Thraxas [Mass Market Paperback]

Martin Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

In the enchanted but corrupt city of Turai, portly private eye Thraxas, aided by Makri, an axe-wielding barmaid with Orcish blood, is hired by a princess on a case that leads him from the sewers of Turai to the royal palace.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Blindingly funny, deeply subversive' THE GUARDIAN 'A pulp fiction hero par excellence' SFX 'Funny and engaging. I laughed aloud' STARBURST Wonderful plotting, and the jokes come thick and fast ... This is funny. Really funny' BLACK TEARS 'A fantastic read. I really, really enjoyed this book ... Definitely one to watch out for' THE ALIEN HAS LANDED --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Martin Millar wrote some of the best urban fiction of the late 1980's/ early 1990's. Now, under the name of Martin Scott he has, as The Guardian puts it, 'invented a new genre: pulp fantasy noir'. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Baen (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743471520
• ISBN-13: 978-0743471527
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars There's a New Fantasy Gumshoe in Town..., September 6, 2003

By 

Rodney Meek (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thraxas (Mass Market Paperback)

I've always been interested in the minor fantasy sub-genre that deals with private investigators in magical settings. The big hitter in this category is Glen Cook with his Garrett series, but there have been other single entries where characters have had to play the role of detective (Sir Kay, for instance, in Phyllis Ann Carr's underrated "Idylls of the Queen", or the P.I. in the quirky Fred Ward movie "Cast A Deadly Spell").

"Thraxas" is the first novel in a British series that so far comprises three volumes. (This edition was originally published overseas as two separate books.) It relates the adventures of the titular hero, a disgraced and fallen former Senior Palace Investigator whose affinity for the bottle has seen him reduced to straitened circumstances. Now an overweight and middle-aged drunkard and glutton, he takes on cases from low-lifes and those who are really desperate.

The adventures take place in a small Roman-flavored corrupt city-state with a minor degree of magic. Dragons, elves, and fairies are about, and sorcerers abound, but only the most magically adept can carry around more than a couple of spells at a time, so matters are just as often settled by wit or steel as by enchantment.

The mystery in the first half of the book isn't altogether that great, but the one explored in the second half is rather more compelling. More interesting is Thraxas' sidekick, Makri, a young former gladiator who escaped from years of combat in the orcish slave pits and who now is diligently studying rhetoric and philosophy at the local equivalent of a community college. And who also likes to unleash massive havoc when helping out her friend in his investigations.

Because the two parts were originally published separately, there's a degree of repetition in the latter portion of the book, where the author has to remind us of things that took place in another book in the U.K. but that in the American edition occurred just a few pages ago. Also, he has an annoying habit of Capitalizing things that Don't need to Be capitalized. But aside from those quibbles, this is a solid work with a nice cast of characters and a light and droll tone. For fans of fantasy private eyes, this is well worth the price.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Immensely entertaining series, with a lot of heart., September 16, 2004

By 

John (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thraxas (Mass Market Paperback)

The real name of the author of this series is
Martin Millar. You can go to http://www.thraxas.com/
to see what sort of fellow Thraxas is.
There are seven books in the series
so far, and the eighth is to be published in Spring 2005.
Each one seems better than the preceding to me.
This edition contains the first two.
The Thraxas stories have been translated into several
languages and have a worldwide following.
Unlike many science fiction and fantasy works, in these
stories you get to know the characters through their own
dialog and actions rather than second-hand through
descriptions. Anyway, Martin Millar is amazingly creative
and I eagerly await the next installment!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun but not wonderful, September 24, 2005

By 

D. G. Hulan "DavidNOE" (Naperville, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thraxas (Mass Market Paperback)

. This is the first book in a popular British series that seems to have reached ten books so far, starting in 1999, although the first US printing was in 2003. I wouldn't agree with the Guardian's "Blindingly funny!" quoted on the cover, but it's amusing enough and a rather different take on a fantasy-mystery in a Classical-like setting. Thraxas was an investigator for the king of Turai until his fondness for strong drink and low company got him fired; now he scrapes out an existence as a private investigator who's very good at what he does, at least as long as he can stay sober enough to function. Turai is an extremely corrupt city, so it isn't surprising that the royal princess wants to hire him to recover some "letters", or that her brother the crown prince is involved in drug smuggling, or that the traditionally incorruptible elves are acting in a very peculiar manner. With the help of his half-human, quarter-elf, quarter-orc sidekick, the beautiful female warrior Makri, and the sometimes help, sometimes hindrance, of Hanama, the head of the Assassins' Guild, Thraxas manages to bring things to a satisfactory resolution (well, fairly satisfactory), including a last-minute payoff of a gambling debt that was otherwise going to get him offed. There's a good deal of humor, though it's more in the Tom Holt or Glen Cook line than Terry Pratchett or Robert Asprin, if you've read those authors.