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    Majestrum: A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn
    Majestrum: A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn
    Majestrum: A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn
    Ebook311 pages7 hours

    Majestrum: A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn

    By Matthew Hughes

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMatthew Hughes
    Release dateAug 15, 2013
    ISBN9781597800617
    Majestrum: A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn
    Author

    Matthew Hughes

    The name I answer to is Matt Hughes. I write science fiction, fantasy and suspense fiction. To keep the genres separate, I now use my full name, Matthew Hughes, for sff, and the shorter form for the crime stuff. I also write media tie-ins as Hugh Matthews. I’ve won the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award, and have been shortlisted for the Aurora, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, A.E. Van Vogt, Endeavour, and Derringer Awards. I was born sixty-four years ago in Liverpool, England, but my family moved to Canada when I was five. I’ve made my living as a writer all of my adult life, first as a journalist, then as a staff speechwriter to the Canadian Ministers of Justice and Environment, and — from 1979 until a few years back– as a freelance corporate and political speechwriter in British Columbia. I’m a university drop-out from a working poor background. Before getting into newspapers, I worked in a factory that made school desks, drove a grocery delivery truck, was night janitor in a GM dealership, and did a short stint as an orderly in a private mental hospital. As a teenager, I served a year as a volunteer with the Company of Young Canadians (something like VISTA in the US). I’ve been married to a very patient woman since the late 1960s, and I have three grown sons. In late 2007, I took up a secondary occupation — that of an unpaid housesitter — so that I can afford to keep on writing fiction yet still eat every day. These days, any snail-mail address of mine must be considered temporary; but you can send me an e-mail via the address on my web page: www.matthewhughes.org. I’m always interested to hear from people who’ve read my work.

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    Reviews for Majestrum

    3.5/5

    68 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I was going to give this book a 3. The plot gave me a rather 'pale' impression'. It seemed kind of average. On the other hand, there were fascinating details that I liked and I think I liked the language too. The main characters didn't come off as very likeable (not the humans anyway), but at least they're interesting. So is the setting. Especially the setting. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes Jack Vance's The Dying Earth. As a mix of science fiction and fantasy, it works well. I'm looking forward to finding out more about 'Old Earth' in its 'penultimate age', in the next book about Henghis Hapthorn.
    • 4/5
      I was going to give this book a 3. The plot gave me a rather 'pale' impression'. It seemed kind of average. On the other hand, there were fascinating details that I liked and I think I liked the language too. The main characters didn't come off as very likeable (not the humans anyway), but at least they're interesting. So is the setting. Especially the setting. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes Jack Vance's The Dying Earth. As a mix of science fiction and fantasy, it works well. I'm looking forward to finding out more about 'Old Earth' in its 'penultimate age', in the next book about Henghis Hapthorn.
    • 2/5
      Henghis Hapthorn is a detective on far-future Earth. His brain is shared with an alternate universe version of himself. It's surprisingly dull; so much so that I never bothered to finish. I don't even remember what the mystery was. I recommed reading Swanwick instead.
    • 3/5
      A quick fun read that suffers from the common flaws of books set within massively intricate created universes: it doesn't wait for the reader to come to it rather it aggressively 'brings the reader up to steam.' All too often the narrative voice provides information which is necessary only to let the reader follow what is going on instead of simply demonstrating how the protagonist arrived at his conclusions. And at the very moment the tension and momentum rose to its greatest height there is a infodump of massive proportions.
    • 3/5
      I finished reading [Majestrum] for my next book group meeting. I probably would not have picked it up on my own and probably would not have finished reading it were it not for the book group. But I hate going and saying "I didn't finish it, did I miss anything important?"Henghis Hapthorn is a set in the future private detective but this author really, really likes playing with "the Queen's English" and makes up words with meanings the reader must assume or puzzle out. So Hapthorn is called a "discriminator' and he is accompanied by another internal version of himself who has a different world view and a different methodology for solving mysteries. He might be schizophrenic or just talented, it is not clear at first. He also has a familiar who helps him in many ways.I didn't particularly like the author's language games, nor the protagonist, but I did like the familiar who is a pet just like I would like to have.The book's plot is a relatively straight forward mystery however made complex through the weird creative language and some disorienting world building. I can see how some sci fi fans would love the author and his series. Not my cup of tea.
    • 4/5
      This book is a mix of science fiction, steampunk, and fantasy, all rolled into a far out future where humans have colonized thousands of planets. Its a great story, with great dialogue, mostly between a man, his alter ego, and his Artificial Intelligence/Familiar. A few things - the dialogue can take a little bit to get used to, it has a Victorian Times feel to it, but it really grows on you. There are also a number of characters that blend in together. Its mostly that the names are hard to follow. Hengis Hapthorn himself is a great character in line with Sherlock Holmes, he's a detective, or maybe better yet, a private investigator. He is well respected in his field, but he is not perfect - he has a few weaknesses, namely his ego, and bouts of depression when he can't figure something out. It makes his character interesting. There a few other characters, The Archon is an interesting figure, but we don't know much about him, beyond a cursory introduction of how he runs Old Earth. The world this story is set in is quite fantastic, you have a very rounded world, complete with history and interesting places. But, like all good authors do, the settings is described as part of the story. Its also complex enough that it lends itself easily to sequels. I would love to visit this place - Too bad its only fiction :)
    • 3/5
      Sherlock Holmes in the far flung future, with humanity set on several thousand worlds, including "Old Earth", which is ruled by ironclad customs and history. A little weak in a few areas, but I'll be getting more by this author, as it was a delight to read, with some really funny lines and an intriguing plot.
    • 4/5
      If you turn to the page in the dictionary with the phrase "witty and amusing," you'll probably note the addenda" "See Matthew Hugehs." There is very little of this novel that I don't like. I like the character of Henghis Hapthorn, who manages to be arrogant and put-upon at the same time. I like the world depicted, with its atmosphere of ancient history and inexorable cycles. About the only point holding me back in terms of giving all five stars to this story is that I have sense that the plot is a little too rounbabout for its own good, though it certainly allows Hughes to give you a good tour of his universe. Some readers might also become impatient with the conceit of how the protagonist has literally become of two minds; one posssessed of a hard-knuckled rationalism, the other fitted by temperment to thrive in the coming return of magic.
    • 1/5
      So first off I was a bit surprised that this was a sci-fi novel. Sometimes when I pickup a book I like to be surprised so I don't really read about it first. Not sure why I thought it was fantasy but then it turned out to have fantasy elements in it anyway.It started off very interesting and promising then got boring and extremely repetitive. It did seem to have a kind of british humor but I only laughed outloud once. The pot was very confusing the ending was kind of "deus ex machina", the characters were boring and overall I'd say it was a waste of time.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      I judge this book a second-rate imitation of Jack Vance's style and form. Majestrum lacks real merit and real flaw.
    • 4/5
      Good writing, as ever. A bit rambling for a time; but it all ties down in the end.

    Book preview

    Majestrum - Matthew Hughes

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