Cascor, Matthew Hughes new collection of short stories, weighs in at over 500 pages. Stories like “Stones and Glass” and “Prisoner of Pandarius” feature Raffalon, a thief whose brilliant heists both succeed and fail because of magical elements. Cascor (he’s the spooky looking dude on the cover), a former policeman turned detective with a flare for magic, partners up with Raffalon.
My favorite story in Cascor is “The Vindicator” where Raffalon discovers someone is trying to kill him. He turns to Cascor to find out who and why. Cascor’s investigation discovers tampering with the past.
Hughes also includes two stories about sorceress Margolyam one of which highlights an “origin tale” of Margolyam’s years as an orphan and her discovery of her magical powers.
Suspense, mystery, mayhem, and magic animate the stories in Cascor. Matthew Hughes is at the top of his game in these thrilling adventures! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreward — vii
- Stones and Glass — 1
- Prisoner of Pandarius — 56
- Curse of the Myrmelon — 96
- The Vindicator –119
- The Forlorn — 179
- The Mule — 234
- Armadi Dizzerant’s Avarice — 282
- The Dir Delusion –319
- Tome-Tickler — 385
- The Touch — 420
About Me — 501
New writer for me. I am not sure if I could believe in the magic enough for it to work.
Patti, the magic elements are minor when compared with the plots the thief and the detective tackle.
Hughes seems to write a lot. I’ve read a couple of his stories, I think. These look like pretty long stories, judging from the contents.
Jeff, I love Hughes stories…long or short! Sadly, this may be the last short story collection from this author. Hughes hints at ceasing writing short stories to work on novels in the future.
You will wear me down into adding Hughes to my list to explore yet, George!
Todd, if you like Jack Vance, you’ll like Matthew Hughes’s pastiches!
Matthew Hughes is new to me too. I would love to try something he read, maybe this although magic is less my thing than space opera. I will add him to my list to to check out at the annual book sale. My song searches all the science fiction and fantasy tables and he may spot something. Since the author has written a lot of books.
Tracy, magic usually factors in the plots of Matthew Hughes’s stories in minor ways. I enjoy the mystery elements of his tales.
Already have this. I’m a huge Hughes fan.
Steve, in his Introduction, Hughes says he’s not going to write short fiction any more so this is probably the last short story collection from him.