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Henghis Hapthorn #3
Hespira: Tales of Henghis Hapthorn, Book Three
As magic begins to reassert its ancient dominion, Old Earth's foremost freelance discriminator, Henghis Hapthorn, and his intuition (now a separate person named Osk Rievor), are living apart, though they remain on good terms. But now there comes between them a woman of alluring mystery. Who is Hespira? Does she truly want either of them? Or has she come to destroy them both?
233 pages, Hardcover
Published August 1, 2008
About the author
Matthew Hughes
200 books285 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 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 15, 2012
While acting as a middleman on a ransom case, Henghis Hapthorn runs into an amnesiac woman calling herself Hespira. Hapthorn's attempts to restore her memory take them all over the Spray. Meanwhile, the ransomer and the ransomee both have Hapthorn in their sights. Can Hapthorn restore Hespira's memory before he becomes just a memory himself?
As always, Hughes' love for Jack Vance takes center stage. The Age of Magic draws ever nearer and Henghis Hapthorn ponders his place in the impending Age. Oh, and he attempts to solve the mystery of Hespira's memory loss while having a lot of humorous lines.
Osk Rievor continues his development as a character independent of Henghis. I was pleased that the death of Tabanooch in the previous novel wasn't swept under the rug and I was also delighted to see another Grinnet show up.
You wouldn't think a mystery set in a Jack Vance-like setting would be as complex as the ones Hughes puts forth but this one takes the taco. The setting is nearly a character in itself, what with the multiple worlds, odd cultures, and the whimsies.
Any complaints? Not really. It was quite an enjoyable tale. 3.5 out of 5.
As always, Hughes' love for Jack Vance takes center stage. The Age of Magic draws ever nearer and Henghis Hapthorn ponders his place in the impending Age. Oh, and he attempts to solve the mystery of Hespira's memory loss while having a lot of humorous lines.
Osk Rievor continues his development as a character independent of Henghis. I was pleased that the death of Tabanooch in the previous novel wasn't swept under the rug and I was also delighted to see another Grinnet show up.
You wouldn't think a mystery set in a Jack Vance-like setting would be as complex as the ones Hughes puts forth but this one takes the taco. The setting is nearly a character in itself, what with the multiple worlds, odd cultures, and the whimsies.
Any complaints? Not really. It was quite an enjoyable tale. 3.5 out of 5.
March 14, 2015
Read in October 2008. Mr. Hughes is there if you need a Jack Vance fix. Hespira is the third in a series of the "tales of Henghis Hapthorn." If you are new to this series, start with the Spiral Labyrinth and then Majestrum before delving into this novel, but that is not absolutely necessary, only enjoyably so.
Highly Recommended
Highly Recommended
February 6, 2016
The third book in the series was my least favorite. Not as entertaining or interesting as the previous two, which is a little disappointing.
It was slow going in the beginning but picked up towards the end. I didn't like how the author resolved the relationship with Hespira, one of the main characters, with just a couple of sentences, even though she'd been central to almost every scene in the book. And it irritated me that Hapthorn supposedly has the same 'integrators' technology as everyone else, but unlike everyone else, his skill with using them is supernal, giving him god-like omniscience and power.
Still love the Vancian-style of storytelling so I'll keep reading Hughes' stuff. :)
It was slow going in the beginning but picked up towards the end. I didn't like how the author resolved the relationship with Hespira, one of the main characters, with just a couple of sentences, even though she'd been central to almost every scene in the book. And it irritated me that Hapthorn supposedly has the same 'integrators' technology as everyone else, but unlike everyone else, his skill with using them is supernal, giving him god-like omniscience and power.
Still love the Vancian-style of storytelling so I'll keep reading Hughes' stuff. :)
October 2, 2018
Henghis Hapthorn acts as an intermediary between a man recovering a stolen item and the thief that is ransoming it back. Hapthorn advises his client to be happy with the recovered item and let the matter drop. Instead the [now former] client is intent on revenge and brings Hapthorn into the middle of the disagreement. The scroots advise Hapthorn to make himself scarce. He had just bumped into a woman with amnesia and felt an uncharacteristic sense of protectiveness toward her. She is from far down the Spray. Investigating her identity gives him a chance to let things cool down on Old Earth. When her identity is found he heads back to Old Earth only to find the original situation still unresolved.
