Legal Eagle

By E.C. Tubb

The law-books were thick, comprehensive—and all written in Lurarian. Armstrong cursed as he tried to wade through them, and then gave up in disgust. His speaking knowledge of the language was excellent; he could even write and read it sufficient for normal purposes, but since when have legal books been written for the understanding of the common man? And with legal phraseology being what it was, he dared take no chances on hit-or-miss translations. Not when his entire future could depend on the exact meaning of a word.

Armstrong was a man of sense; he went out and hired a professional. The lawyer, or the Lurarian equivalent, was a battle-scarred veteran of the courts who’d had the sense to quit before his slowing reflexes caught up with him.

“It’s quite simple,” he said. “The basic rule is that all disputes shall be tried by combat, the winner proving the justice of his case by his victory.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wildside Press
• Release date: Jan 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781479457274

E.C. Tubb

The author of "Lucifer" — the inspiration for the film "57 Seconds" starring Josh Hutcherson and Morgan Freeman — is best-known for his long-running "Dumarest of Terra" series, featuring a hapless, wandering protagonist searching for his home, the third planet from the sun. His is also known for his adaptations of the "Space 1999" TV-series, and his “Cap Kennedy” novels (writing as Gregory Kern.)In a sixty-year writing career he published over 120 novels, and 200 science fiction short stories in such magazines as Astounding/Analog, Authentic, Galaxy, Nebula, New Worlds, Science Fantasy, and Vision of Tomorrow.His first science fiction short story was published in New Worlds in 1951, and his first novel quickly followed the same year. His earliest novels were written under several pseudonyms (most notably Charles Grey) and were exciting adventure stories, written in the prevailing fashion of the early 1950s. Yet from his very first novel, his work was characterized by a sense of plausibility, logic, and human insight. These qualities were especially evident in his short stories, which were frequently anthologized, most notably by Judith Merrill and Don Wollheim in their World’s Best SF annual compilations. In 1970, Tubb was Guest of Honour at the 28th World Science Fiction Convention in Heidelberg, West Germany.‘Lucifer!’ received a Special Award for Best Short Story at the first Eurocon in 1972. The motion picture 57 Seconds, based upon "Lucifer," debuts in theaters in 2023 from Curmudgeon Films.His output included historical adventure, detective, and westerns, but he remained best known for his numerous science fiction novels, of which Alien Dust (1955) and The Space Born (1956) were acknowledged classics.Tubb continued to write dynamic new science fiction novels right up to his death; his final novel, "Fires of Satan," was published by Gollancz in 2013. New editions of his novels and collections of his best short stories continue to be published posthumously, and all of his books have remained constantly in print.

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