Matthew Hughes (born 1949) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

author who writes

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

under the name Matthew Hughes,

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

as Matt Hughes and media tie-ins as Hugh Matthews. Prior to his work in fiction, he was a freelance

speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also b ...

. Hughes has written over twenty novels and he is also a prolific author of short fiction whose work has appeared in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...

'', ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

'', ''

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' (AHMM) is a bi-monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. ''AHMM'' is named for Alfred Hitchcock, the famed director of suspense films and television. History ''AHM ...

'', '' Lightspeed'', ''

Postscripts ''Postscripts'' was a quarterly British magazine of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and crime fiction, first published in June 2004.Interzone'' and original anthologies edited by

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

and

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of '' Asimov's Science Fictio ...

. In 2020 he was inducted into the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association Hall of Fame.

Biography

Matthew Hughes was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in May 1949. His family moved to Canada when he was five. As a teenager, he was a member of the

Company of Young Canadians The Company of Young Canadians (CYC) was a short-lived Canadian youth program sponsored by the Canadian federal government, which existed from 1966 to 1977. It was designed to be run autonomously without government direction. It generated considera ...

and worked a variety of jobs before becoming a journalist. He then moved into speechwriting, first on the staff of the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and the

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

and subsequently as a freelance writer for corporate executives and politicians in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. While working as a speechwriter in 1982, he wrote a 27,000 word novella for a competition which he saw advertised in the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

''. Although he did not win the contest, he returned to the story years later and expanded it into his first published novel, ''Fools Errant'', which was released in 1994. Since 2007 he has worked across the world as a housesitter to support his fiction career. He has been married since the late 1960s and has three sons. One of his sons has

high-functioning autism High-functioning autism (HFA) is an autism classification where a person exhibits no intellectual disability, but may exhibit deficits in communication, emotion recognition and expression, and social interaction. HFA is not included in either t ...

, which led Hughes to write the "To Hell and Back" books from the perspective of a high-functioning autistic character.

Influences

Hughes's Archonate stories and novels have been compared to the works of

Jack Vance John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names. ...

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

called him Vance's "heir apparent" in their August 2005 review of ''The Gist Hunter and Other Stories''. Hughes has written an authorised ''

Dying Earth ''Dying Earth'' is a fantasy series by the American author Jack Vance, comprising four books originally published from 1950 to 1984. Some have been called picaresque. They vary from short story collections to a fix-up (novel created from older ...

'' story ("Grolion of Almery") for the 2009 Vance tribute anthology ''

Songs of the Dying Earth ''Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance'' is a collection of short fiction and shorter essays composed in appreciation of the science fiction and fantasy author Jack Vance, especially his ''Dying Earth'' series. Edited by Georg ...

'' and in February 2020 was working on an authorised sequel to Vance's '' Demon Princes'' books, which was published in August 2021 as ''Barbarians of the Beyond''. Hughes has praised Vance as being "a unique voice of genius." However, Hughes has cited his 2008 novel ''Template'' as being "the only time I’ve consciously tried to write a “Jack Vance novel,” although the themes and concerns embodied in the story are my own." Other significant early influences include

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

Thorne Smith James Thorne Smith, Jr. (March 27, 1892 – June 20, 1934) was an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction under the byline Thorne Smith. He is best known today for the two ''Topper'' novels, comic fantasy fiction involving se ...

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...

(especially historical novels such as '' An Elephant for Aristotle''),

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

, Isaac Asimov,

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

Joseph Heller Joseph Heller (May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. His best-known work is the 1961 novel ''Catch-22'', a satire on war and bureaucracy, whose title has become a synonym for ...

and Philip K. Dick. Hughes still rereads Jack Vance, P. G. Wodehouse and

Gene Wolfe Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and nove ...

but has not followed the science fiction and fantasy field since the mid-1980s and instead reads mostly crime fiction by authors such as

Lawrence Block Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York-set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Ma ...

Donald E. Westlake Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with more than a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into ...

, Robert B. Parker and

James Lee Burke James Lee Burke (born December 5, 1936) is an American author, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. He has won Edgar Awards for ''Black Cherry Blues'' (1990) and ''Cimarron Rose'' (1998), and has also been presented with the Grand Master ...

, whom Hughes considers to be "the finest American crime novelist of them all."

Awards and nominations

Hughes's work has been shortlisted for numerous major science fiction awards, included the Nebula Award,

Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

Aurora Award The Aurora Awards (french: Prix Aurora-Boréal) are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lure ...

(English-language) and

Endeavour Award The Endeavour Award, announced annually at OryCon in Portland, Oregon, is awarded to a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author or authors and published in the previous year. Pacific Northwest is home to ...

. In 2000, his story "One More Kill" won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story presented by the

Crime Writers of Canada {{primary sources, date=January 2015 Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is a national, non-profit organization, founded in 1982 by Derrick Murdock and other professional crime writers. Its mandate is to promote crime writing in Canada and to raise the p ...

. In 2020 his contributions to science fiction and fantasy were recognised with the

CSFFA Hall of Fame Trophy The Canadian SF and Fantasy Association Hall of Fame Trophy is an award given to Canadian science fiction and fantasy writers for their contributions over their entire career, and is presented as part of the Aurora Awards. The award was first giv ...

. ''What the Wind Brings'', a

slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term sli ...

historical

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...

novel was nominated for the 2020

Neffy Award The National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F or NFFF) is one of the world's oldest science fiction fandom organizations. The organization was founded in April 1941 when all science fiction, horror fiction, horror, and fantasy literature was lumped into ...

and won the 2020 Endeavour Award.

Bibliography

Archonate series

In the far-future setting of Hughes's Archonate stories, the operating principle of the universe changes at intervals of several thousand years between science and magic with catastrophic effects. Science is dominant in stories set in the Penultimate Age of Old Earth and almost all of the characters are initially unaware of or disbelieve in magic: these stories tend towards space opera and

planetary romance Planetary romance is a subgenre of science fiction in which the bulk of the action consists of adventures on one or more exotic alien planets, characterized by distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds. Some planetary romances take place ag ...

influenced by

and

. More recently, Hughes has also written stories set during or after the change in the mode of Dying Earth genre. The stories and characters of the Archonate reflect Hughes's interest and passion in

: he has described himself as "a hard-boiled crime writer working in a science-fictional mode."

Filidor Vesh

The two Filidor Vesh books follow the

picaresque The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...

adventures of the title character, nephew and apprentice to the ruling Archon of Old Earth. *''Fools Errant'' (1994) **"From the Discourses and Edifications of Liw Osfeo" (Excerpt and variant of the Liw Osfeo sections from ''Fools Errant'', first published in the limited edition of ''The Gist Hunter and Other Stories'', August 2005) *''Fool Me Twice'' (2001) **''Gullible's Travels'' (SFBC omnibus of ''Fools Errant'' and ''Fool Me Twice'', 2001)

The Commons

The stories concerned with the Commons were originally intended to form one long novel. As this book did not meet the word limits imposed by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese sci ...

, Hughes published the shortened novel as ''Black Brillion'' and turned the excised material into a series of six short stories about Guth Bandar, a scholar dedicated to exploring humanity's collective unconscious. Hughes sold these stories to

Gordon Van Gelder Gordon Van Gelder (born 1966) is an American science fiction editor. From 1997 until 2014, Van Gelder was editor and later publisher of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', for which he has twice won the Hugo Award for Best Editor Sho ...

at ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction''; the first three were collected in 2005 as part of ''The Gist Hunter and Other Stories'' and

Robert J. Sawyer Robert James Sawyer (born April 29, 1960) is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 24 novels published and his short fiction has appeared in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'', ''Amazing Stories'', '' On Spec'', ''Nature'', and numerou ...

assembled all six as a fixup novel (titled ''The Commons'') in 2007. In 2014, Hughes self published the stories as they first appeared in ''F&SF'' as ''The Compleat Guth Bandar'': differences between this volume and ''The Commons'' are slight. ''Black Brillion'' was nominated for the

while "The Helper and His Hero" was nominated for the

Nebula Award for Best Novella The Nebula Award for Best Novella is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novellas. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novella if it is between 17,500 and 4 ...

. *''Black Brillion'' (2004) *''The Commons'' (2007) (vt. ''The Compleat Guth Bandar'' (2014)) **"A Little Learning" (First published in ''Fantasy Readers Wanted — Apply Within'', October 2003, reprinted in ''F&SF'' June 2004) **"Inner Huff" (First published in ''F&SF'', February 2005) **"Help Wonted" (First published in ''The Gist Hunter and Other Stories'', reprinted in ''F&SF'' October–November 2005) **"A Herd of Opportunity" (First published in ''F&SF'', May 2006) **"Bye the Rules" (First published in ''F&SF'', December 2006) **"The Helper and His Hero" (First published in ''F&SF'', February 2007 and March 2007; Nebula Award for Best Novella nominee, 2008)

Henghis Hapthorn

Henghis Hapthorn is the foremost freelance discriminator of Old Earth in its penultimate age. Hapthorn first appeared in a sequence of six stories sold to ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', where the arch-rationalist and sceptic discovers to his horror that his rational world is about to come to an abrupt end with the dawn of an age of magic. Hapthorn's story continued in three novels published by

Night Shade Books Night Shade Books is an American, San Francisco–based imprint, formerly an independent publishing company, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among its publications have been the U.S. edition of Iain M. Banks' novel '' ...

: more recent Hapthorn stories have been set before his first encounter with magic ("The Immersion") or after ''Hespira'' ("Fullbrim's Finding", "Hapthorn's Last Case"). *''Majestrum'' (2006) *''The Spiral Labyrinth'' (2007) **"Sweet Trap" (a standalone excerpt of the first two chapters of ''The Spiral Labyrinth'', first published in ''F&SF'', June 2007) *''Hespira'' (2009) *''9 Tales of Henghis Hapthorn'' (2013) **"Mastermindless" (First published in ''F&SF'', March 2004) **"Relics of the Thim" (First published in ''F&SF'', August 2004) **"Falberoth's Ruin" (First published in ''F&SF'', September 2004) **"Finding Sajessarian" (First published in ''F&SF'', April 2005) **"The Gist Hunter" (First published in ''F&SF'', June 2005) **"Thwarting Jabbi Gloond" (First published in ''F&SF'', August 2005) **"Sweet Trap" (First published in ''F&SF'', June 2007) **"Fullbrim's Finding" (First published in ''F&SF'', July 2008) **"The Immersion" (First published in ''Unfit for Eden: Postscripts 26/27'', January 2012) *"Hapthorn’s Last Case" (First published in ''Lightspeed Magazine'', November 2018)

Conn Labro and Jenore Mordene

''Template'' follows Conn Labro, the star duellist at a gaming house on the planet Thrais, who travels the worlds of the Spray with Old Earth dancer Jenore Mordene to investigate the murder of his only friend on the planet and the mystery of his own origins. Hughes began writing a sequel as a series of eight 10,000 word episodes but after the sale of the first episode to ''Amazing Stories'' decided to release the entire story as a novel provisionally titled ''Passengers and Perils'', which will also feature many of Hughes's other recurring characters such as Henghis Hapthorn and Ern Kaslo in supporting roles. Hughes began serialising the novel in April 2022 as a series of Amazon Kindle ebooks, and released the full novel at the end of the month. *''Template'' (2008) *''Passengers and Perils'' (2022) **"Stopover at Meech’s World" (First published in ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances ...

'', Fall 2019)

Luff Imbry

Luff Imbry is a con man, forger and thief inspired by a pair of

Sydney Greenstreet Sydney Hughes Greenstreet (December 27, 1879 – January 18, 1954) was a British-American actor. While he did not begin his career in films until the age of 61, he had a run of significant motion pictures in a Hollywood career lasting throu ...

characters, Kaspar Gutman ('' The Maltese Falcon'') and Signor Ferrari ('' Casablanca''). Luff was originally intended only as a supporting character in ''Black Brillion'' and was killed off towards the end of the novel in the first draft. