! To Venus! & that's mainly b/c
"His left earphone was tuned in to the wavelength of Jim Holmes, who was his target. Jim had been fulfilling his assignment of cruising the surface in the ungainly looking but very efficient moonwalker when the machine had suddenly stopped operating. Chet hoped to get it restarted.
"His right earphone received the wavelength of the mother ship, which would eventually take everybody back to Earth. It took a bit of getting used to, this business of receiving two channels simultaneously, but it had been covered in the intensive training he had received, and now he could listen to two conversations at the same time and make sense of both." - p 6
Some people are bipolar, others are binaural, others write about the space race between the USA & the USSR. Pierre Boulle, e.g..
"["]Operation Immediate is the name which covers the three volunteers, their back-up and support unit and all the equipment necessary to achieve a manned landing on the southern hemisphere of Venus."" - p 32
Next thing ya know it was like a wormhole had opened up between p 32 & p 57 & the astronauts were THERE.
"Particularly, although the changeover from the dull routine of the many weeks into the bustle of the final days had caused a stir of excitement and a loss of sleep, on the eve of their arrival all three had settled down to the task which they had in hand. They all slept blissfully when their turn came, and when the orbital countdown began they were at their places, alert, relaxed and ready. The rockets roared, slowing their approach, and orbit was achieved perfectly. The fellows looked at each other and smiled broadly. They were about to embark on the most dangerous part of their mission. But the successful voyage which had covered twenty-five million miles had been capped by a beautifully simple functioning of all systems. So they forgot the dangers and were buoyed by confidence in their equipment and the scientists of the Agency who had engineered their exploration." - p 57
"Outside the fierce storm caused the clouds to boil heavily; dust, pebbles, stones and small rocks were caught by the hurricane winds and hurled like buckshot indiscriminately in every direction. The landing vehicle swayed in the strong gusts. But Chet's attention was riveted on the thremometer. The temperature outside was close to five hundred degrees! The auxiliary thermometer registered the same." - p 60
Heating up those frozen pizzas w/o burning them is going to be tricky.
"Then he continued: "A report from Venera, Lieutenant-colonel Yarmonkine commanding, whose point of origin was verified by Jodrell, says that the Russian crew have effected a soft landing in the southern hemisphere of Venus. The report describes tropical jungle scenery, breathable air and habitable land. They say they are comfortable without life-support systems of any kind and are currently conducting tests. Please advise when possible. End of message."" - p 65
Then everyone died in every bk & all the readers discovered themselves to be in excellent health, very happy, inspired, & immortal. THE END.
E.C.Tubb's / David Grinnell's The Jester at Scar / To Venus! To Venus!
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - March 14-16, 2019
I've only read one other Grinnell bk, The Edge of Time (my review's here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ). Here's an excerpt from that review:
"As for the Grinnell? I liked it. His name seemed vaguely familiar so I did a little online research & learned from Wikipedia that:
""Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990) was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell.
""A founding member of the Futurians, he was a leading influence on science fiction development and fandom in the 20th-century United States.
""Ursula K. Le Guin called Wollheim "the tough, reliable editor of Ace Books, in the Late Pulpalignean Era, 1966 and ’67, " which is when he published her first two novels, in an Ace Double."
"- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_...
"I'm impressed. I tend to think of the Futurians as the founders of 'zines, even tho that's probably not historically accurate. I reckon he used a pen-name to avoid criticism that he was publishing his own work. Dunno. I have plenty of bks published by Ace & by DAW Books, another press I take for granted was his given the 'coincidence' of the initials. Now I'll remember him & look for more of his work."
As w/ The Edge of Time I'd say Grinnell/Wollheim leans toward the Hard Science end of the SF spectrum. But before I get into that, I'll start w/ the E.C.Tubb side of this Ace Double. I think this is probably the 1st Tubb I've read.
The main character, Dumarest, was born on Earth but moved away as a child. Now, the people he encounters on other planets think that Earth is just a myth.
"Dumarest looked down at his hand where it was clenched around the glass. "Earth is no legend," he said flatly. "The planet is real and, one day, I shall find it."" - p 15
The "Jester" of the title is the ruler of the planet Jest who's recently married. As, I suppose, has always been typical of marriages between royalties, the marriage is one of financial benefit or alliance rather than one based around, say, a shared affection for cross-breeding Virmillion hot-dogs w/ Poontangian fruit-waterers.
"He glanced at her, noting the thin arrogance of her profile, the imperious tilt of her head. Strange how those with the least reason adapted the greater dignity, stranger still how the bare facts could be transmuted by pompous phraseology. He, the ruler of Jest, had married the daughter of Elgone, the Elder of Eldfane. If the people thought of it as a love-match, they were more stupid than he guessed. As a dowry she had brought him one hundred thousand tons of basic staples, the revenues from her estate on Eldfane, a million units of trading credit to be used on her home world, the services of an engineering corps for three years; and the promise of an obsolete space vessel when one should be available." - p 20
& all I got was this lousy t-shirt. Given that, I probably wdn't've been able to resist the suit.
""I see," said Dumarest. He frowned at the mechanism riding between the shoulders. "What would happen if I fell and buried my shoulders deep in mud?"
""The air-cell would continue to work under all conditions, sir."
""And suppose, at the same time, a fungi exploded and coated me with dangerous spores?"
""The filters would take care of that. Spores down to microscopic dimensions would be caught in one or the other of the treble filters. I am perfectly willing to deonstrate the suit under any conditions you may select, sir."
""Do that," suggested Dumarest. "Wear one and follow an expedition; test it as they order. If you remain alive and well you may possibly sell them—next year."" - p 28
When I went shopping for a suit & I duplicated Dumarest's apparently wise consumer savvy I was thrown out of the store, & none too gently. It was obvious that they weren't mycologists. But what about Tubb?
"Dumarest took a small folder from his pocket. It was filled with colored depictions of various types of fungi both in their early stage of growth and at maturity. He riffled the pages and found what he wanted. Holding the page beside the hemispheres at his side he checked each of fifteen confirming details.
"Slowly he put the book away.
"It was the dream of every prospector on Scar. It was the jackpot, the big find, the one thing which could make them what they wanted to be. There were the rare and fabulously valuable motes which could live within the human metabolism, acting as a symbiote and giving longevity, heightened awareness, enhanced sensory appreciation and increased endurance.
"There was golden spore all around him, in a place which he had almost died to find." - p 42
Any story in wch flipping a coin is featured can't be all bad. Instead of organizing my bks on shelves by color, I organize them by whether they have coin tosses or not. That's my only criteria of differentiation.
"A coin rested beside the bottle."
[Yes, coins, too, get tired. Esp coins in Money Against Capitalism ( https://youtu.be/-yi9PTR99xE ).]
"He picked it up and tossed it to Heldar. "Look at it," he invited. "It will decide your fate."
""My lord?"
"On one side you will see the head of a man. I have scratched a line across his cheek, a scar. The other side bears the arms of Jest. Spin the coin. Should it fall with that side uppermost you will receive your needed treatment, but if the other side whould be uppermost, the scar, then you belong to this world and I will not help you."" - p 49
Instead, Heldar shoved the coin in Jocelyn's nose slot, pulled his leg, & collected the harvest from his mouth.
"This batch was for testing and disposal. The rest would be for slicing and dehydrating by a quick-freeze process which kept the flavor intact. It would be packed for the markets of a hundred worlds. Gourmets light years apart would relish the soups and ragouts made from the fungi harvested on Scar." - p 62
All that just from one sovereign's mouth. What if he'd pulled on his cock-ring?
"Verification of anticipated movement of quarry received. Obtain ring and destroy Dumarest. - p 81
****************************************
I really got this bk for David Grinnell's To Venus! To Venus! & that's mainly b/c
"His left earphone was tuned in to the wavelength of Jim Holmes, who was his target. Jim had been fulfilling his assignment of cruising the surface in the ungainly looking but very efficient moonwalker when the machine had suddenly stopped operating. Chet hoped to get it restarted.
"His right earphone received the wavelength of the mother ship, which would eventually take everybody back to Earth. It took a bit of getting used to, this business of receiving two channels simultaneously, but it had been covered in the intensive training he had received, and now he could listen to two conversations at the same time and make sense of both." - p 6
Some people are bipolar, others are binaural, others write about the space race between the USA & the USSR. Pierre Boulle, e.g..
"["]Operation Immediate is the name which covers the three volunteers, their back-up and support unit and all the equipment necessary to achieve a manned landing on the southern hemisphere of Venus."" - p 32
Next thing ya know it was like a wormhole had opened up between p 32 & p 57 & the astronauts were THERE.
"Particularly, although the changeover from the dull routine of the many weeks into the bustle of the final days had caused a stir of excitement and a loss of sleep, on the eve of their arrival all three had settled down to the task which they had in hand. They all slept blissfully when their turn came, and when the orbital countdown began they were at their places, alert, relaxed and ready. The rockets roared, slowing their approach, and orbit was achieved perfectly. The fellows looked at each other and smiled broadly. They were about to embark on the most dangerous part of their mission. But the successful voyage which had covered twenty-five million miles had been capped by a beautifully simple functioning of all systems. So they forgot the dangers and were buoyed by confidence in their equipment and the scientists of the Agency who had engineered their exploration." - p 57
"Outside the fierce storm caused the clouds to boil heavily; dust, pebbles, stones and small rocks were caught by the hurricane winds and hurled like buckshot indiscriminately in every direction. The landing vehicle swayed in the strong gusts. But Chet's attention was riveted on the thremometer. The temperature outside was close to five hundred degrees! The auxiliary thermometer registered the same." - p 60
Heating up those frozen pizzas w/o burning them is going to be tricky.
"Then he continued: "A report from Venera, Lieutenant-colonel Yarmonkine commanding, whose point of origin was verified by Jodrell, says that the Russian crew have effected a soft landing in the southern hemisphere of Venus. The report describes tropical jungle scenery, breathable air and habitable land. They say they are comfortable without life-support systems of any kind and are currently conducting tests. Please advise when possible. End of message."" - p 65
Then everyone died in every bk & all the readers discovered themselves to be in excellent health, very happy, inspired, & immortal. THE END.
August 25, 2025
To Venus! To Venus! : Fun escapism that doesn't much vary from what you'd expect when reading about a first-person attempt to land on Venus, followed by the possibility of being indefinitely stranded due to crashing the crew's ship.
Jester at Scar: Brutal planet where there is no law but survival. A fun read about a man on an unforgiving planet and his search for an exclusive plant spore. Of course, he locates it, but what happens then keeps me turning the pages in this short novel.
Jester at Scar: Brutal planet where there is no law but survival. A fun read about a man on an unforgiving planet and his search for an exclusive plant spore. Of course, he locates it, but what happens then keeps me turning the pages in this short novel.
December 17, 2012
Ace Double Novel 441-81610-075
To Venus! To Venus!, by David Grinnel, grade C+
Jester at Scar (Dumarest 5), by EC Tubb, grade C-
To Venus! To Venus!, by David Grinnel, grade C+
Jester at Scar (Dumarest 5), by EC Tubb, grade C-
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews