It was bad enough when Henghis Hapthorn, Old Earth's foremost discriminator and die-hard empiricist, had to accept that the cosmos was shortly to rewrite its basic operating system, replacing rational cause-and-effect with detestable magic. Now he finds himself cast forward several centuries, stranded in a primitive world of contending wizards and hungry dragons, and without his magic-savvy alter ego. Worse, some entity with a will powerful enough to bend space and time is searching for him through the Nine Planes, bellowing "Bring me Apthorn!" in a voice loud enough to frighten demons.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The superior melding of fantasy, humor and detection seen in Majestrum (2006) is displayed to even better advantage in Hughes's second chronicle of Henghis Hapthorn, a discriminator (or consulting detective) on an alternate Earth. Aided by his intuitive inner self, Osk Rievor, and his faithful grinnet, an AI housed in an ape-cat body, Hapthorn accepts a request from wealthy socialite Effrayne Choweri to find her legendarily devoted and romantic husband, Chup, who vanished after looking into the purchase of a small spaceship. When the sleuth finds that several others who had considered buying the vessel also disappeared, he poses as a prospective buyer, only to be captured by a super-intelligent fungus seeking to expand its experience of reality by leeching the thoughts and knowledge of others. Hapthorn's wry first-person narration recalls Bertie Wooster, and Hughes effortlessly renders fantastic worlds and beings believable. News that a third adventure is in the works will surely please fans of many genres. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Resembling a futuristic hybrid of the arch escapades of Bertie Wooster and the thought-provoking cases of Sherlock Holmes, Hughes' Hengis Hapthorn novels delight intellect and imagination. As Old Earth's foremost discriminator (i.e., private detective), Hapthorn combines a logician's savvy and an aptitude for handling unforeseen perils with aplomb. In his latest adventure, his empirical skills face a serious challenge when he is unexpectedly transported centuries forward to a future in which magic has replaced physics as the universal modus operandi. Worse, Hapthorn's intuitive alter ego, Osk Rievor, has unaccountably abandoned him in a bewildering culture whose rival wizards appear bent on using Hapthorn as a hapless pawn in a magical power struggle. Only his wits and the erudition of his fruit-devouring mammalian personal assistant will save him from a fate involving either servitude or death. Hughes' masterfully eloquent style and clever plot twisting provide Hapthorn with an investigative panache rivaling those of the leading sleuths of mainstream detective fiction. Hays, Carl
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic addition to the saga of Hengis Hapthorn,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Spiral Labyrinth: A Tale Of Henghis Hapthorn (Hardcover)
I rarely write reviews as I find that most people who have commented before me have covered the gamut, but this entry has been barren and I just finished the book so I figured I'd give it a go.
I first read Matthew Hughes in F/SF magazine about a year ago with his short story "The Sweet Trap" and I was hooked ever since. The one problem with picking up Hughes' work at that point is that it really helps to have read all previous Hapthorn stories to understand the setups and the relationships between the characters. So I went back and read The Gist Hunter and Other Stories and then picked up Majestrum. The Spiral Labyrinth then continues the saga and hints at a continuation. For anyone who has read "The Sweet Trap" previously, the first couple chapters will be familiar as they are an adaptation of the aforementioned story. The pace picks up from there as Hapthorn is separated from his internal second-personality Osk Rievor and deposited in a land very much antagonistic to a rational freelance discriminator. If you have read a Hapthorn story before, this continues the saga brilliantly. Without posting any spoilers, I love how each entry in the series (with the exception of some of the earlier stories) really changes the world and doesn't come full circle allowing for interesting setups for the next installments. If you are new to Hengis Hapthorn stories, I can't recommend this yet. Read The Gist Hunter and Other Stories and the Majestrum. Then you will be greatly pleased when you reach this book. I cannot wait for more.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Strong Second Book,
By
This review is from: The Spiral Labyrinth: A Tale Of Henghis Hapthorn (Hardcover)
This book continues the trilogy telling the story of Henghis Hapthorn, which started in "Majestrum." Unlike many second parts of trilogies, this is a strong (though not stand-alone) novel that develops several major characters, introduces new characters, and expands the narrative universe beyond Old Earth and into interstellar space. It's great!
I'm eagerly awaiting the third Henghis Hapthorn novel, "Hespira," and was happy to see it available for Amazon.com pre-order.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stylish, a real artist,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Spiral Labyrinth: A Tale Of Henghis Hapthorn (Paperback)
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.
(This review was posted for another Hengis Hapthorn book, Majestrum, but it applies equally to this one).
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