Matthew Hughes's Blog: barbarians of the beyond - Posts Tagged "telltale"
New Raffalon story in F&SF
Charlie Finlay, editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, tells me that I'll have a new Raffalon story in the January/February issue. It's called "Telltale."
F&SF is the venerable (as old as I am) sf and fantasy digest mag that Stephen King called "still the gold standard of short fiction in the US." It's a good deal and you can even get electronic subscriptions exclusively through Amazon. Check it out.
In other news, I've finished the first draft (153k words) of the historical novel I wanted to write for more than forty years. I think I'll let it cool a little before I get into the revisions, and in the meantime I'll try my hand at a new Raffalon tale.
F&SF is the venerable (as old as I am) sf and fantasy digest mag that Stephen King called "still the gold standard of short fiction in the US." It's a good deal and you can even get electronic subscriptions exclusively through Amazon. Check it out.
In other news, I've finished the first draft (153k words) of the historical novel I wanted to write for more than forty years. I think I'll let it cool a little before I get into the revisions, and in the meantime I'll try my hand at a new Raffalon tale.
Some review snippets
The January/February edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is out and my Raffalon story, "Telltale," is getting some nice reviews.
At Locus Online, Lois Tilton notes correctly that this episode in the archetypal thief's career has the ring of fairy tale about it -- a kind of Scheherazade in reverse -- but sums it up as "entertaining stuff."
At Tangent Online, reviewer Nicky Magas says, "Hughes neither over-explains nor hoards details, giving the reader the feeling of a natural character and world, even if they are experiencing it for the first time. Raffalon is a casually charming character, and set alongside neat, unobtrusive prose, “Telltale” is an easily digestible fantasy adventure story."
And though I don't usually take official note of Goodreads reviews, except to feel good about the positive ones, I was especially pleased by a recent one for my story "Greeves and the Evening Star,' in the George R.R. Martin/Gardner Dozois co-edited theme anthology, Old Venus. A reader/reviewer named Andrew Caldwell, like me a P.G. Wodehouse devotee, said, " Not only did I hurt myself laughing and brought on an asthma attack but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It is immensely well written, exciting and perhaps the funniest short story I have read in the last ten years. 5/5 "
And finally, for anyone who's interested, I'm working on the second draft of my historical novel and hope to have it in shape by the end of the month. After that, there will be a third draft to really polish the prose.
At Locus Online, Lois Tilton notes correctly that this episode in the archetypal thief's career has the ring of fairy tale about it -- a kind of Scheherazade in reverse -- but sums it up as "entertaining stuff."
At Tangent Online, reviewer Nicky Magas says, "Hughes neither over-explains nor hoards details, giving the reader the feeling of a natural character and world, even if they are experiencing it for the first time. Raffalon is a casually charming character, and set alongside neat, unobtrusive prose, “Telltale” is an easily digestible fantasy adventure story."
And though I don't usually take official note of Goodreads reviews, except to feel good about the positive ones, I was especially pleased by a recent one for my story "Greeves and the Evening Star,' in the George R.R. Martin/Gardner Dozois co-edited theme anthology, Old Venus. A reader/reviewer named Andrew Caldwell, like me a P.G. Wodehouse devotee, said, " Not only did I hurt myself laughing and brought on an asthma attack but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It is immensely well written, exciting and perhaps the funniest short story I have read in the last ten years. 5/5 "
And finally, for anyone who's interested, I'm working on the second draft of my historical novel and hope to have it in shape by the end of the month. After that, there will be a third draft to really polish the prose.
"Telltale" Review
Nice to start the year off with a good review. At SF Revu, Sam Tomaino reviews "Telltale," the new Raffalon story in the January February issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: ". . . another delightful tale from Hughes."
And never too late, here's a blogger's review of "Bye the Rules," a Guth Bandar tale that ran in the December 2006 edition of F&SF. It gets an "excellent/vg" rating, which allows me to remind people that all the Guth Bandar stories are collected in The Compleat Guth Bandar available wherever ebooks and POD paperbacks are sold, including my own website.
And never too late, here's a blogger's review of "Bye the Rules," a Guth Bandar tale that ran in the December 2006 edition of F&SF. It gets an "excellent/vg" rating, which allows me to remind people that all the Guth Bandar stories are collected in The Compleat Guth Bandar available wherever ebooks and POD paperbacks are sold, including my own website.
Another Raffalon fan
In the latest SF Crowsnest, Patrick Mahon reviews "Telltale," the Raffalon tale in the January/February Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: " I have to admit that whenever I see Matthew Hughes’ name on the contents page of an issue of MF&SF, that’s the story I go to first. I’ve read at least four Raffalon stories over the last couple of years, I think, and each of them has been as enjoyable as the last. The character is an eternal ‘Jack the Lad’, with the style and charisma to carry the role off. Hughes’ prose seems effortless and these stories always provide an interesting and convoluted plot that maintains your interest from beginning to end."
The prose is effortless, I suppose. I certainly enjoy writing picaresque stories. And I never know, when I start one of those convoluted plots, exactly where it's going to end up, but they always go somewhere interesting.
The prose is effortless, I suppose. I certainly enjoy writing picaresque stories. And I never know, when I start one of those convoluted plots, exactly where it's going to end up, but they always go somewhere interesting.
"Telltale" reviewed in Locus
In the March Locus, Gardner Dozois reviews the January/February issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and singles out my Raffalon story, "Telltale," as “...the best of the issue’s fantasy stories."
He says, "Matthew Hughes gives us another story of Raffalon the Thief in ‘Telltale’, as Raffalon tries to reason his way out of another of the complex and very sticky magical situations he’s always getting himself entangled in, this one even more difficult to extricate himself from than usual.”
He says, "Matthew Hughes gives us another story of Raffalon the Thief in ‘Telltale’, as Raffalon tries to reason his way out of another of the complex and very sticky magical situations he’s always getting himself entangled in, this one even more difficult to extricate himself from than usual.”
