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Archonate Universe
The Gist Hunter and Other Stories by Matthew Hughes
The first collection by writer Matthew Hughes, and the perfect companion to his acclaimed novel Black Brillion, The Gist Hunter and Other Stories features nine stories taking place in the universe of The Archonate, as well as four non-series stories. The stories of Henghis Hapthorn, Old Earth's "foremost freelance discriminator", combine mystery and science fantasy while simultaneously recalling the arch irony of Gene Wolfe and the sly fancies of Jack Vance.
Hardcover
First published October 18, 2005
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About the author
Matthew Hughes
201 books280 followersBorn in Liverpool, his family moved to Canada when he was five years old. Married since late 1960s, he has three grown sons. He is currently relocated to Britain. He is a former director of the Federation of British Columbia Writers.
A university drop-out from a working poor background, he worked in a factory that made school desks, drove a grocery delivery truck, was night janitor in a GM dealership, and did a short stint as an orderly in a private mental hospital. As a teenager, he served a year as a volunteer with the Company of Young Canadians.
He has made his living as a writer all of his adult life, first as a journalist in newspapers, then as a staff speechwriter to the Canadian Ministers of Justice and Environment, and, since 1979, as a freelance corporate and political speechwriter in British Columbia.
His short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s, Asimov’s, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Postscripts, Interzone, and a number of "Year’s Best" anthologies. Night Shade Books published his short story collection, The Gist Hunter and Other Stories, in 2005.
He has won the Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada, The Endeavour Award for his historical novel What the Wind Brings, and the Global Book Award in the dark fantasy category for The Ghost-Wrangler.
A university drop-out from a working poor background, he worked in a factory that made school desks, drove a grocery delivery truck, was night janitor in a GM dealership, and did a short stint as an orderly in a private mental hospital. As a teenager, he served a year as a volunteer with the Company of Young Canadians.
He has made his living as a writer all of his adult life, first as a journalist in newspapers, then as a staff speechwriter to the Canadian Ministers of Justice and Environment, and, since 1979, as a freelance corporate and political speechwriter in British Columbia.
His short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s, Asimov’s, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Postscripts, Interzone, and a number of "Year’s Best" anthologies. Night Shade Books published his short story collection, The Gist Hunter and Other Stories, in 2005.
He has won the Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada, The Endeavour Award for his historical novel What the Wind Brings, and the Global Book Award in the dark fantasy category for The Ghost-Wrangler.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 26, 2010
4.0 stars. Fans of Jack Vance's DYING EARTH stories...REJOICE!!! While certainly not the equal of Jack Vance's stories (then again, what is), Hughes is rightfully called "the heir of Jack Vance" by many. After thinking that Hughes' "Grolion of Almery" was one of the best stories in Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance, I decided to check out his solo work and am glad that I did.
I read this collection for the Henghis Hapthorn stories which are set in the penultimate age of the Dying Earth when science is beginning to fade and magic is once again become ascendant. These are really good solid stories that will certainly entertain fans of the Dying Earth series though Hughes' Hapthorn character is less of a scoundrel than Vance's classic characters. Recommended.
I read this collection for the Henghis Hapthorn stories which are set in the penultimate age of the Dying Earth when science is beginning to fade and magic is once again become ascendant. These are really good solid stories that will certainly entertain fans of the Dying Earth series though Hughes' Hapthorn character is less of a scoundrel than Vance's classic characters. Recommended.
December 7, 2014
This is a pretty varied collection of stories, many of them a sci-fi/fantasy blend. The first chunk is dedicated to Henghis Hapthorn, a discriminator (private investigator) of some renown who lives in the far-flung future where ten thousand worlds have been discovered. These are the stories for which I bought the book, and they were indeed my favorite of the lot. Henghis is a Sherlock Holmes-type detective, very logical and prone to noticing the little details that will unravel a case---yet his absolutely rational world is interrupted by the encroaching existence of a force that he has spent his entire life denouncing. Magic. The opening story is as much a personal problem as a case, as something has caused Henghis to become vastly reduced in attractiveness, financial solvency, and intellectual capabilities. The dry humor shines in places like this:
"Be useful and posit some complicating factors that might have something to do with the case."
"Very well. You are ugly and not very bright."
It's also interesting to see how the relationship between Henghis and his integrator (personal computer) evolves, and how Henghis himself is changing. This is the background to the full-length novels beginning with Majestrum, which I had previously read and also enjoyed. And these are the funniest stories in the book. The next set feature only one character, so they lack the dynamic present between Henghis and his integrator, who manage to have so many exchanges like the above, or between Henghis and some determined adversary.
The second set of three stories follows Guth Bandar, an adventurer inside the realms of the collective unconscious. Guth is rather amusingly logical about breaking down what's happening to him in terms of stories, metaphors, and archetypes. Like the Henghis stories, there's a progression in his character even over the three stories here, and a hint at the end of the third that some greater destiny awaits. I liked the Commons that he explores, how he analyzes the stories, and the offer of a destiny that isn't explained. I was less fond of the more adult tone of these, as I prefer not to read explicit scenes.
The last set of stories all stand alone, though the first two offer a very similar take on time travelers that I did appreciate. The third is the longest, and the one I liked best of the bunch, where an exo-sociologist has to unravel the secrets of an alien society before he loses his job.
Overall this is a solid collection, although I still very much prefer the Henghis stories over the rest of them. I just couldn't stop laughing while I was reading those. I rate this book Recommended.
"Be useful and posit some complicating factors that might have something to do with the case."
"Very well. You are ugly and not very bright."
It's also interesting to see how the relationship between Henghis and his integrator (personal computer) evolves, and how Henghis himself is changing. This is the background to the full-length novels beginning with Majestrum, which I had previously read and also enjoyed. And these are the funniest stories in the book. The next set feature only one character, so they lack the dynamic present between Henghis and his integrator, who manage to have so many exchanges like the above, or between Henghis and some determined adversary.
The second set of three stories follows Guth Bandar, an adventurer inside the realms of the collective unconscious. Guth is rather amusingly logical about breaking down what's happening to him in terms of stories, metaphors, and archetypes. Like the Henghis stories, there's a progression in his character even over the three stories here, and a hint at the end of the third that some greater destiny awaits. I liked the Commons that he explores, how he analyzes the stories, and the offer of a destiny that isn't explained. I was less fond of the more adult tone of these, as I prefer not to read explicit scenes.
The last set of stories all stand alone, though the first two offer a very similar take on time travelers that I did appreciate. The third is the longest, and the one I liked best of the bunch, where an exo-sociologist has to unravel the secrets of an alien society before he loses his job.
Overall this is a solid collection, although I still very much prefer the Henghis stories over the rest of them. I just couldn't stop laughing while I was reading those. I rate this book Recommended.
June 16, 2021
Fell in love with Hughes' stories a bit late in life (but then, better late than never, right?!). Particularly fascinated by the concept of the noosphere, and that unconventional hero, the noonaut Guth Bander. Looking forward to discovering the rest of the books by this quirky and offbeat author!
June 17, 2008
This is the book with the caveman sex story, I think. Anyway, awesome.
June 3, 2017
Humorous fantasy is not easy to write, but Matthew Hughes has cracked this style. Very enjoyable stories, told well and engagingly.
February 15, 2021
Whoops, looks like I'd already read all the Henghis Hapthorn stories in this collection, but it was nice to check out some of Hughes' other stuff. The Guth Bandar were some fun meta-fiction stories.
December 3, 2022
Kinda boring.. sorry
March 2, 2020
Als Leser ist man immer auf der Suche nach neuen, aufregenden Autoren. Wenn in dem Zusammenhang sogar der Name Jack Vance auftaucht, ist die Erwartungshaltung groß.
Um es gleich vorwegzunehmen, das Buch war eine herbe Enttäuschung. Zum einen hat mir der Protagonist Henghis Hapthorn in den ersten Geschichten überhaupt nicht gefallen. Er ist ein sogenannter "Discriminator", der Nachforschungen in besonders kniffligen Fällen anstellt. Seine Überheblichkeit und Über-Intelligenz fand ich sehr penetrant. Ihm zur Seite steht der sogenannte Integrator, eine AI mit eigener Persönlichkeit, die ihm bei den Untersuchungen hilft und ihn auf dem Boden der Tatsachen herunterzuholen versucht. Das klingt erst einmal nicht schlecht, artet aber in lange Ping-Pong Diskussionen aus, dessen Humor mir komplett abging. Besonders nervig fand ich die häufigen Wiederholungen in den Dialogen. Beim ersten Mal ist es noch witzig, wenn Henghis, wenn er nicht mehr weiter weiß, entweder mit Indeed oder mit It would be premature for me to answer. antwortet. Später hat dieser running gag bei mir die Wirkung verfehlt; er wirkt einfach flach.
Die Handlungen konnten mich ebenfalls nicht überzeugen. Als Leser war ich nicht in der Lage, die Untersuchungen nachzuvollziehen, was ja bei Detektivgeschichten ein sehr spannender Aspekt ist. Zu häufig gibt es eine relativ überraschende Wendung und alles wird gut.
Am besten hat mir die erste Geschichte mit Guth Bandar gefallen. Beinahe wäre mir ihre Qualität entgangen, weil ich bereits sehr schlecht auf das Buch eingestellt war. Es gibt einige interessante Aspekte und der Protagonist ist wesentlich sympathischer als Henghis Hapthorn. Die Mischung aus SF und ein wenig Magie ist gelungen und sehr kurzweilig.
Die weiteren Geschichten fallen wieder ab und bei den letzten 4 Zugaben sieht man, dass die Qualität höchstens semi-professionellen Ansprüchen genügt.
Mich wundert, dass das Buch überaus positive Besprechungen bekommen hat mit ganz wenigen kritischen Stimmen. Wenn man bedenkt, was für großartige Autoren und Bücher es gibt, kann ich von dieser seichten Lektüre nur abraten. Ein Vergleich mit Jack Vance ist ein Schlag ins Gesicht. Vance hat wundervolle farbenfrohe, exotische Welten erschaffen in einer sehr prosaischen Sprache. Seine Charaktere sind häufig vielschichtig und haben mit interessanten Problemen zu tun. Nichts von alldem findet man hier. Die einzige Gemeinsamkeit wäre der Schauplatz, der an Dying Earth angelehnt ist, aber das war es auch schon.
Um es gleich vorwegzunehmen, das Buch war eine herbe Enttäuschung. Zum einen hat mir der Protagonist Henghis Hapthorn in den ersten Geschichten überhaupt nicht gefallen. Er ist ein sogenannter "Discriminator", der Nachforschungen in besonders kniffligen Fällen anstellt. Seine Überheblichkeit und Über-Intelligenz fand ich sehr penetrant. Ihm zur Seite steht der sogenannte Integrator, eine AI mit eigener Persönlichkeit, die ihm bei den Untersuchungen hilft und ihn auf dem Boden der Tatsachen herunterzuholen versucht. Das klingt erst einmal nicht schlecht, artet aber in lange Ping-Pong Diskussionen aus, dessen Humor mir komplett abging. Besonders nervig fand ich die häufigen Wiederholungen in den Dialogen. Beim ersten Mal ist es noch witzig, wenn Henghis, wenn er nicht mehr weiter weiß, entweder mit Indeed oder mit It would be premature for me to answer. antwortet. Später hat dieser running gag bei mir die Wirkung verfehlt; er wirkt einfach flach.
Die Handlungen konnten mich ebenfalls nicht überzeugen. Als Leser war ich nicht in der Lage, die Untersuchungen nachzuvollziehen, was ja bei Detektivgeschichten ein sehr spannender Aspekt ist. Zu häufig gibt es eine relativ überraschende Wendung und alles wird gut.
Am besten hat mir die erste Geschichte mit Guth Bandar gefallen. Beinahe wäre mir ihre Qualität entgangen, weil ich bereits sehr schlecht auf das Buch eingestellt war. Es gibt einige interessante Aspekte und der Protagonist ist wesentlich sympathischer als Henghis Hapthorn. Die Mischung aus SF und ein wenig Magie ist gelungen und sehr kurzweilig.
Die weiteren Geschichten fallen wieder ab und bei den letzten 4 Zugaben sieht man, dass die Qualität höchstens semi-professionellen Ansprüchen genügt.
Mich wundert, dass das Buch überaus positive Besprechungen bekommen hat mit ganz wenigen kritischen Stimmen. Wenn man bedenkt, was für großartige Autoren und Bücher es gibt, kann ich von dieser seichten Lektüre nur abraten. Ein Vergleich mit Jack Vance ist ein Schlag ins Gesicht. Vance hat wundervolle farbenfrohe, exotische Welten erschaffen in einer sehr prosaischen Sprache. Seine Charaktere sind häufig vielschichtig und haben mit interessanten Problemen zu tun. Nichts von alldem findet man hier. Die einzige Gemeinsamkeit wäre der Schauplatz, der an Dying Earth angelehnt ist, aber das war es auch schon.
July 12, 2024
A fun collection with a rollicking pulp style reminiscent of both classic mystery fare and Golden Age science fiction (for better or worse), but most interesting in the stories where Hughes explores the dreamlike Commons of his Jungian noösphere, an inspired concept with worlds of potential.
June 8, 2011
This is very hard to give a star rating to, since I absolutely loved some of the stories, but the ones that were attempting to be "deep" or something just fell short.
July 27, 2014
The first story was really good. And although the tone remained light and funny, I thought it got a bit repetitive.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews