Matthew Hughes's Blog: barbarians of the beyond, page 16
March 27, 2015
Jack Vance YouTube Channel
Before he died, Jack Vance and his son, John, set up a webstore to sell Jack’s backlist. I was pleased to be asked to write some blurbs for the titles, some of which are favorites of mine from way back when.
More recently, John, together with Koen Vyverman, created a Jack Vance YouTube channel. Gradually, they are producing individual YT videos a minute or so long, to stimulate interest among the vast and fortunate throng who have never read Vance – I call them fortunate, because I envy them the experience of discovery.
The individual shorts feature artwork and music chosen by Koen and a blurb narrated by John. I’ve been writing quite a few of the texts – I’ve been told I have a knack for such wordsmithery, which is not surprising because I wrote PR materials of all sorts for forty years. More recently, John asked me if I would not only write but narrate the words I’d written. I said sure, and now I’ve done a dozen or so, with more to come.
The first of them promotes Mazirian the Magician, Jack’s preferred title for his seminal work originally released under the publisher’s choice of title: The Dying Earth. If you’re interested in hearing my oddly inflected mid-Atlantic accent trying to stimulate the world to read a Jack Vance classic, tune in here:
More recently, John, together with Koen Vyverman, created a Jack Vance YouTube channel. Gradually, they are producing individual YT videos a minute or so long, to stimulate interest among the vast and fortunate throng who have never read Vance – I call them fortunate, because I envy them the experience of discovery.
The individual shorts feature artwork and music chosen by Koen and a blurb narrated by John. I’ve been writing quite a few of the texts – I’ve been told I have a knack for such wordsmithery, which is not surprising because I wrote PR materials of all sorts for forty years. More recently, John asked me if I would not only write but narrate the words I’d written. I said sure, and now I’ve done a dozen or so, with more to come.
The first of them promotes Mazirian the Magician, Jack’s preferred title for his seminal work originally released under the publisher’s choice of title: The Dying Earth. If you’re interested in hearing my oddly inflected mid-Atlantic accent trying to stimulate the world to read a Jack Vance classic, tune in here:
March 25, 2015
Another "Greeves" Fan
Once again, "Greeves and the Evening Star" scores with a reviewer of Old Venus. This time, it's Cat Fitzpatrick at the UK's Fantasy Book Review site, who says:
"There are many strong stories here, with Matthew Hughes’ Greeves and the Evening Star being a personal favourite of mine, a superb Wodehouse-style comedy where the English toff [Bartie Gloster] is highly aggrieved to find himself kidnapped by a friend and taken to Venus. His highly capable valet ends up having to rescue the incompetent aristocrats from the attentions of a murderous alien Siren, but only after a decent breakfast of kippers, naturally."
Naturally, indeed.
"There are many strong stories here, with Matthew Hughes’ Greeves and the Evening Star being a personal favourite of mine, a superb Wodehouse-style comedy where the English toff [Bartie Gloster] is highly aggrieved to find himself kidnapped by a friend and taken to Venus. His highly capable valet ends up having to rescue the incompetent aristocrats from the attentions of a murderous alien Siren, but only after a decent breakfast of kippers, naturally."
Naturally, indeed.
March 17, 2015
Old Venus reviewed in NY Daily News
Once again, my P.G. Wodehouse pastiche, "Greeves and the Evening Star," gets singled out for special mention in a review of Old Venus, the retro-sf antho co-edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. This time it's by Cesar R. Bustamante, Jr., (gotta love those hand-me-down American names), the book blogger for the New York Daily News.
He says, "There’s quite a bit of comedy especially in Matthew Hughes’s story about a peculiar man falling for a giant Venusian newt (I’m not judging). "
People do like the Wodehouse style, although I have a feeling that Mr. Bustamante doesn't recognize a Jeeves and Bertie story at first glance.
The fellow I'm housesitting for in central Brittany has come home for a few days to tend to some business locally, so my wife and I are off to see St Malo (whence came Jacques Cartier, founder of Quebec City), and Mont St. Michel.
He says, "There’s quite a bit of comedy especially in Matthew Hughes’s story about a peculiar man falling for a giant Venusian newt (I’m not judging). "
People do like the Wodehouse style, although I have a feeling that Mr. Bustamante doesn't recognize a Jeeves and Bertie story at first glance.
The fellow I'm housesitting for in central Brittany has come home for a few days to tend to some business locally, so my wife and I are off to see St Malo (whence came Jacques Cartier, founder of Quebec City), and Mont St. Michel.
March 16, 2015
New Imbry novel turned in
I've turned in "Epiphanies," a new Luff Imbry novella (24,000 words), to PS Publishing. It will go into an omnibus of the previous three novellas to be published in two limited editions sometime this year.
Imbry started out as a supporting character in Black Brillion (Tor, 2004), where he was a high-stakes forger and confidence man forcibly inducted into the Archonate Bureau of Scrutiny and assigned to work with Baro Harkless, a strange but brilliant young scroot. I actually killed him off in the first draft, but my editor, David G. Hartwell, counseled me against it.
Later on, when PS editor Nick Gevers asked me for a story, I decided to revive Luff and produced "The Farouche Assemblage. " More stories followed, in Interzone and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and then the three PS limited edition novellas.
"Epiphanies" brings Imbry's career to the point at which he encounters Baro Harkless in Black Brillion.
Imbry started out as a supporting character in Black Brillion (Tor, 2004), where he was a high-stakes forger and confidence man forcibly inducted into the Archonate Bureau of Scrutiny and assigned to work with Baro Harkless, a strange but brilliant young scroot. I actually killed him off in the first draft, but my editor, David G. Hartwell, counseled me against it.
Later on, when PS editor Nick Gevers asked me for a story, I decided to revive Luff and produced "The Farouche Assemblage. " More stories followed, in Interzone and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and then the three PS limited edition novellas.
"Epiphanies" brings Imbry's career to the point at which he encounters Baro Harkless in Black Brillion.
March 14, 2015
WSJ Review of Old Venus
A first time for me: getting singled out for special mention in a Wall Street Journal review. Tom Shippey says good things about Old Venus, including:
"Much of the collection is just good fun, especially Matt Hughes’s Jeeves-and-Wooster parody, “Greeves and the Evening Star.” Wodehouse fans will recall the prominence of newts in the Wooster world, but not human-sized female ones with fangs, sexy voices and highly unromantic intentions."
Maybe that will bring me some Wodehouse fans.
"Much of the collection is just good fun, especially Matt Hughes’s Jeeves-and-Wooster parody, “Greeves and the Evening Star.” Wodehouse fans will recall the prominence of newts in the Wooster world, but not human-sized female ones with fangs, sexy voices and highly unromantic intentions."
Maybe that will bring me some Wodehouse fans.
March 13, 2015
Gardner Dozois reviews "Prisoner of Pandarius"
In the March issue of Locus Magazine, Gardner Dozois has reviewed "Prisoner of Pandarius," the Raffalon story in In the January/February Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, saying, "Matthew Hughes offers us another highly entertaining adventure of Raffalon the Thief, Prisoner of Pandarius. The major influence on Hughes is clearly Jack Vance, and these Raffalon tales are about as close as you're going to get these days to one of Vance's stories of the misadventures of Cugel the Clever, now that Vance is gone. However, unlike Cugel , who was nowhere near as clever as he believed himself to be, Raffalon actually is clever and is a highly competent thief - but is consistently dogged by terrible luck, which continues to hamper him here as he struggles to pull off a complicated and dangerous heist."
I saw the review on the Jack Vance Message Board, a good meeting place for Vance Fans. It was posted by my old friend and Official First Fan, Mike Berro. Here's what I posted in reply:
Some of my best stories are never reviewed by Gardner, because they appear in anthologies that he's co-edited with George Martin -- including the original Raffalon tale, "The Inn of the Seven Blessings," which I wrote when Gardner asked me to send something to him for the big cross-genre antho, Rogues. That first story showed Raff near the end of his career, starving in a forest after being unable even to lift a chicken from a farmer's coop. He's very down on his luck (Gardner's right: he's smart but unlucky -- much like me).
After the story was accepted for the antho, I decided Raffalon was too good a character to drop, so I started writing adventures from when he was in his prime. I've since sold six more, including the one Gardner's reviewing, to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. I figure to do another couple, which will give me enough for a collection, then I'll self-publish them as an ebook and POD paperback.
I saw the review on the Jack Vance Message Board, a good meeting place for Vance Fans. It was posted by my old friend and Official First Fan, Mike Berro. Here's what I posted in reply:
Some of my best stories are never reviewed by Gardner, because they appear in anthologies that he's co-edited with George Martin -- including the original Raffalon tale, "The Inn of the Seven Blessings," which I wrote when Gardner asked me to send something to him for the big cross-genre antho, Rogues. That first story showed Raff near the end of his career, starving in a forest after being unable even to lift a chicken from a farmer's coop. He's very down on his luck (Gardner's right: he's smart but unlucky -- much like me).
After the story was accepted for the antho, I decided Raffalon was too good a character to drop, so I started writing adventures from when he was in his prime. I've since sold six more, including the one Gardner's reviewing, to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. I figure to do another couple, which will give me enough for a collection, then I'll self-publish them as an ebook and POD paperback.
March 8, 2015
Luff Imbry in the NYRSF
Critic and sf aficionado Mike Barrett's excellent piece on my Luff Imbry stories in the current New York Review of Science Fiction is now available for a free read.
Meanwhile, I'm 20,000 words into the Imbry novella that will go into the omnibus edition of the three others previously published by PS Publishing. Should finish it and turn it in this month.
Meanwhile, I'm 20,000 words into the Imbry novella that will go into the omnibus edition of the three others previously published by PS Publishing. Should finish it and turn it in this month.
March 6, 2015
Of Whimsies and Noubles -- George Kelley's review
Blogger George Kelley reviews "Of Whimsies and Noubles," the third Luff Imbry novella published by PS Publishing last year. He gives it a "Grade A" and says: "As with all of Matthew Hughes Vancian stories, I was delighted by the cleverness and wit of the storytelling."
Unfortunately for those who would like to read it, PS produces only limited editions and the ordinary hardcover release of "Whimsies" is now sold out. Only the signed edition is available. If it's any consolation, I'm now 18,000 words into a new Imbry story that will go into an omnibus edition of the three novellas that will be out, again in two limited editions, probably later this year.
But if you haven't read my Imbry stories -- he's a corpulent forger, art thief, and confidence man of Old Earth in its penultimate age -- I've collected all of them (including the first two PS novellas) as The Meaning of Luff and Other Stories in ebook and POD paperback formats. You can get them most places, including my own web store.
Unfortunately for those who would like to read it, PS produces only limited editions and the ordinary hardcover release of "Whimsies" is now sold out. Only the signed edition is available. If it's any consolation, I'm now 18,000 words into a new Imbry story that will go into an omnibus edition of the three novellas that will be out, again in two limited editions, probably later this year.
But if you haven't read my Imbry stories -- he's a corpulent forger, art thief, and confidence man of Old Earth in its penultimate age -- I've collected all of them (including the first two PS novellas) as The Meaning of Luff and Other Stories in ebook and POD paperback formats. You can get them most places, including my own web store.
March 4, 2015
Next Raffalon story in F&SF
I've proofed the typeset for "Curse of the Myrmelon," the next Raffalon story in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. New editor C.C. (Charlie) Finlay tells me it will run in either the July or September issues. In "Curse," Raff's sometimes client Cascor, the cop turned private eye-cum-sorcerer, takes the lead role.
Correction on my recent post about the current episode of The Kaslo Chronicles in Lightspeed : the free read will commence on March 10, not March 7.
Correction on my recent post about the current episode of The Kaslo Chronicles in Lightspeed : the free read will commence on March 10, not March 7.
March 2, 2015
Kaslo Chronicles episode in Lightspeed
"A Face of Black Iron," the penultimate episode in the serialized novel, The Kaslo Chronicles, is available if you buy the new issue of Lightspeed Magazine. Or you can wait a week and it will be readable for free. There's also an interview with me about how the story has developed.
Tomorrow sees the release of Old Venus , the latest theme anthology from George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. This one is about the Venus that sf authors used to imagine might exist on our sister planet, before technology told us the truth. My story, "Greeves and the Evening Star," is a pastiche of Jeeves and Bertie. A clue: it has newts in it.
Tomorrow sees the release of Old Venus , the latest theme anthology from George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. This one is about the Venus that sf authors used to imagine might exist on our sister planet, before technology told us the truth. My story, "Greeves and the Evening Star," is a pastiche of Jeeves and Bertie. A clue: it has newts in it.
