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Gullible's Travels #2
Fool Me Twice
After returning from his quest to save the world from his uncle, Filidor Vesh now stumbles blindly through an attempt to squelch the machinations of a would-be political usurper. As a result, he must contend with evil agents as well as his true love.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2001
9 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 23, 2018
It Will Take You Afar
While being his own man, Hughes still captures the whimsy and vision of a Vancian universe. Filled with adventure, marvelous prose and a droll sense of humor, the second of the Archon -in-training Fildor Vesh books whizzes along at a brisk pace dragging you through inverted plot twist after breathless plot twist.
Our hero, Vesh, manages to tumble through a series of spine stiffening action with the accidental help of the voice of an unseen "advisor", and exit a bit wiser in the end.
Oh yes.
He also finds love.
You will not regret purchasing this marvelous story and homage to Jack Vance.
While being his own man, Hughes still captures the whimsy and vision of a Vancian universe. Filled with adventure, marvelous prose and a droll sense of humor, the second of the Archon -in-training Fildor Vesh books whizzes along at a brisk pace dragging you through inverted plot twist after breathless plot twist.
Our hero, Vesh, manages to tumble through a series of spine stiffening action with the accidental help of the voice of an unseen "advisor", and exit a bit wiser in the end.
Oh yes.
He also finds love.
You will not regret purchasing this marvelous story and homage to Jack Vance.
March 23, 2012
I was a bit disappointed in this Hughes book. It was enjoyable, but just passably. In the main, the interesting characters had already been introduced and fairly well explored in the prequel to this book, and the additional characters added didn't seem as interesting, or fleshed out.
It felt more like a sequel done for the sake of a sequel.
By the end, I just had no desire to hope for a third book in the series. Mr. Hughes can be an excellent writer, I'm glad he didn't continue with this series.
It felt more like a sequel done for the sake of a sequel.
By the end, I just had no desire to hope for a third book in the series. Mr. Hughes can be an excellent writer, I'm glad he didn't continue with this series.
September 7, 2013
Really wanted 3 1/2 starts for this one. While an interesting continuation of the first story; which I greatly enjoyed, this fell a little flat. It just seemed that Hughes was straining to pull things together in this installment.
December 22, 2014
More Dying Earth riffs, read the other book in this series first.
January 25, 2015
A little better than the first book in the series. Maybe 4 1/2 stars.
May 6, 2020
Filidor Vesh, the underachieving nephew of the Archon [absolute ruler] of Old Earth, returns in "Fool Me Twice", Hughes' dryly funny sequel to "Fools Errant". Now the Archon's apprentice, Filidor sallies forth in search of his possibly kidnapped uncle (and also of a certain beautiful girl). Instead of ravenous beasts, raging mobs, and an evil wizard [see "Fools Errant"], Filidor must cope with philosophical pirates, ardent alien converts, a troupe of actors who support their performances by theft, and a transcosmic integrator that has become lodged in his left ear. Abandoned by his treacherous majordomo, with his documents stolen by the beautiful yet tricky Emmlyn, the Archon's nephew pursues his mission across the variegated landscape of Old Earth undeterred. In true picaresque tradition, Filidor overcomes all obstacles, defeating an evil plot to disassemble the Archon, becoming appointed UnderArchon, and performing a speaking part in a masque at his own engagement party. A this literate romp.
July 10, 2017
B/B-, Vanceian sci-fantasy, had moments,
September 12, 2023
Compared to Book 1 of this series, this book is more direct and satirical with its references to Vance's Dying Earth, and something is lost for it.
September 6, 2018
Not quite as good as the previous story in the series, but that might just be my frustration with Filidor's backsliding since the last story and being introduced as pretty much unchanged by his experiences with his uncle.
Filidor grows a lot in this story and then backslides again just as the last chapter opens up. Arrrgh! I can forgive this because it still had its moments in the final pages, and I know how much better this author's later work gets.
Filidor grows a lot in this story and then backslides again just as the last chapter opens up. Arrrgh! I can forgive this because it still had its moments in the final pages, and I know how much better this author's later work gets.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews