The Other [Paperback]

Matthew Hughes is often referred to as "Vancean" or the "heir of Jack Vance," which is true enough, but this book, as with his other recent work, is totally original, while retaining the unique wry humor and wordcraft that we associate with the elder master.

Luff Imbry is great fun, and the world Fulda is as baroque and brilliantly conceived as any of Vance's, while not exactly resembling any of them. Unfortunately, like Vance, the mass audience seems to elude Hughes, which is a real shame, because there's no one out there who does this kind of far future science fantasy nearly as well... especially now that Vance has completely retired (at 95).

Don't THINK about it. BUY this book, right now!

Matthew Hughes' readers are likely already familiar with his character Luff Imbry, master thief and art forger. The Other begins with Imbry being kidnapped and deposited on a remote, backward desert planet called Fulda. Imbry then continuously devotes his formidable analytical powers to several problems. First, survival. Second, the Fuldans' peculiar history, customs, religion, and political conflicts, because understanding these turns out to be essential for survival. Third, the identity and purpose of his kidnapper, so that Imbry can avenge himself. And fourth, how Imbry can return to Old Earth from a planet that has no spaceports.

Fulda is inhabited solely by a cult devoted to physical conformity, which has been almost completely achieved after centuries of inbreeding. Formerly "irregulars" were killed. But since a subcult has developed where irregulars facilitate mystic revelations, they are permitted to live, though subjected to segregation and prejudice. Because Imbry is both an offworlder and obese, he is deemed an irregular. He finds himself forced to play a role in the cult's mythology.

Plotwise, The Other alternates between fast action and Imbry's discoveries, which then facilitate another part of the action. Imbry indulges in long meditations, which, although neatly fitted into breaks such as incarceration and slow traveling, sometimes become tedious. Imbry repeatedly gives the same history and analysis of the cult, narrows down the same list of potential kidnappers, and reiterates the same escape plans.

Imbry is also a rather wooden character, displaying almost no emotion and with no eccentricities other than an oft-mentioned love of gourmet cuisine. Matthew Hughes is marketed as a successor to Jack Vance, and Fulda is as colorful as any of Vance's societies. However, Hughes' works move increasingly away from Vance-style baroque language and ironic wit. True, the plot does, at the end, turn out to be ironic--but not witty. Hughes may (or may not) intend certain concepts to be funny--for example, the Fuldan requirement that everyone go nude except for a hat, sandals, and a pouch for carrying small items. If he does, the concept is not inherently funny (many primitive societies on Earth haven't worn much), and the book is not written in a way that makes it funny.

The direction Imbry chooses at the end of The Other doesn't quite make sense. But it does leave the door wide open for a sequel. I look forward to it.

I am very much a fan of Matthew Hughes's work, and "The Other" is another engaging story told in Hughes's distinctive voice. I greatly enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to almost any of my friends who are fans of this kind of science fiction.

Unfortunately, there are some minor problems of narrative continuity which reduced my enjoyment somewhat by making me drop out of the story. Were the cloth coverings pulled from the driver's bench by the performer or by the official? Were the victims crushed by pressing, dropped, or asphyxiated? Was there a hand-held communicator, or was the communicator in the vehicle needed? Wasn't a twin both extraneous to the story and a significant deviation from statistical normality? What was found at the third oasis?

I do not find fault with the author on account of such slips, and I am sure that the majority of the people who read this entertaining adventure story won't notice them. It's a pity that that majority included the copy editor who should have been able to see the glitches along with the clitch and be sure they were corrected before the book went to press.

Mr Hughes, if you are reading this I hope that you will not take the above as a criticism of your work. I would regret it forever if my comments held you back from producing even one more page of your marvelous fiction. Just please see if you can have your work copy-edited by someone as skilled at that part of publishing a story as you are at imagining it and writing it down.