Book Reviews in the Penultimate Age...

Hi,


So, this will be of especial interest to fans of Jack Vance and his Dying Earth stories (Cudgel, Rhialto, etc.).

You know how Lovecraft created the Cthulhu Mythos and since then many other writers have written stories that use the Mythos, directly or indirectly as a source? Maybe the Big C doesn't put in a direct appearance, but you do have these horrific monsters and terrible cults and man is but a flyspeck.

Imagine if someone took Jack Vance's Dying Earth Mythos and similarly worked new tales. Fools Errant and Fool Me Twice by Matthew Hughes are those books. They are set, not at the ultimate end of the Earth, but at it's Penultimate End, perhpas an Aeon earlier. The sun is orange rather than red and the balance between super-science and magic is tilted rather towards science, but there is no doubt that these books sit in the Dying Earth milleu.

Both stories involve Filidor Vesh, the wastrel newphew of, and heir-apparent to, Dezendah Vesh, the 98th (or 99th) Archon of Earth. Filidor is less of a Cugel-like con-man and more of a hapless Bertie Wooster coasting on his Uncle's position. His life of ease comes to a crashing end when agents of his Uncle arrive with orders for Filidor to complete some (often obscure) task for the Archonate. And so, Filidor stumbles along, encountering the many bizzare cultures and society of Earth in it's later days.

If Hughes's wordplay isn't quite as dazzling as Vance or Woodehouse, it's certainly a cut above average. I feel like the books are pitched at a YA audience. Certainly both books revolve around coming-of-age and self-discovery themes. The stories are a quick, breezy read and there are a number of pleasant side diversions to break up the journeys. Mr. Hughes has a few other books set in the Archonate (and these seem to be pitched to an older audience) and I'm pretty sure I'll be checking those out as well. Certainly worth looking into if you liked the Dying Earth books.

later
Tom

Book Reviews in the Penultimate Age...

Hi,


So, this will be of especial interest to fans of Jack Vance and his Dying Earth stories (Cudgel, Rhialto, etc.).

You know how Lovecraft created the Cthulhu Mythos and since then many other writers have written stories that use the Mythos, directly or indirectly as a source? Maybe the Big C doesn't put in a direct appearance, but you do have these horrific monsters and terrible cults and man is but a flyspeck.

Imagine if someone took Jack Vance's Dying Earth Mythos and similarly worked new tales. Fools Errant and Fool Me Twice by Matthew Hughes are those books. They are set, not at the ultimate end of the Earth, but at it's Penultimate End, perhpas an Aeon earlier. The sun is orange rather than red and the balance between super-science and magic is tilted rather towards science, but there is no doubt that these books sit in the Dying Earth milleu.

Both stories involve Filidor Vesh, the wastrel newphew of, and heir-apparent to, Dezendah Vesh, the 98th (or 99th) Archon of Earth. Filidor is less of a Cugel-like con-man and more of a hapless Bertie Wooster coasting on his Uncle's position. His life of ease comes to a crashing end when agents of his Uncle arrive with orders for Filidor to complete some (often obscure) task for the Archonate. And so, Filidor stumbles along, encountering the many bizzare cultures and society of Earth in it's later days.

If Hughes's wordplay isn't quite as dazzling as Vance or Woodehouse, it's certainly a cut above average. I feel like the books are pitched at a YA audience. Certainly both books revolve around coming-of-age and self-discovery themes. The stories are a quick, breezy read and there are a number of pleasant side diversions to break up the journeys. Mr. Hughes has a few other books set in the Archonate (and these seem to be pitched to an older audience) and I'm pretty sure I'll be checking those out as well. Certainly worth looking into if you liked the Dying Earth books.

later
Tom