Customer Reviews

Majestrum: A Tale Of Henghis Hapthorn

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Consider this more a recommendation than a review. This book deserves to be read by anyone who has ever enjoyed Jack Vance, CA Smith, Thorne Smith, Wodehouse, or M John Harrison's (lighter) Viriconium stories. There is a sufficiently complex and oddball mystery to involve readers, but dialog and setting are the true delights of MAJESTRUM. Hengis Hapthorn is a PI, or discriminator, in a far future earth era based on science and reason, but into which magic (sympathetic association) has begun to assert an influence, as it apparently has in ages past. Hapthorn prides himself on his logic, sometimes justifiably, and is disconcerted that magic's influence has turned his hand-built AI, or integrator, into a living familiar, mostly still able to function in AI mode except when hampered by its newly acquired carnal needs (sleep, food, and a lot of each). In earlier short stories (collected in Nightshade's THE GIST HUNTER), the integrator was Hapthorn's foil, providing most of the humorous dialog. In the novel, this is complicated by the integrator's incarnation and also by a magical incident's separation of Hapthorn's personality into his normal, logical mode, and his intuitive sub-persona. Another delight is seeing Hughes venture offworld and dabble in building truly strange pocket cultures, a la Jack Vance.

Quibble: Without going into detail, Nightshade, please edit more carefully in the future.

I am looking forward to the next two Hapthorn novels, and hoping that there are more in the planning.

Matt Hughes has offered up yet another richly imagined run of prose with Majestrum. Take a police procedural, dress it in what Victorian prose wanted to be when it grew up, send it into the vastness of colonized space, and there you go. If you like a leisurely plotted story (but not too leisurely, think brisk on an autumn morning), along with characters and dialogue both nuanced, textured, and oh so witty, then I suggest you take your I-don't-want-to-be-spoonfed reading self to the pages of this Henghis Hapthorn offing and any others by Mr. Hughes. As for those any others, refer to his webpage, www.archonate.com, for a thorough bibliography and some sample pages to whet your appetite. He's a deft hand at providing readers with conflict on virtually every page and long on irony and the well-placed twist or three or . . . well, you'll see. Majestrum is a thinking person's dose of science fiction. So, go out, put the napkin in your lap, ready the fork and knife, and dig in.

Another good Night Shade publication. I am reaching the point where I just buy their list without discrimination, everything I have actually read has been very good.

This detective/adventure tale (did I miss a previous one?) takes place in a science-fiction setting (advanced tech, etc) but functionally operates almost as a fantasy - technology is an unelaborated means to an end, fast interstellar travel, etc. This does allow the author to tell a story unencumbered by the need to explain why anything can be done technologically, and it works very well here.

We follow the adventure of a detective/effectuator, initially on an investigation of apparently little import, but then summoned to assist the ruler of Old Earth (the planet amazon readers use now) on a matter of critical importance. This mystery is enhanced by giving the protagonist schizophrenia, as his magically-aspected persona has manifested as a separate entity and is waxing in his own slow rise to dominance over the currently rationality-based persona and world. A few questions do see unanswered at the end of the story, at least as I caught it.

The read familiar with Jack Vance may find echoes of much of his work from the 60s and 70's in this effectuator's tale, and the unsuspecting might be persuaded that this is an unpublished title by the same author. (the resemblance was so strong that at times I thought I saw specific indirect references to vancisms, including the Connactic's (of the Alastor trilogy) habit of going out anonymously amongst his people when the Archon got a knot on the head. Am I wrong? Comment!)

Edit - I have read an interview with the author, and he comes right out and says this is set one eon before the Dying Earth and that " I write the kind of story I like to read, and what I like to read is a Jack Vance story."

He does a great job of it.

Regular readers of the Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy know that a Matthew Hughes story is offers the promise of a great read, and Mr. Hughes does not disappoint in novel form.

"Majestrum" is a well-written, gripping story, a mix of science fiction, fantasy and mystery. Comparisons to Sherlock Holmes work, but one can also detect a hint of Michael Moorcock's "Dancer's at the End of Time" sensability in "Majestrum".
This novel is written with intelligence and wit. Hughes' use of whimsies as a form of interstellar travel is but one of many clever innovations in this novel.

Hughes' writing is a sheer joy, and if I had one complaint, it's that this novel ends far too soon. Best enjoyed on a rainy night next to a raging fire.

"Majestrum" is a lovely fantasy-SF-mystery hybrid by an author I'd literally never heard of, but definitely will look out for in the future. The story follows Henghis Hapthorn, the most famous discriminator (think: Sherlock Holmes-like detective) on Old Earth. "Old Earth", because the story is set in a Jack Vance-like Dying Earth setting, millions of years into the future when the sun's become small and orange, mankind is spread across the Ten Thousand Worlds, and the rich and decadent aristocracy rules.

Henghis is recovering from a strange interdimensional incident in which his integrator (something between an AI and a PDA) was transformed into a small furry creature, which still performs its functions but also demands exotic fruits and regularly talks back to its owner. At the same time, his own personality was split in two separate entities: his old, rational self and a more intuitive, irrational personality that shares his body (and also talks back to him).

Henghis is contacted by one of the rich and powerful aristocrats to investigate a stranger who has attached himself to his daughter. During the investigation, he begins to find out more about the changes that happened to his personality and what they may mean for the future of the universe.

This novel is simply lovely. It's at times hilarously funny, but in a reserved way --- people being very polite and formal while insulting each other. The setting, while not exactly original, is well realized and definitely shows promise for the other two Henghis Hapthorn novels that are available from Nightshade Books. I'll admit that I enjoyed the first half of the novel much more than the second half, but over all it's a great read and definitely recommended.

I loved this book's tone of voice, which is that of the narrator, Henghis Hapthorn. Very droll, amusing, even funny at times. Majestrum is a science fantasy, I guess, but first of all it's a mystery, and I don't go for those much. I like to solve puzzles on occasion, and I love to read sf/fantasy, but mixing them together seems to be not such a good idea. Henghis has no friends, though, so without an intricate puzzle plot to drive things along, what would we have left? Really, the tone of voice kept me reading, just for the love of hearing the words in my head. Hughes is a very good writer. I think he overdid the mystery aspect of it, though. At least as a mystery n00b, I really couldn't follow the connections. It was too subtle for me, perhaps. In fact, "subtle" describes the book quite well, and that's part of it's charm, as with the work of Gene Wolfe. Think of Wolfe with a sense of humor (as he nearly does in Wizard and Knight). Yet, also think of the highly cerebral Sherlock Holmes. As with the Conan Doyle stories, things build steadily to a head, with our hero only barely breaking a sweat. This book could have ended with a great epiphany for our hero, who lives in his head, and finds that his magical alter ego is taking over said head as the Great Wheel turns and the age of rationalism gives way to that of magic. Instead he whines that soon he will be relegated to a dusty back corner, his life effectively over. This is an interesting device Hughes employs, and it does give him an additional main character (even if that character is, actually, part of Henghis himself). But my point is this: here we have this very self-satisfied guy, whom we like very much, but still, he's quite full of himself. He has no friends, no family. When his interrogator (far future Earth's equivalent of a PIM) turns into a familiar with a fondness for fruit, we see how Henghis really doesn't like having to put up with other's differences and quirks. No one seems worthy of his time or respect, basically. And no one deserves an answer to a question, either. It's always "It would be premature to say." It's funny, but there it is. So the world this man has built his life and reputation on is changing drastically. The rules he follows will no longer apply. In fact, we see he is literally being turned out of his own mind by his alter ego, which belongs to the world coming into being. And he whines about it. He isn't happy about it. The finale comes, his alter ego saves the day, and Henghis is finished. Out of a job, and at the end of his life. (The finale is a bit unsatisfying, but that's possibly because I didn't tie all the threads together, and so it didn't seem like things were taking their course; they just seemed to come to an end. But as I say, that's probably because my mystery-reading muscles are weak.) For the mystery fans in the house, this was probably a terrific ending. But for me, it was a let-down. Perhaps because I didn't quite get it, but also perhaps because there wasn't enough wonder and awe, enough, er, magic. Just a lot of flimsy metaphysical mumbo-jumbo barely making any sense. Perhaps I'm not enough of an "intuitive" to enjoy this sort of thing, eh? I like my fantasy to play by the rules, and I want those rules spelled out. Scenes like this just rub me the wrong way.
"So you projected yourself into our realm," my other self said.
"Yes. Since Majestrum had my name, I was connected to the fragment of him that had taken refuge in the realm connected to our old universe by the interplanar device. He, in turn, could connect with the fragments of his flesh that had survived."

This sort of chewing-gum construction just sounds weak to me. I'm okay with a guy like Sauron withdrawing for eons to rebuild his strength, returning through his nine Nazgul to re-conquer Middle Earth. That works for me. You kill the big guy, but he's really powerful, and so he's not really dead. This is kind of what goes on in Majestrum, except there's this really weak pseudo-rational explanation for how the Evil One manipulated people from beyond the grave (or interplanar existence, whavever). Maybe it would've been better had the author just said he used his magic powers, which though weak, slowly moved events along until finally all was in place, ready for his return. In other words, I don't really want to know that Colonel Mustard killed the butler in the pantry with the rolling pin. It's enough to know that the Colonel is the incarnation of evil and has powers beyond imagining. Ooh, yeah.

I'd like to add that I did manage to slog through the huge Vance's Dying Earth omnibus by Gollancz. Not sure what all the hoo-hah is about Jack Vance, frankly. I'd rather read Matt Hughes any day. Looking forward to reading more of his work. Next time I'll take notes -- maybe that'll help. It always helped playing Clue.

Matthew Hughes is a real artist, with an old-fashioned devotion to the craft of writing. This is not science fiction, nor is it "realistic" in the way that people seem to expect of all fiction nowadays. The sentences are crafted, not just thrown on the page like a transcription of an overheard conversation at Starbuck's. It's like Trollope or Smollett...full of wit and clever language. But it's also exciting and thoroughly enjoyable. The only comparable living writer of "speculative fiction" I can think of is Jack Vance, and he's quit writing at age 93. So we are fortunate indeed to have Matthew Hughes, whose unique voice is a thoroughgoing delight. Highly recommended.

Majestrum is a relatively short (232 page trade paperback) science fantasy set in our own far-future universe which has been colonized far and wide by humans from "Old Earth." The protagonist, Henghis Hapthorn, is a "discriminator" ("he unravels conundrums, picks apart puzzles, uncovers enigmas") who uses his keen logical skills to solve mysteries.

But some strange stuff is going on: Mr Hapthorn's integrator (a sentient computer which assists him in his work) has recently donned flesh and blood and become more like a familiar than a computer. Also, the small intuitive part of Henghis's psyche has suddenly asserted itself as a separate personality which shares Henghis's brain and body. These occurrences seem to indicate that sympathetic association (magic), which waxes and wanes across the eons, is now rising again. And soon Henghis Hapthorn's double personality and his familiar find themselves hunting an ancient evil force which is trying to resurface.

Majestrum is a fast-paced novel which reads much like a crime thriller (Matthew Hughes writes those under the name Matt Hughes) with a heavy dose of sarcasm, irony, and dry humor. The few characters are well-drawn and I am interested enough in one of them -- the archon Filidor -- that I may read the previous Archonate novels in which he was the main character.

Mr Hughes confesses to being a Jack Vance fan, and this influence is definitely noticeable. I thought I also detected some echoes of Ursula Le Guin -- especially in the spare style and the importance of names in the magic system.

Matthew Hughes' droll writing style is amusing, and there are many laugh-out-loud moments such as when Henghis has to put on upper-class ornamentation so that the nobles can perceive him, when his integrator/familiar falls asleep at crucial moments, and when hardened criminals are given to the Corps of Buffoons, fitted with coercion suits, and compelled to publicly act in bawdy plays. Even the character names are funny: Glam Botch, Bristal Baxandall, Vhobald Hammis.

This was an inventive and entertaining novel but (as usual) I've got a few minor complaints to mention. The writing style, which seemed clever at first, was overdone to the point where I really wanted to take my blue pencil to it. There were too many ten-dollar words (e.g., peregrinations, transmogrification, pansophical, ratiocination) and the characters "ascend" rather than go up, "peruse" instead of read, and "ascertain" instead of figure out. And I started to tire of these sorts of constructions (all of the characters speak this way):

* "The ensuing conversation was one of those colloquies that occur when no one wishes to mention the particularly salient fact that is nonetheless in the front of each participant's mind."
* "She made no answer but the set of her mouth told me that she had sustained worse injury than being made ridiculous before all whose opinions she valued, bad as that hurt must have been to one of her milieu."
* "She turned her head away and I could see her undertaking the uncharacteristic effort of thinking."
* "I then executed the precise formal motions that would register in the hyperesthetic circuits of his aristocratic neural net."
* "But my fear is swept away by a presentiment that I am about to experience astonishments."

The ending of Majestrum was so far-fetched that I suspect that Mr Hughes was actually going for camp. (If I had read any of his other novels, I'd have a better feel for this.) Henghis Hapthorn who, according to his alter-ego is "trapped in linear rationalism," dismisses key facts and comes to a ridiculously and obviously wrong conclusion about the strange case they're working on, and ends up putting themselves in danger. But the climax unravels itself so quickly and painlessly that there's not much feeling evoked from the reader. This seemed inconsistent with the way that the evil enemy had been portrayed up to this point, and I was a bit let down.

But, overall Majestrum is an entertaining and quick read. If you're already a Matthew Hughes fan, if you enjoy Jack Vance style science fantasy, or if you're looking for something a bit quirky and light, then I recommend Majestrum. If you're only into traditional epic fantasy or sword & sorcery, or if you have no patience for a magniloquent writing style, look elsewhere.

Another wonderful book in Matthew Hughes' unique style. If you liked his previous books, you'll like this one. The balance of magic and technology is shifting further towards magic in this one.

Eccentric and imaginative, but the novel's characters are slow in development. Parts of the read are too repetitive, as if the reader needed to be reminded of the principal characters' story lines.