Majestrum

A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn

De: Matthew Hughes

Narrado por: David Marantz

The Tales Of Henghis Hapthorn

Henghis Hapthorn is the foremost penetrator of mysteries and uncoverer of secrets in a decadent, far-future Old Earth, one age before Jack Vance's Dying Earth. A superb rationalist, he has long disdained the notion that the universe has an alternative organizing principle: Magic. But now a new age is dawning, overturning the very foundations of Hapthorn's existence, and he must struggle to survive in a world where all the rules are changing.

In Majestrum, Hapthorn is on the trail of an unknown killer who collects body parts from his victims. The search leads him off-planet, into the Ten Thousand Worlds of The Spray, then turns in an unexpected direction as the freelance discriminator learns that an ancient and evil power is plotting to reassert its dominion over Old Earth.

©2006 Matthew Hughes (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Funny? Sometimes. Interesting? A little.

The story is just ok. But for the last three hours, I was mostly looking forward to being finished. Only because it was mediocre.
The writing has a lot of "he said", "he replied", "he spoke", "he wondered aloud", "he thought to himself" etc. but in and of itself, not a particular issue, but when it's noticeable, there may be a problem. (despite the many, many, many ways to say "he said".)
More of a problem for me - and some of this is probably nit-picky - was the narrator. Some things bother me a lot and one of them is reading a book with unintentional grammatical errors, another is a narrator that mispronounces reasonably common English words, presumably because he (or she) simply did not bother to make sure he knew how to pronounce the words in the book. Maybe he thought someone would fix it in post-production? They did not.
"Sir, I need examples", say you. Very well. What do you call a raised platform on which a speaker or leader addresses a group or accepts fealty from others? Why that is a "Dais" you say. It sure is. "DAY-ISS". This narrator repeatedly calls it a "DIE-ESS". Ugh. Like 8 times in the same chapter, I think. Never once did he actually look at the word and say, "hmmm. I wonder why the "A" is before the "I". Perhaps I should consult a dictionary."
The next one is third grade level reading from a professional (paid) narrator... Ready? Picture this: Up on the dais << notice the continuity of theme >> there is a Big-chief-ruler-of-everyone. Girl approaches and does a small bent knee bow, while holding out her skirt and lowering her eyes in respect. What do you call that? Ah, yes. A Curtsy. Curtsy. Anyone that reads knows that, yes? Unfortunately, our narrator says something like "so-and-so approached the Chief-Ruler and..." (do you want to guess?... Come on! What do you think she does? Say it. Out loud. ... WRONG!) In this version she gave him a "small courtesy". I had to go back a couple times (thanks for the "back 30 seconds" button, Audible.) to make sure he really gave the word three syllables. He did.
Any of you that think this is petty is welcome to your opinion, and in general I know it is. But again: There were other examples in the reading. And honestly, someone who gets paid to read into a microphone, ought to know how to read at least common words. Selling yourself as a narrator demands it.
I'm done.
Did I mention there were other mispronunciations besides DAIS and CURTSY? I did. Good. Because there were.

A very nice homage to Jack Vance, channeling both Dying Earth and Gaean Reach vibes.

Matthew Hughes succeeded in creating an imaginative and unique story set in the 20th Aeon of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth universe. No one can recreate Vance but that is no criticism of this work. If you are a fan of Vance, you should give this a listen. I believe the biggest fault of this audio work are shared by Hughes and voice talent David Marantz. Hughes fails to give the reader credit in recognizing how conversations flow between characters and he could have easily removed two-thirds of the uses of “I said” and “he said” in this story. In nearly every instance, it was obvious which personality/character was speaking. Marantz delivered each “I said” and “he said” in a very flat and emotionless manner. The whole effect made some of the conversations between Hapthorn and his wonderfully interesting Integrator as well as his own inner dialogue somewhat aggravating. That aside, I loved the way Hughes blended ideas across two major Vance settings. I particularly liked the allusion to Lugwiler’s Dismal Itch on one short passage.

Good story. Poor narrative performance.

Good story. Poor narrative performance. Could have been brought to life by a stronger reader. Wish I had experienced it in print.

Treat for fans of Jack Vance, PG Wodehouse

Incredible treat for fans of Jack Vance, Matthew Hughes is inspired by but does not imitate the enthralling writings of the Dying Earth stories.

Perfect blend of sci-fi and fantasy!

I read this book first, but you should really check out The Gist Hunter short story collection first. I love every Matthew Hughes book I’ve read and I’m looking forward to more!