Matthew Hughes's Blog: barbarians of the beyond - Posts Tagged "fantasy"
YouTube read of Mastermindless
Here’s something of an experiment: I’ve read the text of the first Henghis Hapthorn story, (Mastermindless, (F&SF, March 2004) aloud while the videocam was running and put the result up on YouTube. The sound quality is not ideal, and the only visual is the homemade title card, plus I’m not a professional voice actor – but anybody who wants to listen is welcome to the experience.
All of the Hapthorn stories are now available as a $2.99 ebook from Amazon and Kobo. I’ll be selling the collection at the same price from my web page in the near future, so those who have a Nook or some other EPUB-format-friendly reader can get them then. And for the truly old-fashioned, there’ll be a PDF file.
All of the Hapthorn stories are now available as a $2.99 ebook from Amazon and Kobo. I’ll be selling the collection at the same price from my web page in the near future, so those who have a Nook or some other EPUB-format-friendly reader can get them then. And for the truly old-fashioned, there’ll be a PDF file.
Published on February 05, 2013 11:41
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Tags:
dying-earth, fantasy, henghis-hapthorn, mastermindless, matthew-hughes
New sf collection coming
I'm putting together a collection of my non-Archonate (with one exception) science-fiction and fantasy stories. Most of them have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction or Asimov's Science Fiction over the past eleven or twelve years, but some have only been published in bespoke anthologies.
Two such are:
"Grolion of Almery," my shot at a Cugel the Clever tale that ran in the Jack Vance tribute antho, Songs of the Dying Earth; and
"The Ugly Duckling," an attempt to create a "lost chapter" of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, that was published in Old Mars, the retro anthology that, like Songs, was co-edited by Gardner Dozois and George R.R. Martin.
There are 16 tales in all, adding up to some 94,000 words, including the only sf story I've ever written that I didn't sell. "Ant Lion" is a 500-word flash-fiction piece that I sent out a couple of times but got no sale. It would probably be easier to place if I expanded the concept into a full-length story, but I like it just the way it is.
The exception to the non-Archonate rule is the collected tales of Liw Osfeo, my faux-Sufi sage whose abstruse adventures were recorded in a book-within-a-book that was part of my first Archonate novel, Fools Errant.
I've asked the mucho-talented Bradley W. Schenck to do me a cover. Bradley, whose first sf novel (Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom) will be published by Tor, is like me a devotee of good old science fiction. He's also kind to the elderly, which is why he manages my web page and formats my books for me.
The collection will be titled Devil or Angel: Old Style Science Fiction and Fantasy. It should be available on Amazon and my webstore as an ebook and POD paperback at a friendly introductory price in the next few weeks.
Two such are:
"Grolion of Almery," my shot at a Cugel the Clever tale that ran in the Jack Vance tribute antho, Songs of the Dying Earth; and
"The Ugly Duckling," an attempt to create a "lost chapter" of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, that was published in Old Mars, the retro anthology that, like Songs, was co-edited by Gardner Dozois and George R.R. Martin.
There are 16 tales in all, adding up to some 94,000 words, including the only sf story I've ever written that I didn't sell. "Ant Lion" is a 500-word flash-fiction piece that I sent out a couple of times but got no sale. It would probably be easier to place if I expanded the concept into a full-length story, but I like it just the way it is.
The exception to the non-Archonate rule is the collected tales of Liw Osfeo, my faux-Sufi sage whose abstruse adventures were recorded in a book-within-a-book that was part of my first Archonate novel, Fools Errant.
I've asked the mucho-talented Bradley W. Schenck to do me a cover. Bradley, whose first sf novel (Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom) will be published by Tor, is like me a devotee of good old science fiction. He's also kind to the elderly, which is why he manages my web page and formats my books for me.
The collection will be titled Devil or Angel: Old Style Science Fiction and Fantasy. It should be available on Amazon and my webstore as an ebook and POD paperback at a friendly introductory price in the next few weeks.
Published on June 06, 2015 09:43
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Tags:
bradley-w-schenck, devil-or-angel, fantasy, matthew-hughes, science-fiction, short-stories
Devil or Angel and Other Stories launches
I’ve launched Devil or Angel and Other Stories, a collection of my non-Archonate short sf and fantasy stories as an ebook on Amazon and Kobo and as a POD paperback on Amazon’s CreateSpace. They should start appearing on Amazon and CreateSpace in the next several hours. Kobo takes a little longer.
Both versions will soon appear in the Archonate Bookstore. The ebooks will sell for $3.99 US and the paperback for $12.99. If you want to hold off buying the paperback, I’m going to offer it as a giveaway on Goodreads.
Here’s the blurb:
From the award-winning author of Majestrum, Template, and The Other, this collection of short stories ranges from the thoughtful to the whimsical. Most of them appeared first in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Asimov’s. Others were written for bespoke anthologies, including Songs of the Dying Earth, Old Mars, and Welcome to the Greenhouse; one is published here for the first time.
John Joseph Adams and Gardner Dozois were kind enough to give me some cover quotes.
"Matthew Hughes writes contemporary science fiction and fantasy with a classic sensibility--driven by adventure and thrills, and chock full of sense of wonder." -- John Joseph Adams, Series Editor of Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy
"If you like vivid adventure science fiction and fantasy, of the sort written by Jack Vance, Poul Anderson, and Roger Zelazny, you'll like Matthew Hughes too." -- Gardner Dozois
All three of the names Gardner mentions were authors I read avidly as a teenager and in my twenties. To be mentioned in the same breath as Vance, Anderson, and Zelazny – let me tell you, that’s something.
I have dedicated the book to Bradley W. Schenck, soon to be a Tor author (watch for his Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom), who manages my web page and does an excellent job of designing my books.
Both versions will soon appear in the Archonate Bookstore. The ebooks will sell for $3.99 US and the paperback for $12.99. If you want to hold off buying the paperback, I’m going to offer it as a giveaway on Goodreads.
Here’s the blurb:
From the award-winning author of Majestrum, Template, and The Other, this collection of short stories ranges from the thoughtful to the whimsical. Most of them appeared first in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Asimov’s. Others were written for bespoke anthologies, including Songs of the Dying Earth, Old Mars, and Welcome to the Greenhouse; one is published here for the first time.
John Joseph Adams and Gardner Dozois were kind enough to give me some cover quotes.
"Matthew Hughes writes contemporary science fiction and fantasy with a classic sensibility--driven by adventure and thrills, and chock full of sense of wonder." -- John Joseph Adams, Series Editor of Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy
"If you like vivid adventure science fiction and fantasy, of the sort written by Jack Vance, Poul Anderson, and Roger Zelazny, you'll like Matthew Hughes too." -- Gardner Dozois
All three of the names Gardner mentions were authors I read avidly as a teenager and in my twenties. To be mentioned in the same breath as Vance, Anderson, and Zelazny – let me tell you, that’s something.
I have dedicated the book to Bradley W. Schenck, soon to be a Tor author (watch for his Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom), who manages my web page and does an excellent job of designing my books.
Published on July 30, 2015 07:48
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Tags:
bradley-w-schenck, fantasy, gardner-dozois, john-joseph-adams, matthew-hughes, science-fiction, short-stories
Goodreads Giveaway: Devil or Angel and Other Stories
To promote my new collection of backlist non-Archonate short stories, Devil or Angel and Other Stories, I'm doing my first Goodreads Giveaway. I'll be giving away one copy of the paperback edition.
The promotion runs until August 18 and is available to people in Canada, the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
You can enter here.
The promotion runs until August 18 and is available to people in Canada, the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
You can enter here.
Published on August 03, 2015 07:37
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Tags:
devil-or-angel-and-other-stories, fantasy, matthew-hughes, science-fiction, short-stories
James Nicoll's review of Devil or Angel
The indefatigable James Nicoll has reviewed Devil or Angel and Other Stories in his usual comprehensive way, with a summation and a pertinent comment on each story. And this general recommendation: "You generally cannot go wrong picking up Hughes’s books and this is no exception."
He confirms my hope that knowledgeable readers will recognize these sixteen non-Archonate (except one) pieces as stories that might have appeared in Galaxy or Astounding fifty years ago.
And he delights me by saying one of my stories might have been penned by William Tenn or Fredric Brown.
I acknowledge an old debt to James because I believe that, as a winnowing first reader for the Science Fiction Book Club, he would have been the one to recommend my first Archonate novel, Fools Errant, to Andy Wheeler, the club's editor. The novel and its sequel were reprinted as an SFBC omnibus, Gullible's Travels and gave me to believe that I was well launched on an sf writer's career.
He confirms my hope that knowledgeable readers will recognize these sixteen non-Archonate (except one) pieces as stories that might have appeared in Galaxy or Astounding fifty years ago.
And he delights me by saying one of my stories might have been penned by William Tenn or Fredric Brown.
I acknowledge an old debt to James because I believe that, as a winnowing first reader for the Science Fiction Book Club, he would have been the one to recommend my first Archonate novel, Fools Errant, to Andy Wheeler, the club's editor. The novel and its sequel were reprinted as an SFBC omnibus, Gullible's Travels and gave me to believe that I was well launched on an sf writer's career.
Published on August 25, 2015 07:32
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Tags:
devil-or-angel, fantasy, james-nicoll, matthew-hughes, science-fiction, short-stories
Inn of the Seven Blessings Review
There's a new review of my Raffalon story "The Inn of the Seven Blessings," from the 2014 cross-genre antho, ROGUES, at the Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together blog. And I like it a lot.
The reviewer, who may be famous in fandom (the blog came in 12th in the Hugo runnings this year) identifies herself only as Tia. And Tia really gets what I'm trying to do with what I'm writing. She says:
What I like most about this story is that it is full of classic fantasy tropes, but does not feel contrived or forced. . . Sure, I love when books successfully push the boundaries of the genre, challenge pre-conceived notions, and subvert tropes, but it is also refreshing to see that the foundations of the genre can still be done well and are still entertaining.
I couldn't agree more. I have nothing against boundary pushers. They sometimes cause problems, but that's part of life. Yet, without boundary pushers, we'd still be chipping flints and wondering which one of us the lions would pull out of the tree tonight.
I believe there's plenty of room left in the old mansions to move the furniture around and come up with new arrangements that please and gratify. That's what I feel like doing with my talents and abilities. I don't expect it to make me rich and famous, but I really respond when someone comes by for a visit and says, "Hey, that's a room I'd like to spend some time in."
A small ambition, but mine own.
The reviewer, who may be famous in fandom (the blog came in 12th in the Hugo runnings this year) identifies herself only as Tia. And Tia really gets what I'm trying to do with what I'm writing. She says:
What I like most about this story is that it is full of classic fantasy tropes, but does not feel contrived or forced. . . Sure, I love when books successfully push the boundaries of the genre, challenge pre-conceived notions, and subvert tropes, but it is also refreshing to see that the foundations of the genre can still be done well and are still entertaining.
I couldn't agree more. I have nothing against boundary pushers. They sometimes cause problems, but that's part of life. Yet, without boundary pushers, we'd still be chipping flints and wondering which one of us the lions would pull out of the tree tonight.
I believe there's plenty of room left in the old mansions to move the furniture around and come up with new arrangements that please and gratify. That's what I feel like doing with my talents and abilities. I don't expect it to make me rich and famous, but I really respond when someone comes by for a visit and says, "Hey, that's a room I'd like to spend some time in."
A small ambition, but mine own.
Published on August 29, 2015 07:17
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Tags:
fantasy, inn-of-the-seven-blessings, matthew-hughes, raffalon, rogues, short-stories
New sale to F&SF
Got up this morning and was surprised to find a Paypal payment from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction for "The Last Legend," a fantasy novelette set in the Dying Earth That was relatively quick, only two months in the submissions queue.
The story was originally written for the anthology, The Book of Legends, that Gardner Dozois was assembling when he died. It's my thirty-eighth sale to F&SF, a fact that causes me to stand with mouth agape in wonder, and my ninetieth short fiction sale altogether.
The story was originally written for the anthology, The Book of Legends, that Gardner Dozois was assembling when he died. It's my thirty-eighth sale to F&SF, a fact that causes me to stand with mouth agape in wonder, and my ninetieth short fiction sale altogether.
Published on July 01, 2019 08:50
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Tags:
dying-earth, fantasy, gardner-dozois, matthew-hughes
New Dying Earth novel
I've finished a new Dying Earth fantasy novel. A God in Hiding is set in the same milieu as my 2019 novel, A God in Chains, and features some of the same characters, as well as a few from other stories.
I'm going to get it formatted then send it out as a pdf ARC, to try to get reviews in places where self-publishers usually don't. So it might not be available until near the end of the year
I'm going to get it formatted then send it out as a pdf ARC, to try to get reviews in places where self-publishers usually don't. So it might not be available until near the end of the year
Published on July 07, 2023 13:29
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Tags:
demiurge, dying-earth, fantasy, matthew-hughes, thaumaturge, wizard