Thraxas at the Races

Thraxas #3

by Martin Scott

It's a bad day for Thraxas when he's fined in court, then threatened by two old enemies – Rittius, head of Palace Security, and Glixius Dragon killer, a very unfriendly sorcerer. Thraxas is hired by his old army commander to locate a missing painting but everything goes wrong when the commander ends up dead. Thraxas finds himself embroiled in a murder enquiry when really all he wants to be doing is gambling at the chariot races. At the stadium, Thraxas and Makri are obliged to assist an Orc lord when his chariot is sabotaged, and helping an Orc lord does nothing for their reputation. Turai plunges into despair as the unending rain threatens to wash the city away. With the climate, the authorities and a cunning murderer all ranged against him, can Thraxas solve his case, and, just as importantly, emerge from the chariot races with a healthy profit? This is a new edition, with an introduction by the author.

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Mystery, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

A pen name of Martin Millar.

Reviews

[Almaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thraxas just rules!

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my least favorite of the Thraxas novels, but it was still great fun.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Scott's books are not easy to track down but i'm loving this collection about the magical city of Turai, the mayhem and murder that goes on around Thraxas

[Justus · Rating 1 out of 5]

After a string of disappointing reads I turned to Thraxas hoping for a guaranteed decent read. Thraxas is the kind of book that is never highbrow but also pretty committed to being "entertaining" in a middle-brow weekly television show kind of way.

So I was doubly disappointed with this one, the worst of the three Thraxas books I've read so far. Disappointed simply because it wasn't very good but then doubly disappointed because my expectations -- not especially high to begin with! -- weren't met.

Like other Thraxas books there are a lot of moving pieces -- almost too many for the reader to keep track of to be honest -- all of which kind of come together in the end. The root of my disappointment is that Thraxas hits a dead end in his investigation -- not uncommon in this kind of book -- and then just...kind of flails for days (weeks) on end. It felt like the entire second half of the book was "still don't have any leads", "still haven't made any progress", "still don't have any clues". It got repetitive and just kind of boring. It doesn't help that one of the main plot points relied on Thraxas being somewhat uncharacteristically stupid, repeatedly, over a period of weeks.

All of which overwhelms the several actually good points of the book. Scott does a good job of incrementally building on the relationships of the many secondary characters introduced in previous books -- always a tricky balance in a casual series like this. He expands the world slightly with the Orcs & Elves. Thraxas manages to save the day and be a hero in an understated but believable way for someone who is mostly a lazy, oafish loser.

I'll still read more of the series from time to time but this one was a disappointment.

[Veselin Nikolov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Траксас нарича Макри орк! В голяма беля е, дали ще успее да се отплете?

Историята се развива в дъждовния сезон, когато вали постоянно, всички са кисели и единственото забавление са спортните залагания. Някой е натопил Траксас за убийство. Читателят може да гадае кой по следи, подхвърлени тук-таме, като в книга на Агата Кристи.

[Hurkle Durkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book of this adorable series, with relatable and funny characters. Author utilizes some super cute slang phrases that stick: wet as a Nojan whore, 'happy as an elf on a tree', 'I will jump on your neck like an evil curse' etc... and the most important life advice of all, always bring flowers to the ladies.

[MR GEOFFREY W FABRON · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another entertaining and amusing tale from Martin Scott about the adventures of PI Thraxas. Great characters, fun dialogue and plenty of twists in the plot.
I hope someone makes a TV series of this set of books.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good solid story with lots of twists to the mystery. I loved the introduction of the Orcs as more than just vague enemies in the past.

[Patrick Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think they grow on you but after three I decided I needed a break.

[Phil Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the first two; Makri is the real focus, the whole elvish/orcish thing is takes some interesting aspects.

[Ferry Wever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Net zoals het 1e en 2e boekje van Traxas is ook deze 3e gewoon leuk om te lezen.

[Thomas Arvanitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantasy-noir with a sense of humour and an unlikely (but, despite his flaws, likable) main character. Lightweight but enjoyable.