Showing results by author "Matthew Hughes" in All Categories

The first collection by writer Matthew Hughes, and the perfect companion to his acclaimed novel Black Brillion, The Gist Hunter and Other Stories features nine stories taking place in the universe of The Archonate, as well as four non-series stories. The stories of Henghis Hapthorn, Old Earth's "foremost freelance discriminator", combine mystery and science fantasy while simultaneously recalling the arch irony of Gene Wolfe and the sly fancies of Jack Vance.

Luff Imbry returns from the weird planet Fulda, to which he was shanghaied by a mysterious enemy, only to find that an impostor has stolen from the strongroom at his private club collection of magical paraphernalia he acquired from a would-be thaumaturge. That’s impossible, but Imbry has to deal with reality. He sets off on a quest to solve the mystery and recover his goods, bringing him into conflict with shadowy forces that are preparing for the great change, when the universe once again gives up on rationalism and embraces an age of magic. The odds are against him, but Imbry is a great...

Meet Luff Imbry, an insidiously clever thief, forger, and confidence man . . . He likes good wine, good food, and good stolen goods, and he always maintains the upper hand. When a business rival gets the drop on him, he finds himself abandoned on Fulda — a far-off, isolated world with a history of its own. Unable to blend in and furious for revenge, Imbry has to rely on his infamous criminal wit to survive Fulda’s crusade to extinguish The Other. Hailed as the heir apparent to Jack Vance, Matthew Hughes takes you on a richly imagined exploration of a society on the far edges of extreme....

As the American Colonies prepared for war against the British, they found themselves drastically underarmed. Thanks to the Iron Act of 1750, the manufacture of finished iron goods in the colonies was illegal, including the construction of firearms and cannons. A pair of brothers, Daniel and Samuel Hughes, sought to change that and began working to fill the Continental Army's need for cannons, turning American mined iron into the tools of war needed to free themselves from British rule.This is their story, following them from their immigration from Donegal, Ireland as boys to the start of ...

Twenty years ago, five master criminals known as the Demon Princes raided Mount Pleasant to enslave thousands of inhabitants in the lawless Beyond. Now Morwen Sabine, a daughter of captives, has escaped her cruel master and returns to Mount Pleasant to recover the hidden treasure she hopes will buy her parents’ freedom.

A super-criminal - as deadly as she is beautiful - wagers all in an epic battle with a master detective, Akechi Kogoro. No trick is too elaborate, no disguise too fantastic as the two perfectly matched antagonists take turns to outwit each other.

From the award-winning author of Majestrum, Template, and The Other, this collection of short stories ranges from the thoughtful to the whimsical. Most of them appeared first in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Asimov’s. Others were written for the bespoke anthologies: Songs of the Dying Earth, Old Mars, and Welcome to the Greenhouse; one is published here for the first time.

Chesney’s efforts to 'Save the Day' and 'Win the Girl' make slow progress. This superhero lark is a bit more complicated than he thought. But even as Chesney is trying to learn the ropes, Boss Greeley has made a deal with the Devil. A deal that is making Greeley stronger by the minute. Soon he will be untouchable. Meanwhile Reverend Hardacre digs deeper and finds that not everything in reality is quite what it seems… Now Chesney, the one-time actuary-turned superhero must continue the fight.

Meet Chesney Arnstruther. Once a mild-mannered insurance actuary, now a full-time crime-fighting superhero, it’s all he can do to kick bad-guy ass while at the same time holding down a steady relationship with the gorgeous Melda. Something is going on. Meet Xaphan, wise-cracking demon and the source of (almost) all of Chesney’s powers. He’s been asked by his infernal master to give Chesney whatever he needs…but surely stopping bad guys is not in Hell’s plan?

The Compleat Guth Bandar In Old Earth’s penultimate age, humanity’s collective unconscious has long since been fully explored and mapped by the noönaut scholars of the Institute for Historical Inquiry. But something is threatening the integrity – perhaps even the very existence – of the noösphere, and aspiring academic Guth Bandar finds his career plans diverted by a collective unconscious that appears to be waking up. The Compleat Guth Bandar brings together the full series of Bandar stories originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and later assembled ...

In another sparkling and slightly askew adventure in the mode of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Jack Vance, Fools Errant's Filidor Vesh sashays once more through the penultimate age, finding that... LOVE IS A MANY SPLINTERED THING The dandified Archon's apprentice is literally bowled over by beautiful Emmlyn Podarke -- she knocks him flat and steals his credentials, daring him to pursue her to a remote and mostly forgotten corner of Old Earth. Now Filidor must cope with philosophical pirates, prophet-seeking aliens, light-fingered mummers, and a tiny, bothersome voice in his left ear. ...

In a far-future world of wizards and walled cities, Lieve Reder has risen from being a small chandler’s daughter to become the captain of a riverboat owned by House Bernaglio in the oligarch-run city of Exley. She has ambitions to rise higher and when her employer, the widow Philaria Bernaglio, asks her to travel to the remote desert town of Ur Nazim to retrieve a mysterious item her dead husband, Nulf Bernaglio ordered, she signs on to the quest. Accompanied by Dai, an artificial human created by one of the mad thaumaturges of Olliphract to be part of the wizards’ deadly war games, she...

In a world of wizards and walled cities, Galabras Nachecko is a necromancer in the seaport metropolis of Golathreon, connecting the living with deceased relatives and associates to answer questions left unresolved at the time of death. Then he is tasked by Duke Simisson’s conniving seneschal to capture the ghost of a notorious land pirate scheduled for execution. He snags the spirit but finds that the assignment has made him a man who knows too much. Nachecko is propelled into a new career—secret agent segueing into diplomat—that leads him far from home, plunges him into perilous ...

He calls himself Farouche, after a character from legend, but his reality is that his memories and identity were stolen from him by a secret enemy. In a far-future world of wizards and walled cities, he finds himself trailing a wealthy merchant’s caravan across a dusty plain. Possessed of a soldier’s skills, he hires on with the merchant and begins to build a life. But his efforts to discover his past reveal a dark prospect: was he a participant in a notorious massacre of innocents? Will Farouche come to know the truth? Will he survive the journey across a lawless land to the remote ...

In Old Earth’s penultimate age, the corpulent master criminal Luff Imbry moves through the halfworld like a full-fleshed shark. Thief, forger, confidence man, and sometimes go-between, he maps out his illicit operations with exquisite care then carries them out with courage and panache. But, often, things don’t go as Luff planned, and he must call upon a talent for improvisation and a ruthless will to survive. This collection brings together seven short stories and novelettes previously published in Postscripts, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and the anthology Forbidden ...

Critically acclaimed science fiction and fantasy author Matthew Hughes started out as crime writer Matt Hughes. He churned out fast-paced stories about burglars, psychopaths, con men, cops, and killers, well leavened with the deep sense of irony that permeates his speculative fiction. This collection’s dozen stories includes “One More Kill,” judged by the Crime Writers of Canada as the best short crime yarn of 1999.

Most of us feel surprisingly awkward asking for money. This book shows you how to feel more confident, to know your worth and to frame your services in terms that clients value. Blending practical Business Development techniques with a fresh money mindset, it explores the psychology of value and worth, helping you have client conversations that win both respect and proper reward.

Grace for a Season is a true story of love, loss, and the quiet mercy of God, told through the life of a small tabby cat named Gracie. What begins as an ordinary family pet becomes something far greater—a companion, a comfort, and a living reminder of grace in the everyday moments of life. When illness enters the home, the family is drawn into a season of waiting, prayer, and painful uncertainty. Through sleepless nights, whispered prayers, and impossible decisions, they learn what it means to love sacrificially and to trust God when answers do not come as hoped. Written in the midst of ...

Mixed Bag: A Miscellany of Stories brings together eleven stories, from flash to novelette length. As the title indicates, there’s considerable variety: Dying Earth fantasy, space opera, contemporary fantasy, near-future dystopia. Some of the stories bring back some of my favorite characters: Henghis Hapthorn, Erm Kaslo, and Luff Imbry. And one of them is my unabashed Wodehouse pastiche that saw Jeeves and Wooster (with names changed to protect the sueable) rocketing off to Venus. All of the tales have been previously published in reputable venues, except for the Imbry novelette, which is...

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