Fun read. Cleverly done mystery, which has additional layers. Once we found the true identity of Hespira there was a piecing together of events in her home system, but that still left a hole of how Hespira got from Shannery to Old Earth.
Very good tie in to the theme of all three books, Majestrum, The Spiral Labyrinth and this one. Hapthorn is dreading the coming age of sympathetic association and the fall of his scientific or rational world. Seeing Hespira with amnesia makes him wonder if not knowing the inevitable would be better.
Fun read. Cleverly done mystery, which has additional layers. Once we found the true identity of Hespira there was a piecing together of events in her home system, but that still left a hole of how Hespira got from Shannery to Old Earth.
Very good tie in to the theme of all three books, Majestrum, The Spiral Labyrinth and this one. Hapthorn is dreading the coming age of sympathetic association and the fall of his scientific or rational world. Seeing Hespira with amnesia makes him wonder if not knowing the inevitable would be better.
March 25, 2022
In a similar vein to one of my favourite authors (Jack Vance), doesn't equal Vance's artistry, but nevertheless reasonably clever and an enjoyable read
December 10, 2014
Henghis Hapthorn is troubled by the imminent death of the rational universe and its replacement by the forces of sympathetic association (also known as magic). But, being unable to do anything about the issue, and having just started a feud between one of Olkney's richest aristocrats and a rising criminal in the underworld, now seems like a good time for a long trip offworld. Hespira offers the perfect excuse. A woman who has lost her memories, a chance for Henghis to be the gallant detective, a case that is more than it first appears . . . well, that's business as usual.
It's been several years since I read The Spiral Labyrinth, but the pertinent plot details are provided as needed, and the rest of the book is a fine romp through a mostly stand-alone mystery. Set in the ten thousand worlds of The Spray, this sci-fi/fantasy is told by the decidedly anti-fantasy Henghis himself, which leads to any number of amusements (not the least of which is that he can hardly bring himself to say the word "magic", and every time he runs into another example he's distressed). The logical Henghis is a bit crippled for this adventure, though: his intuition has split off from him as its own person (events related in The Spiral Labyrinth), so he's relying on logic alone to get him through this case. And he's well aware that logic will only go so far.
I enjoy the dry humor, particularly the exchanges between Henghis and his integrator, who hasn't quite lost all the personality it gained when it was in a living body. Or watching the ship's integrator and his integrator squabbling for supremacy. I also enjoyed the fact that Henghis and Hespira do not have any kind of romantic relationship--he himself is puzzled why he feels so strongly to help her, but their relationship remains friendly and within professional bounds. Too many stories simply go for the romance option when such a situation presents itself, so it was nice to see something different. I was also incredibly amused by the mess poor Osk has made of himself when Henghis meets him again at the end; it seems losing his logical facilities has left Osk as bereft as Henghis, in his own way, and Henghis's horror is beautifully understated. As is the delightful moment when Osk wakes up from his nap. . .
I did miss the interaction between Henghis and Osk from back when Osk was still inside Henghis's head. This mystery still has pieces of a bigger story being told, but by and large most of that is simply Henghis wondering what he's going to do with himself once the regime changes over and logic gets steamrolled by magic. And the ending is inconclusive (or at the least ambiguous) about his decision in that regard.
Still, this was an enjoyable read, and would be a decent cap on the story if it ended here, though it certainly leaves enough room not to rule out a sequel. I rate this book Recommended.
It's been several years since I read The Spiral Labyrinth, but the pertinent plot details are provided as needed, and the rest of the book is a fine romp through a mostly stand-alone mystery. Set in the ten thousand worlds of The Spray, this sci-fi/fantasy is told by the decidedly anti-fantasy Henghis himself, which leads to any number of amusements (not the least of which is that he can hardly bring himself to say the word "magic", and every time he runs into another example he's distressed). The logical Henghis is a bit crippled for this adventure, though: his intuition has split off from him as its own person (events related in The Spiral Labyrinth), so he's relying on logic alone to get him through this case. And he's well aware that logic will only go so far.
I enjoy the dry humor, particularly the exchanges between Henghis and his integrator, who hasn't quite lost all the personality it gained when it was in a living body. Or watching the ship's integrator and his integrator squabbling for supremacy. I also enjoyed the fact that Henghis and Hespira do not have any kind of romantic relationship--he himself is puzzled why he feels so strongly to help her, but their relationship remains friendly and within professional bounds. Too many stories simply go for the romance option when such a situation presents itself, so it was nice to see something different. I was also incredibly amused by the mess poor Osk has made of himself when Henghis meets him again at the end; it seems losing his logical facilities has left Osk as bereft as Henghis, in his own way, and Henghis's horror is beautifully understated. As is the delightful moment when Osk wakes up from his nap. . .
I did miss the interaction between Henghis and Osk from back when Osk was still inside Henghis's head. This mystery still has pieces of a bigger story being told, but by and large most of that is simply Henghis wondering what he's going to do with himself once the regime changes over and logic gets steamrolled by magic. And the ending is inconclusive (or at the least ambiguous) about his decision in that regard.
Still, this was an enjoyable read, and would be a decent cap on the story if it ended here, though it certainly leaves enough room not to rule out a sequel. I rate this book Recommended.
January 1, 2016
Third in the series of novels featuring Henghis Hapthorn, a discriminator (investigator) in a future society using his skills of rationale deduction to solve mysteries even as the universe he knows is giving way to a system based on magic rather than reason. This one features an eponymous femme fatale, to whom Hapthorn has a strong attraction he cannot explain, seemingly based not in the slightest on romantic allure. She literally bumps into our hero, and when he discovers she has amnesia and does not know where in the universe she belongs, he resolves to find out who did this to her and why. As in the earlier novels a few different plot lines intersect: Hapthorn is also caught in a power struggle between two powerful multiplanet crime cartels, while his magical counterpart Osk Revier, once his intuitive inner consciousness, continues to evolve and grow as a distinct being, building his own magical resources, even as other mages and thaumaturges, rising to power as the new age advances, struggle to increase their own hegemonic domains.
January 23, 2016
Third in the series of novels featuring Henghis Hapthorn, a discriminator (investigator) in a future society using his skills of rationale deduction to solve mysteries even as the universe he knows is giving way to a system based on magic rather than reason. This one features an eponymous femme fatale, to whom Hapthorn has a strong attraction he cannot explain, seemingly based not in the slightest on romantic allure. She literally bumps into our hero, and when he discovers she has amnesia and does not know where in the universe she belongs, he resolves to find out who did this to her and why. As in the earlier novels a few different plot lines intersect: Hapthorn is also caught in a power struggle between two powerful multiplanet crime cartels, while his magical counterpart Osk Revier, once his intuitive inner consciousness, continues to evolve and grow as a distinct being, building his own magical resources, even as other mages and thaumaturges, rising to power as the new age advances, struggle to increase their own hegemonic domains.
August 14, 2010
Hughes' writing isn't the most exciting to read, but he has a dry sense of humor that amuses. This story combines mystery, magic, rivalries and an exquisite story of revenge into a fun story. As the third of the series, it seems to do a good job standing alone, but readers would benefit from the prior books.
August 6, 2014
Well, I finished this. And it certainly didn't keep me up too late.
I didn't realize when I picked this up that it was a mid-series book, and it got me hooked enough to keep going, but overall it just felt stiff. I didn't care about any of the characters, and half the time I thought they were making dumb choices, and it didn't make me want to read others in the series.
I didn't realize when I picked this up that it was a mid-series book, and it got me hooked enough to keep going, but overall it just felt stiff. I didn't care about any of the characters, and half the time I thought they were making dumb choices, and it didn't make me want to read others in the series.
January 2, 2011
When I subscribed to Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, I always looked forward to Henghis Hapthorn stories by Matthew Hughes. So to read a whole Henghis Hapthorn novel was a real pleasure.
April 29, 2012
Not as good as the first two. Seemed like Hughes' vocabulary (which I usually enjoy) took the role of the protagonist.
November 22, 2013
The last of the Henghis Hapthorn books. Maybe even a little more Vancian than the previous ones?
November 3, 2014
An entertaining read that'll allow anyone to pass a few restful hours.
March 6, 2013
If you like Jack Vance, you'll love this.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews