Thraxas And The Dance Of Death

Thraxas #6

by Martin Scott

In the enchanted city of Turai, the royal family is corrupt, the politicians can be bought, and the civil guards have better things to do than guarding. Thraxas may look unprepossessing, being overweight and not quite overbrained, and more interested in pursuit of his next glass of beer than pursuit of justice, but if you're in trouble in Tural this portly private eye is probably your only hope. Turai is no stranger to death in all its forms - except that now a silent and insidious variety of death has entered the city, and no one knows who will die next. What they do know is that everywhere Thraxas goes in his search to recover a missing magical jewel, the mysterious killer has been there first, leaving the dead or dying as its calling card. Thraxas hasn't a clue, but does have a pressing shortage of funds, and if stopping the unseen, unknown silent killer is what it takes to recover the jewel and replenish his wallet, he'll take the job. But will he solve the mystery, or join the dance himself?

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Fiction, Mystery

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

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

[Phil Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for the impressive body count.

[Liza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and fun book. It also helps to know that Martin Scott is Martin Millar's pseudonym for writing the "Thraxas" books, which is great.

"Conan the Barbarian" meets "Chinatown". A classic "film noire" genre turned on its head, since this sardonic private dick runs around an ancient barbaric city and throws spells instead of toting a gun. His assistant wears not kitten heels and an evening dress but a tiny chain mail bikini and carries a giant ax.

The style is a little hard to get into, it's all written in the present tense, is extremely laconic and strangely devoid of (overt) emotion. In this respect the style reminds me of "The curious incident of a dog in a nigh time", where the style was meant to convey the state of mind of an autistic protagonist. The style is also very "Dick Tracy", which perhaps is the whole point. You keep stumbling on lines like:

"As I walk outside I see a magical golden tree sprout from the pavement. It looks pretty, but I am in no mood, so I ignore it and walk on".

I ended up really getting into it and though the descriptions of everything are minimalistic at best, you still manage to get a sense of the characters. I think I'll be looking up more books from the series.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin Millar, writing as Martin Scott, has created a series of pulp fiction Fantasy Noir dectective stories, and one of my favourite characters. Here Thraxas is trying to tract down a sorcerous pendant, while bodies are piling up, and magical creatures are unexpectedly turning up in Twelve Seas. Highly enjoyable.

[Veselin Nikolov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thraxas is chasing magical jewelry that triggers insanity in the person who finds it. Whenever the jewel is found, it finds its way out and causes too much trouble everywhere. Unlike the other books, there's no clear antagonist, just all these magicians and warriors in absurd situations.

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow start, but picked up at the end.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin Scott writes a flawless and seamless novel.

[CONNIE BALTHROP · Rating 5 out of 5]

You really need to start with Thaxas,#1 so you know what's what in the story. You get to see the characters grow, but not all.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a letdown after Thraxas #5. But, I suppose, Scott did not leave himself much room to get yet more crazy and over the top after that novel. However, it's still Thraxas and still fun.

[Rajit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another (mis)adventure with Thraxas and Makri. While their antics are still funny, I almost want to skip to the last book just to see if the story goes anywhere

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thraxas and Makri get involved in a series of deaths related to the hunt for a magic jewel that protects against invasion. Scott tries too hard to include the entire cast in this one, but he clearly starts moving on the Thraxas-Makri love connection. And Horm the Dead is always fun. Rated M for violence, drug use, supernatural themes. 3.5/5

[David Scrimshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complications involving sorcery prevent Thraxas from drinking and eating and Makri is accused of theft. They work it all out in the end and their town survives to face being over-run by the orcs to another day.

[colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read 01.08.06

[Boneist · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books have definitely grown on me! I'm coming to like the odd style of narration. I always did like Thraxas, though!