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Archonate Universe
The Commons
Includes the story "The Helper and His Hero," nominated for a Nebula Award - Best Novella, 2007 "For years now, 40,000 readers of "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" have been reveling in the adventures of Matt Hughes's Guth Bandar, the hero of this novel. Hughes is one of the top voices in modern SF, and this book has a huge audience waiting for it."
For 100,000 years, Old Earth's Institute for Historical Inquiry has mapped the collective unconscious of the human race. They have encountered all the archetypal figures - the Wise Man and the Fool, the Destroyer and the Redeemer - the "usual suspects" that populate the myths and legends at the back of the human mind.
And now young Guth Bandar suspects the collective unconscious has become aware of itself. Worse, it has an agenda. And worst of all, it can force Bandar to go deep into the darkest forests of the mind, where the only escape from madness is death.
""A fascinating premise. There is interest for the reader here on several levels: in following Guth Bandar's adventures, in the various archetypical personality types he encounters, in his reflections on the more philosophical questions of the nature of consciousness. In "The Commons," Hughes has created a universe with particularly fertile prospects for speculative activity.""
-- Tangent
""Irresistibly good reading.""
-- Booklist on Black Brillion
""Hughes's boldness is admirable.""
-- The New York Review of Science Fiction
For 100,000 years, Old Earth's Institute for Historical Inquiry has mapped the collective unconscious of the human race. They have encountered all the archetypal figures - the Wise Man and the Fool, the Destroyer and the Redeemer - the "usual suspects" that populate the myths and legends at the back of the human mind.
And now young Guth Bandar suspects the collective unconscious has become aware of itself. Worse, it has an agenda. And worst of all, it can force Bandar to go deep into the darkest forests of the mind, where the only escape from madness is death.
""A fascinating premise. There is interest for the reader here on several levels: in following Guth Bandar's adventures, in the various archetypical personality types he encounters, in his reflections on the more philosophical questions of the nature of consciousness. In "The Commons," Hughes has created a universe with particularly fertile prospects for speculative activity.""
-- Tangent
""Irresistibly good reading.""
-- Booklist on Black Brillion
""Hughes's boldness is admirable.""
-- The New York Review of Science Fiction
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
256 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2007
1 person is currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Hughes
202 books283 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 30, 2011
I think Hughes' idea of the noönauts and a collective unconscious that can be visited and mapped is interesting and it was the main reason I checked out this book from the library. I found the characters to be two-dimensional, though, and the dialogue was stilted. After a while I began to wonder: is this just how Hughes writes (this is the only work of his I've read), or was he deliberately creating characters who were only slightly more rounded than the idiomats of the Commons? Anyway, read this if you are intrigued by Hughes' universe, but if you prefer richly-developed characters, you may be disappointed.
December 18, 2019
The foreword by Robert Sawyer states this is a fixup novel and gives the definition. Going on to say that Foundation, The Weapon Shops of Isher and other classics have been fixups. These seven novellas when fixed up do have a continuity. We can see that Guth Bandar from the very earliest has been groomed by the collective unconscious for a purpose that won't come to fruition for decades, with each chapter being a standalone story.
Chapter 1 "A Herd of Opportunity"
Very Good+. Malabar has hired Preceptor Huffley to get rid of the loud neighbors. Bandar soon realizes that Huffley only wants to study the telepathic Bololos and their ability to see archtypes across species.
Chapter 2 "A Little Learning"
Very Good+. Guth Bandar is on a training exercise and finds that another noonaut has hindered him from getting to the next scene. Guth travels an alternate route where he gets into a predicament with three witches then escapes into a battleground between angels and demons. Pretty humorous while allowing us to see Guth using his wits.
Chapter 3 "Inner Huff"
Very Good. Bandar is acquiring siren songs and thinking how this will put him one up on Didrick Gabbris. This lapse in concentration allows an idiomat to turn him into a pig. He escapes from the scene only to fall into a "Three Little Pigs" scene.
Chapter 4 "Help Wonted"
Good+. Bandar is lucid dreaming when something beckons him. When he refuses to cooperate with the multifacet he is rendered mute, so he can't make the notes for an emergency exit, and stuck as a pyramid building slave. What was the ending? Did Bandar capitulate or not? He said no, but why the last paragraph?
Chapter 5 "Bye the Rules"
Excellent/VG. Guth Bandar is living a quiet life helping in his uncle's shop. Until something strange happens. A nearby business owner has sold and the new owner is going into direct competition with Uncle Fley. In this age nothing ever changes. Guth investigates and finds his nemesis from the institute is behind it, when confronted he says he had to because of a lucid dream. This prompts Guth into his own lucid dream that ends up involving an old west cattle ranch.
Chapter 6 "The Helper and His Hero" part 1
Good/VG. Decades have passed. Guth Bandar is retired and now going back to his avocation. He wants to study the Swept and its gravity anomalies to see if it has any effect on the Commons. On the way he meets Wasselthorpe who turns out to be a natural at entering the Commons. Not necessarily a good thing. Most naturals are attracted to an Archtype and get stuck, while their body becomes the Archtype. Bandar is scared and says he has had enough tutoring of Wasselthorpe and he is going to get out of there.
Chapter 7 "The Helper and His Hero" part 2
Very Good. The trip across the Swept already had one death. Now that it's solved Bandar is going to try to get away from the young man who he learns is Baro Harkless. Before he can even ask there are more events in the real world that keep him from getting away. Leading to more adventures and a great struggle in the Commons.
Chapter 1 "A Herd of Opportunity"
Very Good+. Malabar has hired Preceptor Huffley to get rid of the loud neighbors. Bandar soon realizes that Huffley only wants to study the telepathic Bololos and their ability to see archtypes across species.
Chapter 2 "A Little Learning"
Very Good+. Guth Bandar is on a training exercise and finds that another noonaut has hindered him from getting to the next scene. Guth travels an alternate route where he gets into a predicament with three witches then escapes into a battleground between angels and demons. Pretty humorous while allowing us to see Guth using his wits.
Chapter 3 "Inner Huff"
Very Good. Bandar is acquiring siren songs and thinking how this will put him one up on Didrick Gabbris. This lapse in concentration allows an idiomat to turn him into a pig. He escapes from the scene only to fall into a "Three Little Pigs" scene.
Chapter 4 "Help Wonted"
Good+. Bandar is lucid dreaming when something beckons him. When he refuses to cooperate with the multifacet he is rendered mute, so he can't make the notes for an emergency exit, and stuck as a pyramid building slave. What was the ending? Did Bandar capitulate or not? He said no, but why the last paragraph?
Chapter 5 "Bye the Rules"
Excellent/VG. Guth Bandar is living a quiet life helping in his uncle's shop. Until something strange happens. A nearby business owner has sold and the new owner is going into direct competition with Uncle Fley. In this age nothing ever changes. Guth investigates and finds his nemesis from the institute is behind it, when confronted he says he had to because of a lucid dream. This prompts Guth into his own lucid dream that ends up involving an old west cattle ranch.
Chapter 6 "The Helper and His Hero" part 1
Good/VG. Decades have passed. Guth Bandar is retired and now going back to his avocation. He wants to study the Swept and its gravity anomalies to see if it has any effect on the Commons. On the way he meets Wasselthorpe who turns out to be a natural at entering the Commons. Not necessarily a good thing. Most naturals are attracted to an Archtype and get stuck, while their body becomes the Archtype. Bandar is scared and says he has had enough tutoring of Wasselthorpe and he is going to get out of there.
Chapter 7 "The Helper and His Hero" part 2
Very Good. The trip across the Swept already had one death. Now that it's solved Bandar is going to try to get away from the young man who he learns is Baro Harkless. Before he can even ask there are more events in the real world that keep him from getting away. Leading to more adventures and a great struggle in the Commons.
September 10, 2022
This work, despite being presented as a novel, is a collection of short stories featuring the protagonist Guth Bander. They are strangely surreal fantasies, with shades of humour and involving various adventures, or mis-adventures— which would be more apt, on part of Bander, as he rises in the organisational hierarchy.
I enjoyed the humour. But I sorely missed the ratiocination as evident in Hapthorne's cases.
Your call.
I enjoyed the humour. But I sorely missed the ratiocination as evident in Hapthorne's cases.
Your call.
August 9, 2016
This is a "fixup" novel, meaning a novel made primarily out of short stories previous published, then adapted into a novel form (though still episodic). I'd read and enjoyed these stories before when published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, but they were more coherent here- especially as we can really see Guth Bandar grow and develop as a character.
Guth starts as a student at the Institute for Historical Inquiry, which looks at humanity's history by literally exploring the (Jungian) Collective Unconscious. This has been done for millenia, so t is considered that everything is known...but this turns out not to be the case, leading Guth into wilder and wilder adventures while negatively impacting his career.
The plot's only part of the charm, though! I very much enjoyed the odd and mannered prose in which it was written; it's not hard to read, just unusual, with words both invented (but obvious in context), and unusual one, sometimes used with a bit of a twist. I love wordplay, and that's a great pleasure here. There are also entertaining shout-outs to various myths, like Circe, and the Sirens, not to mention the Three Little Pigs!
It's a very enjoyable read! I think I would have loved it more, though, if I had taken a break or 2 rather than reading right through; the prose would have retained its freshness more that way.
Guth starts as a student at the Institute for Historical Inquiry, which looks at humanity's history by literally exploring the (Jungian) Collective Unconscious. This has been done for millenia, so t is considered that everything is known...but this turns out not to be the case, leading Guth into wilder and wilder adventures while negatively impacting his career.
The plot's only part of the charm, though! I very much enjoyed the odd and mannered prose in which it was written; it's not hard to read, just unusual, with words both invented (but obvious in context), and unusual one, sometimes used with a bit of a twist. I love wordplay, and that's a great pleasure here. There are also entertaining shout-outs to various myths, like Circe, and the Sirens, not to mention the Three Little Pigs!
It's a very enjoyable read! I think I would have loved it more, though, if I had taken a break or 2 rather than reading right through; the prose would have retained its freshness more that way.
February 21, 2008
Hughes imaginative work is unique and well worth trying.
This collection of his short stories molded by the author in some ways to form a coherent a novel is a very interesting psychological science fiction blend. The Commons is our deepest unconsciousness filled with with primeval archetypes like the Wise Old Man, the Helper, the Tyrant, the Bully and the Hero. Guth Bander, who is a student at the Institute of Historical Inquiry, which has studied the Commons for time immemorial has made a startling discovery, that the Commons archetypes, who were thought to just play out the scripted roles forever, have an agenda. Moreover they want Bander to aid them. Bander, who wants nothing to do with this role foisted upon him by the Commons is thrust into various adventures all for the purpose of making him accept his destiny. Ultimately, Bander aids the Hero against a deadly and somewhat unknown monster.
Althought the stories do not always mesh well and there are some gaps, the writing is fresh and the ideas are new.
Two thumbs up.
This collection of his short stories molded by the author in some ways to form a coherent a novel is a very interesting psychological science fiction blend. The Commons is our deepest unconsciousness filled with with primeval archetypes like the Wise Old Man, the Helper, the Tyrant, the Bully and the Hero. Guth Bander, who is a student at the Institute of Historical Inquiry, which has studied the Commons for time immemorial has made a startling discovery, that the Commons archetypes, who were thought to just play out the scripted roles forever, have an agenda. Moreover they want Bander to aid them. Bander, who wants nothing to do with this role foisted upon him by the Commons is thrust into various adventures all for the purpose of making him accept his destiny. Ultimately, Bander aids the Hero against a deadly and somewhat unknown monster.
Althought the stories do not always mesh well and there are some gaps, the writing is fresh and the ideas are new.
Two thumbs up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2023
A fun selection of short stories, almost destroyed by an apologetic introduction. Robert Sawyer begins the collection by explaining that (like many other popular works) this novel consists of short stories originally published elsewhere, but now brought together and edited and changed to create a coherent novel.
Which, of course, it doesn't do. It's a set of short stories, featuring the same main character, in internal chronological order (which seems to be the published order as well). But it would require substantial changes to work as a novel. The climactic short story (in two chapters, so longer than most) features, save for our protagonist, a setting and numerous characters, none of whom we've met or heard of before, a ludicrous way to complete a novel.
But the stories are nifty, and had this been called "The Many Adventures of Guth Bandar" with an introduction explaining "Bandar's stories are super popular and here they all are in one volume" I would have been delighted. In fact, they'd almost form a kind of novel in my mind, especially since they follow chronologically. It would have seem like a plus that it sort of worked, instead of a huge demerit that (despite Sawyer's claim) it didn't.
So a star-off for pretending to be a novel.
Bandar himself never quite coalesces as a character for me, and his primary trait (esp. in the later chapters) seems to be frustrating obtuseness.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
Which, of course, it doesn't do. It's a set of short stories, featuring the same main character, in internal chronological order (which seems to be the published order as well). But it would require substantial changes to work as a novel. The climactic short story (in two chapters, so longer than most) features, save for our protagonist, a setting and numerous characters, none of whom we've met or heard of before, a ludicrous way to complete a novel.
But the stories are nifty, and had this been called "The Many Adventures of Guth Bandar" with an introduction explaining "Bandar's stories are super popular and here they all are in one volume" I would have been delighted. In fact, they'd almost form a kind of novel in my mind, especially since they follow chronologically. It would have seem like a plus that it sort of worked, instead of a huge demerit that (despite Sawyer's claim) it didn't.
So a star-off for pretending to be a novel.
Bandar himself never quite coalesces as a character for me, and his primary trait (esp. in the later chapters) seems to be frustrating obtuseness.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
November 15, 2010
Da:
http://www.webalice.it/michele.castel...
Una raccolta di racconti di uno scrittore praticamente sconosciuto in Italia, nonostante abbia all'attivo diversi romanzi che hanno avuto una buona accoglienza dai lettori anglosassoni. Racconti che hanno un tema comune e che rappresentano lo sviluppo di un personaggio e di una storia complessa.
La base di tutto è il concetto che l'inconscio collettivo dell'intera umanità, passata e forse anche futura, costituisca una realtà concreta, con tutti gli archetipi, importanti o meno che siano, che acquistano concretezza in questo mondo virtuale ma percorribile mentalmente chiamato noosfera. Le possibilità narrative sono quindi infinite, perchè permettono di esaminare ogni luogo comune, ogni "fissazione" umana che può diventare un personaggio nel mondo della noosfera, o dei commons, cioè dei luoghi comuni. Se questo è vero per l'umanità, deve essere vero per ogni razza che popola l'universo, e quindi la noosfera è costituita da tanti mondi che dovrebbero essere separati, ma spesso non lo sono. Può quindi darsi che per far fronte ad incursioni non gradite, la stessa noosfera umana diventi autoconsapevole, e cerchi di pilotare il comportamento umano reale per perseguire i propri fini.
Sono racconti meno impegnativi e meno profondi di quanto l'assunto potrebbe comportare, scritti con una ironia di base piuttosto accentuata e con lo scopo di divertire, non tanto di proporre problematiche fondamentali.
Per capire la portata reale di Hughes bisognerebbe poter leggere i suoi romanzi più importanti, per i quali è stato paragonato a Jack Vance, mentre per ora dobbiamo accontentarci di questi racconti leggeri per passare alcune ore gradevoli.
http://www.webalice.it/michele.castel...
Una raccolta di racconti di uno scrittore praticamente sconosciuto in Italia, nonostante abbia all'attivo diversi romanzi che hanno avuto una buona accoglienza dai lettori anglosassoni. Racconti che hanno un tema comune e che rappresentano lo sviluppo di un personaggio e di una storia complessa.
La base di tutto è il concetto che l'inconscio collettivo dell'intera umanità, passata e forse anche futura, costituisca una realtà concreta, con tutti gli archetipi, importanti o meno che siano, che acquistano concretezza in questo mondo virtuale ma percorribile mentalmente chiamato noosfera. Le possibilità narrative sono quindi infinite, perchè permettono di esaminare ogni luogo comune, ogni "fissazione" umana che può diventare un personaggio nel mondo della noosfera, o dei commons, cioè dei luoghi comuni. Se questo è vero per l'umanità, deve essere vero per ogni razza che popola l'universo, e quindi la noosfera è costituita da tanti mondi che dovrebbero essere separati, ma spesso non lo sono. Può quindi darsi che per far fronte ad incursioni non gradite, la stessa noosfera umana diventi autoconsapevole, e cerchi di pilotare il comportamento umano reale per perseguire i propri fini.
Sono racconti meno impegnativi e meno profondi di quanto l'assunto potrebbe comportare, scritti con una ironia di base piuttosto accentuata e con lo scopo di divertire, non tanto di proporre problematiche fondamentali.
Per capire la portata reale di Hughes bisognerebbe poter leggere i suoi romanzi più importanti, per i quali è stato paragonato a Jack Vance, mentre per ora dobbiamo accontentarci di questi racconti leggeri per passare alcune ore gradevoli.
October 1, 2015
Been on my to-read list since I read "The Helper and His Hero," which is part of this novel, a few years ago.
I loved the idea of the collective unconscious becoming aware, and I liked how the protagonist's main rival is really nothing more than an archetype himself. But I do wish at least some of the other characters were more fleshed out.
And the plot was a bit disjointed, probably a problem from trying to connect all the short stories. I'd be interested in a true novel set in this world.
I loved the idea of the collective unconscious becoming aware, and I liked how the protagonist's main rival is really nothing more than an archetype himself. But I do wish at least some of the other characters were more fleshed out.
And the plot was a bit disjointed, probably a problem from trying to connect all the short stories. I'd be interested in a true novel set in this world.
February 25, 2011
This book consists of collection of Hughes' Noonaut stories strung together into a novel format. While the world that Hughes constructs is interesting, the characters are somewhat wooden, and the plot drags. These stories were much better when I read them originally. I'd like to see a fully developed novel involving the noosphere, but this isn't it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews