Earl Dumarest has taken what should be an easy commission: escort the Lady Derai, heiress to the powerful House of Calder, back to her home on the planet Hive. But when Dumarest gets Derai back to her home, his involvement with her has only just begun, because it seems the House of Calder is riven with strife. Derai’s father & uncle are engaged in a power struggle while her ailing grandfather keeps his own secrets hidden. A mysterious Cyber, a man who has had his brain mutilated to remove his ability to feel physical pleasure or emotions, has a strange history with Derai. Her cousin seeks a political marriage, while her adopted brother has his own agenda. Everyone on Hive has a secret and a plan; the Lady Derai seems to be at the heart of all of them. And then there’s the thing that none of the schemers and plotters seem to know: the Lady Derai has secrets of her own . . .
In this second book of the Dumarest Saga, Tubb is once again just writing pulp at something like the peak of entertainment. The plot moves like lightning, the prose crackles with energy and, once again, the characters are far better than what you’d expect in a pulp sci-fi novel like this. This one has even more political intrigue than the first book in the series and Tubb has created some memorable characters here. Derai’s grandfather is a wonderful creation, a raging consciousness trapped inside a decaying, crippled body and when he starts to really drive the plot forward, the book takes a surprising turn and, at about the three-fourths point in the book, everything really changes in the book in a way I wasn’t expecting at all. Dumarest is becoming a better character too. He’s still a figure that is, in many ways, mostly a catalyst and an intensifier of the events that surround him, but the deepening affection between him and Derai is pure romantic pulp in only the best senses and refreshingly (and surprisingly given the cover) free of the tawdry lasciviousness that a lot of pulps have. Tubb’s world building remains fascinating with both of the planets we visit on this trip being distinct and, in the case of the planet where the climax happens, really fascinating. I’m still loving this series. It’s fun all the way through and boasts a fantastic ending. And, at not even two-hundred pages, it’s a book you’ll sprint through really quickly. What fun. 4 stars.
tl;dr – second book in the Dumarest Saga is more complicated, but just as exciting, as the first book; Tubb’s grasp on characters and worldbuilding makes this pulp at its absolute best. 4 stars.