Matthew Hughes’s new authorized sequel-cum-companion novel to Jack Vance’s classic The Demon Princes series, Barbarians of the Beyond, will be available from Spatterlight Press and online retailers on August 1, 2021. The ebook version will be available from AMAZON soon!
Barbarians of the Beyond is NOT the further adventures of Kirth Gerson (who is only referred to obliquely), but a companion novel set during the time frame of the first two novels in The Demon Princes series: The Star King and The Killing Machine (both published in 1964).
Hughes’s strategy of returning to the scene of the crime that launched Kirth Gerson on a five book vengeance odyssey is bold and innovative. And Hughes’s choice of heroine, Morwen Sabine, whose parents were taken during the Mount Pleasant raid ratchets up the suspense. What is Morwen’s plan? Why is she putting herself in grave danger? And what secret is Morwen hiding?
Five master criminals known as the Demon Princes raided the peaceful community of Mount Pleasant to loot and to carry off its five thousand inhabitants into bondage in the lawless Beyond. Twenty-five years later, Morwen Sabine, daughter of two of the Mount Pleasant citizens turned into slaves, manages to escape her cruel master in the Beyond. Questions remain about Morwen’s risky decision to go to Mount Pleasant instead of safer parts of The Oikumene,
Morwen finds Mount Pleasant has changed in the twenty-five years since the raid. Morwen discovers she has to deal with mystic cultists, murderous drug-smugglers, and undercover “weasels” of the Interplanetary Police Coordinating Company in order to survive.
Still more threatening to Morwen are the deadly henchmen of the vicious pirate lord who owns her parents and wants Morwen returned – so he can torture and kill her slowly. If you’re a fan of Jack Vance’s The Demon Princes series, you’ll enjoy Matthew Hughes’s brilliant sequel, Barbarians of the Beyond. Let’s hope this is just the first of a new series! GRADE: A
Just ordered it on Amazon. I’m a big fan of Matthew Hughes. I have read pretty much everything he has written other than his few non SF/F works.
Steve, I’m sure you’re going to enjoy BARBARIANS OF THE BEYOND. I love Hughes’s Jack Vance pastiches!
Sometimes I feel like I wandered into the wrong circle of readers. As I just said to Tracy, a good writer can bring you into the fold perhaps. Especially since of late nothing seems to work for me.
Patti, I try to keep to a variety of reading material to keep things interesting. I seldom binge on one writer or series. Exhaustion and ennui need to be resisted.
Sounds right up your alley, but not being a Vance fan, it’s not for me.
@Patti, many of us are still reading mysteries. I just finished A PITYING OF DOVES by Steve Burrows, the second of his Birder Murder mysteries, and liked it enough to buy the next one.
Rick, Matthew Hughes’s faux-Vance novels have their own spin and logic with Hughes’s own unique style.
I was a big fan of the Demon Princes series when they were translated into German in the 60s and was really fascinated. But I don’t know if I really want to continue that series.
Wolf, BARBARIANS OF THE BEYOND is an extension of THE DEMON PRINCES with new characters against a familiar setting. I think you would enjoy it!