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Archonate Universe
9 Tales of Henghis Hapthorn
Nine tales of Henghis Hapthorn, foremost freelance discriminator of Old Earth in the planet's penultimate age. Included are the six stories that ran in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, leading up to the events that began the first Hapthorn novel, Majestrum, plus three more.
219 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 31, 2013
34 people are currently reading
298 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Hughes
202 books282 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 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 16, 2014
9 Tales of Henghis Hapthorn is a collection of tales about Henghis Hapthorn, Old Earth's best freelance discriminator. There are nine of them.
First, these tales occur in Matthew Hughes' Archonate Universe, in an age just before the time of Jack Vance's Dying Earth (or a very similar setting different enough to avoid litigation), an age where magic is slowly replacing science. Secondly, this would have been great to have before reading the three Henghis Hapthorn novels.
The Immersion: An old enemy hires Henghis to find out who dumped goo on his head and left him hairless.
The Immersion was a good way to reintroduce me to Henghis' sometimes confusing world. The tales are told in the first person and he talks like the Sherlock Holmes of thousands of centuries in the future. The mystery was fairly complicated, as Hapthorn's usually are, but still satisfying and somewhat hilarious.
Will it be the best tale in the collection? It would be premature to say...
Mastermindless: All the men of Old Earth have been rendered penniless, unattractive, and dull, and it's up to a penniless, unattractive, and dull Henghis Hapthorn to unravel what happened.
This was the first Henghis Hapthorn story published and the rise of magic is present in abundance. Where did everyone's looks, money, and intelligence go? Henghis beats his suddenly less effective head against the wall until a pattern emerges. Quite entertaining.
Falberoth's Ruin: Who wants Falberoth, Old Earth's biggest crime lord dead? Pretty much everyone so Hapthorn has the unenviable tasks of narrowing it down to just one suspect.
This one has the Agatha Christie ending where the suspects are gathered. Hapthorn is quite a character and I have to say the short stories are as enjoyable as the books. It's a pity it's not easy to read one without the other.
Relics of the Thim: A known charlatan has apparently figured out a way to snatch objects from the past. But everyone knows time travel is impossible. Or is it? That's what Henghis Hapthorn intends to find out!
Henghis didn't play much of a part in solving this mystery. His relationship with his Integrator continues to degrade. I'll have to consult the introduction but I think this story found its way into one of the Hapthorn novels because I think I've read it before.
Finding Sajessarian: Adventurer/criminal Sajessarian hires Henghis Hapthorn to try to find him. Is he up to the challenge?
This one was a little strange but very amusing. I like that Hughes isn't afraid to show Hapthorn isn't as brilliant as he thinks at times.
Thwarting Jabbi Gloond: Jabbi Gloond takes over Gresh Olabian's house and Henghis resolves to get to the bottom of things.
This was another odd mystery that almost had an Agatha Christie ending. I'm not sure if its in the appropriate chronological place in the collection, though.
The Gist Hunter: While adjusting to the profound changes in his integrator, Henghis attempts to clear the name of Turgut Therobar.
Turns out Turgut was kind of a bastard. I found the parts about the integrator adusting to life as something resembling a lemur rather than a machine way more interesting.
Sweet Trap: Henghis Hapthorn is hired to find a man who has fled Old Earth for parts unknown. Fortunately, aiding him are his Integrator, now a lemur-like grinnet, and Osk Rievor, the intuitive part of his brain that has taken on both a personality and a name.
This one also feels like something I've read before, especially since I don't forget names like Tabanooch.
Fullbrim's Finding: Fullbrim goes missing and Hapthorn is at it again!
Hapthorn is in fine form in this, what I believe is his last outing to date.
Overall Thoughts: While the stories probably weren't meant to be read consecutively, I really liked this collection. As I said earlier, it would have been great to have access to all the short stories while I was reading the three Henghis Hapthorn novels.
Hughes' writing evokes Doyle, Vance, and P.G. Wodehouse in equal measure. The mysterious, while not solveable by the reader, are very entertaining.
The later stories are easier to fit into the chronology of the series. For instance, Osk Rievor has become a second person by this point, which I believe happened at the end of the second book.
I don't know how accessible they'd be to someone with no previous background with Hughes' Archonate setting, however. Still, free on the Kindle, they were well worth my time. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
First, these tales occur in Matthew Hughes' Archonate Universe, in an age just before the time of Jack Vance's Dying Earth (or a very similar setting different enough to avoid litigation), an age where magic is slowly replacing science. Secondly, this would have been great to have before reading the three Henghis Hapthorn novels.
The Immersion: An old enemy hires Henghis to find out who dumped goo on his head and left him hairless.
The Immersion was a good way to reintroduce me to Henghis' sometimes confusing world. The tales are told in the first person and he talks like the Sherlock Holmes of thousands of centuries in the future. The mystery was fairly complicated, as Hapthorn's usually are, but still satisfying and somewhat hilarious.
Will it be the best tale in the collection? It would be premature to say...
Mastermindless: All the men of Old Earth have been rendered penniless, unattractive, and dull, and it's up to a penniless, unattractive, and dull Henghis Hapthorn to unravel what happened.
This was the first Henghis Hapthorn story published and the rise of magic is present in abundance. Where did everyone's looks, money, and intelligence go? Henghis beats his suddenly less effective head against the wall until a pattern emerges. Quite entertaining.
Falberoth's Ruin: Who wants Falberoth, Old Earth's biggest crime lord dead? Pretty much everyone so Hapthorn has the unenviable tasks of narrowing it down to just one suspect.
This one has the Agatha Christie ending where the suspects are gathered. Hapthorn is quite a character and I have to say the short stories are as enjoyable as the books. It's a pity it's not easy to read one without the other.
Relics of the Thim: A known charlatan has apparently figured out a way to snatch objects from the past. But everyone knows time travel is impossible. Or is it? That's what Henghis Hapthorn intends to find out!
Henghis didn't play much of a part in solving this mystery. His relationship with his Integrator continues to degrade. I'll have to consult the introduction but I think this story found its way into one of the Hapthorn novels because I think I've read it before.
Finding Sajessarian: Adventurer/criminal Sajessarian hires Henghis Hapthorn to try to find him. Is he up to the challenge?
This one was a little strange but very amusing. I like that Hughes isn't afraid to show Hapthorn isn't as brilliant as he thinks at times.
Thwarting Jabbi Gloond: Jabbi Gloond takes over Gresh Olabian's house and Henghis resolves to get to the bottom of things.
This was another odd mystery that almost had an Agatha Christie ending. I'm not sure if its in the appropriate chronological place in the collection, though.
The Gist Hunter: While adjusting to the profound changes in his integrator, Henghis attempts to clear the name of Turgut Therobar.
Turns out Turgut was kind of a bastard. I found the parts about the integrator adusting to life as something resembling a lemur rather than a machine way more interesting.
Sweet Trap: Henghis Hapthorn is hired to find a man who has fled Old Earth for parts unknown. Fortunately, aiding him are his Integrator, now a lemur-like grinnet, and Osk Rievor, the intuitive part of his brain that has taken on both a personality and a name.
This one also feels like something I've read before, especially since I don't forget names like Tabanooch.
Fullbrim's Finding: Fullbrim goes missing and Hapthorn is at it again!
Hapthorn is in fine form in this, what I believe is his last outing to date.
Overall Thoughts: While the stories probably weren't meant to be read consecutively, I really liked this collection. As I said earlier, it would have been great to have access to all the short stories while I was reading the three Henghis Hapthorn novels.
Hughes' writing evokes Doyle, Vance, and P.G. Wodehouse in equal measure. The mysterious, while not solveable by the reader, are very entertaining.
The later stories are easier to fit into the chronology of the series. For instance, Osk Rievor has become a second person by this point, which I believe happened at the end of the second book.
I don't know how accessible they'd be to someone with no previous background with Hughes' Archonate setting, however. Still, free on the Kindle, they were well worth my time. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
July 5, 2020
Matthew Hughes is a master of the short story with his boundless wit, imaginative settings, and clever use of language and obscure vocabulary. This is a wonderful collection of his Henghis Hapthorn stories, set with a sci-fi backdrop yet with quite a few magic and otherworldly elements. Hapthorn is a private discriminator, i.e. investigator, and these stories give Hughes the opportunity to demonstrate his skill and penchant for writing mysteries. The stories are consistently clever, witty and amusing. Highlights for me include the wonderfully absurd Mastermindless, which had me laughing out loud, as well as Finding Sajessarian, Thrwarting Jabbi Gloond and the devilishly metaphysical Fulbrim's Finding.
July 3, 2022
Had Sherlock Holmes operated in the Dying Earth universe, assisted by an integrator, simultaneously troubled and aided by magic, he would have become Henghis Hapthorn.
This book, following the brief 'Introduction', contains nine of his adventures. These are~
1. The Immersion
2. Mastermindless
3. Falberoth's Ruin
4. Relics of the Thim
5. Finding Sajessarian
6. Thwarting Jabbi Gloond
7. The Gist Hunter
8. Sweet Trap
9. Fullbrim's Finding.
These are actually some of the crispest, smartest and wittiest stuff that I have read. Unfortunately, the Print-on-Demand book has tiny font and numerous typos that urgently needed editorial attention. They compel me to drop a star while rating the book. But the tales are all five-star level.
Recommended.
This book, following the brief 'Introduction', contains nine of his adventures. These are~
1. The Immersion
2. Mastermindless
3. Falberoth's Ruin
4. Relics of the Thim
5. Finding Sajessarian
6. Thwarting Jabbi Gloond
7. The Gist Hunter
8. Sweet Trap
9. Fullbrim's Finding.
These are actually some of the crispest, smartest and wittiest stuff that I have read. Unfortunately, the Print-on-Demand book has tiny font and numerous typos that urgently needed editorial attention. They compel me to drop a star while rating the book. But the tales are all five-star level.
Recommended.
October 4, 2013
The curious thing about these stories is that I felt they could have appeared in genre magazines more than half a century ago without seeming out of place. Is that a good or a bad thing? They are quite charming and enjoyable, even though not laugh-out funny.
The protagonist is a Sherlock Holmes -like character in an unlikely far future at a point of the great cycle where magic is on its way to replace rational causality. There are references to classic detective stories by Conan Doyle and Poe sprinkled all over the place.
The unusual thing is that the stories are told in first person from the POV of Henghis Hapthorn himself, not that of a less clever sidekick. (Hapthorn does have a sarcastic computer or "integrator" for a sidekick - it turns into an animal at one point, and apparently turns back in another story that occurs between the last two in this collection.)
This book was free on Kindle at the time I got it.
The protagonist is a Sherlock Holmes -like character in an unlikely far future at a point of the great cycle where magic is on its way to replace rational causality. There are references to classic detective stories by Conan Doyle and Poe sprinkled all over the place.
The unusual thing is that the stories are told in first person from the POV of Henghis Hapthorn himself, not that of a less clever sidekick. (Hapthorn does have a sarcastic computer or "integrator" for a sidekick - it turns into an animal at one point, and apparently turns back in another story that occurs between the last two in this collection.)
This book was free on Kindle at the time I got it.
October 9, 2017
I've had this on my e-reader… well, since two e-readers ago! And I just never got around to it.
I'd never heard of the author, which was one reason why I hadn't managed to get it to the top of my reading list, and once a book gets beyond about the tenth-most-recent book on my e-reader it has a tendency to get lost.
So, when I finally did start it, I was pleasantly surprised. There's a slight similarity to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, so I re-read that next, and I must say Matthew Hughes comes out ahead.
December 11, 2013
I'd say this is more of a 3.5. It is clever, and several of the stories had a lot of chuckles in them. Short story is not really my favorite genre, but the author handles it well---there is, indeed, a real story in each piece. And a little bit of philosophy in most of them. I found the last story a big downbeat, which is not the note I prefer to end on; I preferred the funnier stories and would have liked a happier ending to the book.
BUT I guess I liked it a reasonable amount, since I bought the novel with Henghis as protagonist!
BUT I guess I liked it a reasonable amount, since I bought the novel with Henghis as protagonist!
September 13, 2017
Snarky and fun
Hapthorn is a well-drawn character. You don't always get that in SF. Hughes has a gift for creating plots in the sci-fi genre that please even hard sci-fi fans like me. Here's hoping we see more of Hapthorn.
Hapthorn is a well-drawn character. You don't always get that in SF. Hughes has a gift for creating plots in the sci-fi genre that please even hard sci-fi fans like me. Here's hoping we see more of Hapthorn.
November 11, 2020
This was an easy and interesting reading adventure. In the book, the main character is the "foremost freelance discriminator of Old Earth in our ancient planet's penultimate age." In other words, the main character is an investigator/detective. The book takes place in the future, in a logical "cause and effect world", but the novel reveals that a new age is arriving soon in which magic will take the place of logic. This magic is interspersed in the cases and means of solution the investigator uses.
Henghis, the detective, mainly uses logic and talks to himself in his mind by means of his loud conscience, which is described almost like a separate character. The other character that always accompanies the investigator is an "integrator". The integrator is like a computer you can wear that gives answers and helps find solutions to problems. The integrator takes on different shapes and forms and has it's own mind and personality. Occasionally, integrators drive ships or handle the mundane tasks of their "masters".
The book consists of numerous cases/ chapters that Henghis Hapthorn must solve: usually missing persons. The book is descriptive in setting the scenes and the means of solving each case is interesting and creative. The futuristic tones also add a unique reading experience for those who love science fiction. The stories also have slight philosophical musings. It was an enjoyable read.
Henghis, the detective, mainly uses logic and talks to himself in his mind by means of his loud conscience, which is described almost like a separate character. The other character that always accompanies the investigator is an "integrator". The integrator is like a computer you can wear that gives answers and helps find solutions to problems. The integrator takes on different shapes and forms and has it's own mind and personality. Occasionally, integrators drive ships or handle the mundane tasks of their "masters".
The book consists of numerous cases/ chapters that Henghis Hapthorn must solve: usually missing persons. The book is descriptive in setting the scenes and the means of solving each case is interesting and creative. The futuristic tones also add a unique reading experience for those who love science fiction. The stories also have slight philosophical musings. It was an enjoyable read.
June 8, 2023
As the title suggests, this volume brings together nine stories by Matthew Hughes about his character Henghis Hapthorn, the foremost freelance discriminator on Old Earth in the era before Jack Vance’s Dying Earth is set; six of these stories were originally published in F&SF and the other three are original to this collection. The great conceit of these stories is the idea that every few millennia, the order of the Universe switches from being scientific and rational to being magical and intuitive; Hapthorn’s great tragedy is to be hyper-rational in a time when this change is taking place. Fortunately for him, he has a sort of shadow-self, a part of his brain that he thinks of as lurking toward the back of his mind, which periodically can be accessed by his forebrain and which is capable of making intuitive leaps that invariably lead to the solution that he is seeking. There are a couple of other recurring characters, including a demon from another dimension and an integrator (in rational world, an AI type being; in magical world, a familiar). I myself prefer Mr. Hughes’s Baldemar the Henchman and Raffalon the Thief tales to Hapthorn’s, just because I like those characters more, but the stories here are very inventive and full of sly humour as well; recommended!
October 25, 2022
I so enjoyed reading this compilation of mysteries. I found the writing to be excellent, I am not a regular reader of science fiction or science fiction mysteries but I truly enjoyed the vibrant colorful and sometimes quirky characters and the array of issues involving each mystery brought forth. The imagination and skill to bring together what makes up this world I found quite fascinating and remarkable.Once I started reading this compilation of mysteries I found I couldn't put it down until its unexpected ending. Acquire " Nine Tales of Henghis Hapthorn " for hours of intriguing and enjoyable entertainment. 😏😃Kat
May 21, 2023
much enjoyment for all : )
December 30, 2025
Rec by a comment that likened it to Jack Vance.
I did see the similarity in writing style and characters to Vance. It was quite interesting read attempting to resolve the story as it played out.
I did see the similarity in writing style and characters to Vance. It was quite interesting read attempting to resolve the story as it played out.
December 5, 2017
An erudite fancy; reading Hapthorn oddessy is like sharing a private hallucination; lots of SCI-FY themes with science based terminology~ Has a faint resemblance to Hitchhikers' Guide with more emphasis on individual psychology/ pathology of characters and their motivations in a futuristic world setting~ some rather good tongue & cheek dialog between main character and his alter egos
November 25, 2015
This is a charming collection of short stories featuring a discriminator (a detective) who prizes his use of deduction and logic to solve crimes in what the author describes as Old Earth’s penultimate age. These tales offer a blend of science fiction technology in a fantasy literature setting and play around with the concept that an eon when rationalism held sway is giving way to a new age of magic, so our sleuth must cope with the unexpected and adapt beyond his preferred logic to sometimes depend on intuition and thaumaturgy. For supporting cast there is a marvelous technological sidekick that is sort of an omniscient ipad-of-the-future, a Watson if you will to this Holmes, that increasingly anthropomorphizes as the stories progress, at one point actually turning into a cute little varmint you can wear around your neck. Also, be ready for a daemon from an alternate universe that speaks to and through the protagonist—at first I thought it was his subconscious, but over time the split widens to definitely distinct characters. Fundamentalist Christians and relatives of people with multiple personality disorders are thus not advised to read this book, as it is intended as good fun and they might find it troubling.
Wordsmiths should get a kick out of these stories, trying to figure out old words re-appropriated or new words created, drawing on context and their own knowledge of the arcane. The style is given to philosophical musing rather than bloody battles or voluptuous maidens, so don’t expect anything epic or salacious, rather, just dip into these nine tales for a touch of droll and a helping of whimsical wonders.
Wordsmiths should get a kick out of these stories, trying to figure out old words re-appropriated or new words created, drawing on context and their own knowledge of the arcane. The style is given to philosophical musing rather than bloody battles or voluptuous maidens, so don’t expect anything epic or salacious, rather, just dip into these nine tales for a touch of droll and a helping of whimsical wonders.
February 4, 2014
I was introduced to Matthew Hughes and his Archonate world through the novel he is currently serializing through Lightspeed Magazine. The writing style combined with the fascinating SciFi/Fantasy mix led me to pick this up for free on my Kindle.
9 Tales does exactly what the title suggests. It tells 9 Tales about Old Earth's foremost freelance discriminator as he unravels cases, solves crimes, seeks out missing folks, and finds himself mixed up with the magical mysteries that are seeping into his logical world.
I loved this collection of stories. Henghis himself is a fantastic character. Intelligent and witty, he reminds me of Sherlock Holmes, but would undoubtedly give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money. The Archonate setting itself is filled with a myriad of bizarre, detestable, or simply quirky characters. Since Henghis is usually taking on contracts for the absurdly wealthy, he runs into a variety of dangerous nobility types that lead all sorts of hedonistic lives.
As I understand it, the 9 tales encompass events that cover the entire timeline of the three Henghis Hapthorn novels. Having never read the books there were times when I was wondering if I shouldn't know more about a certain character or concept already. I didn't find that to be an issue, though, and I'm excited to read the novels themselves.
Overall, this is a top notch collection of stories and and it was a pleasure to read.
9 Tales does exactly what the title suggests. It tells 9 Tales about Old Earth's foremost freelance discriminator as he unravels cases, solves crimes, seeks out missing folks, and finds himself mixed up with the magical mysteries that are seeping into his logical world.
I loved this collection of stories. Henghis himself is a fantastic character. Intelligent and witty, he reminds me of Sherlock Holmes, but would undoubtedly give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money. The Archonate setting itself is filled with a myriad of bizarre, detestable, or simply quirky characters. Since Henghis is usually taking on contracts for the absurdly wealthy, he runs into a variety of dangerous nobility types that lead all sorts of hedonistic lives.
As I understand it, the 9 tales encompass events that cover the entire timeline of the three Henghis Hapthorn novels. Having never read the books there were times when I was wondering if I shouldn't know more about a certain character or concept already. I didn't find that to be an issue, though, and I'm excited to read the novels themselves.
Overall, this is a top notch collection of stories and and it was a pleasure to read.
August 6, 2014
These nine stories are set in the very distant future. Earth has colonized thousands of worlds, but most of these stories are set on "Old Earth." The protagonist, Henghis Hapthorn, is described as a "freelance discriminator" -- basically, a private investigator. He will not knowingly provide services that could result in criminal activity, but he's a bit flexible on that detail. He's on reasonably good terms with the police -- called the Bureau of Scrutiny -- but not exactly friendly terms.
Hapthorn is assisted by his integrator -- an artificial intelligence that combines the functions of personal computer, cell phone, digital assistant, etc. Integrators are made to order and nearly all citizens have one, assembled to order with customized blends of intelligence, curiosity, etc. By definition, they don't change or evolve -- but the stories suggest that they can. Hapthorn also has a "colleague" who inhabits a universe of different dimensions, that he calls a "demon."
Finally, Hapthorn is living in the "penultimate age" of humanity. The universe is poised to shift from a rational universe of logic and science to a universe based on the principles of magic.
The writing is reminiscent of Jack Vance in both style and setting, but it seems very natural -- not forced.
Basically, I really enjoyed these stories.
Hapthorn is assisted by his integrator -- an artificial intelligence that combines the functions of personal computer, cell phone, digital assistant, etc. Integrators are made to order and nearly all citizens have one, assembled to order with customized blends of intelligence, curiosity, etc. By definition, they don't change or evolve -- but the stories suggest that they can. Hapthorn also has a "colleague" who inhabits a universe of different dimensions, that he calls a "demon."
Finally, Hapthorn is living in the "penultimate age" of humanity. The universe is poised to shift from a rational universe of logic and science to a universe based on the principles of magic.
The writing is reminiscent of Jack Vance in both style and setting, but it seems very natural -- not forced.
Basically, I really enjoyed these stories.
May 29, 2014
This collection of short stories is good for light reading on vacation or as an introduction to the writer. I recommend it for fans of Sci-Fi + sleuths as a quick read. The world Hughes creates is certainly imaginative. I enjoyed concepts he presented such as: beings oblivious to form, as opposed to essence (the "demon" colleague), mechanical tools (the assistant/integrator) morphing into living beings (grinnet), symbiotic lichen that feast on emotions & knowledge of others (the Sweet Trap). At the core though, these are detective stories. Similar in flavor to Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. That underlying quality did not grab me and refuse to let go. While it wasn't perfect for me, I can appreciate the quality of the work.
November 11, 2017
Matthew Hughes' stories about a consulting detective ('discriminator') in a decadent far future have a distinct aesthetic. The stories establish early on that the rational underpinning of Henghis Hapthorn's universe is about to be replaced with magic, in Earth's 'penultimate' era, as one story puts it. In that sense, the stories feel set in a world one turn shy of Jack Vance's Dying Earth, or perhaps roughly in the same era as Michael Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time. Hughes' diction in these stories is flamboyantly Victorian - elliptical, slightly prudish, and full of long words built on Latin roots. The mysteries are more adventures than mysteries, and the stories are better read for the character and style than the plot. I enjoyed them.
January 5, 2015
Maybe it wasn't earth-shattering writing....but...but, I was thoroughly entertained by this book.
Henghis is a sleuth, a detective a discriminator, he is, arrogant, rational, and never wrong. The writing has an old style charm, in a sci-fi high-tech future world.
I would easily recommend this book to anyone who liked George RR Martin's book Tuf Voyaging. Or wanted a more Sci-fi version of the Sherlock Holmes series.
All this....AND it was free? Oh frabjous day!
Henghis is a sleuth, a detective a discriminator, he is, arrogant, rational, and never wrong. The writing has an old style charm, in a sci-fi high-tech future world.
I would easily recommend this book to anyone who liked George RR Martin's book Tuf Voyaging. Or wanted a more Sci-fi version of the Sherlock Holmes series.
All this....AND it was free? Oh frabjous day!
August 17, 2013
Perfectly serviceable Jack Vance style short stories. Featuring Henghis Hapthorn, a discriminator [futuristic private detective of sorts] in a world about to switch back from technology to magic. Droll and delightful if you like Vance.
April 12, 2014
I only finished one story and decided this is not my type of book or writing. Also either my kindle app or the book itself got stuck on one page and it was difficult to continue reading. I had to go forward then back again to get the pages to move correctly.
December 24, 2013
Him use big words; me love. Seriously, I loved the intellectual tone of the writing. It reminded me of Sherlock Holmes tales, which I also love, but with more humor and fantasy/sci-fi elements thrown in for good measure. Please do write more Henghis novels!
April 5, 2014
Original, inventive and delightful. Hughes creates a complex universe filled with wildly amusing, well-developed characters and twists. I'm hard to impress, but he did it! I recommend this for fun and mental stimulation.
April 23, 2017
Week 12 of the 2015 Reading Challenge - A Book of Short Stories. I had not heard of this author but apparently he is pretty popular in the UK. The stories are about Henghis who is a detective of sorts on an alien world. I enjoyed them and would probably read more of his books.
March 14, 2021
Future Detective Stories
This collection of nine stories are detective stories set in a future where traveling from one planet to another is and every day occurence. The title character is on par with the works of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
This collection of nine stories are detective stories set in a future where traveling from one planet to another is and every day occurence. The title character is on par with the works of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
February 6, 2016
The stories all exhibited a certain sameness, which though entertaining and a certain joy to read, meant that few of the stories were memorable. This in no way diminishes my enjoyment of Matthew Hughes' SF works and I will continue to read whatever becomes available.
March 2, 2017
When I have a severe headache I find that re-reading a "light" book or an old favorite can be very comforting. Mr. Hughes' Jack Vance pastiches are very enjoyable and helped me to pass an unpleasant day without too much swearing and grimacing.
June 14, 2016
Fascinating!
Henghis is an not someone whose company you would enjoy. He has too high an opinion of him self. His world, a sarcastic version of our own, abounds with individuals you will like even less. His adventures are quite interesting and left me craving more.
Henghis is an not someone whose company you would enjoy. He has too high an opinion of him self. His world, a sarcastic version of our own, abounds with individuals you will like even less. His adventures are quite interesting and left me craving more.
June 2, 2014
9 good stories. They are strange, set in a strange world, yet thoroughly entertaining. After all, how would you deal with an argumentative door knocker?
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews