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Henchmen
Vunt is building a career as a gambler. Oldo is a young man fresh from the farm. But the Duke of Vanderoy has decreed that every able-bodied man must have a job or be conscripted for unpleasant chores.
The two meet when they come seeking work at a riverside warehouse that handles goods being shipped up- and downstream. The job pays more than it ought to, so long as they keep their mouths shut. They do that, but they also keep their eyes open, and soon they discover their new employer is engaged in shifty operations. Worse, they suspect his brutish bodyguard may have killed the workers Vunt and Oldo have replaced.
From there, the two young men embark on a perilous adventure that will see them hired on as caravan guards—while acting as undercover operatives of the Vanderoy wizards’ Guild—traveling north to Ur Nazim then pursuing the developing mystery in the city of half-mad thaumaturges, Olliphract.
They’ll encounter wonders and terrors, worlds they never dreamed of, visiting the Underworld and even the unknown depths of the human psyche, struggling to fight their way free of the schemes and duels of powerful spellslingers and madmen.
The two meet when they come seeking work at a riverside warehouse that handles goods being shipped up- and downstream. The job pays more than it ought to, so long as they keep their mouths shut. They do that, but they also keep their eyes open, and soon they discover their new employer is engaged in shifty operations. Worse, they suspect his brutish bodyguard may have killed the workers Vunt and Oldo have replaced.
From there, the two young men embark on a perilous adventure that will see them hired on as caravan guards—while acting as undercover operatives of the Vanderoy wizards’ Guild—traveling north to Ur Nazim then pursuing the developing mystery in the city of half-mad thaumaturges, Olliphract.
They’ll encounter wonders and terrors, worlds they never dreamed of, visiting the Underworld and even the unknown depths of the human psyche, struggling to fight their way free of the schemes and duels of powerful spellslingers and madmen.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 2, 2025
7 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Hughes
203 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 15, 2025
An interesting concept and a good start. The end story just sort of fell off though without any real resolution.
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March 10, 2025Book follows Vunt and Oldo where life leads them, who, for a time, become henchmen. This is fine Dying Earth writing by Matthew Hughes and I found it difficult to put down in anticipation of what was to come next. Be that as it may, the narrative stops rather than ends on the last page and is begging a sequel. Honestly, I wish I had known that going in so I could've prepared myself, as it is it has left me with quite a bit of tension wanting resolution. Up until that point I feel it a five-star read, but I am quite annoyed by how it left me hanging at the last page.
February 8, 2025
entertaining and engaging
Once again Mr. Hugh’s has caused my joy reading late into the night. No higher praise other tan I await his next book
Once again Mr. Hugh’s has caused my joy reading late into the night. No higher praise other tan I await his next book
March 4, 2025
Really enjoy Matthews writing
Have collected all of his work that I can get my hands on - long may he keep writing!
Have collected all of his work that I can get my hands on - long may he keep writing!
September 10, 2025
Hughes is always good, and this is IMO better than usual Hughes, although admittedly probably not a great place to start.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews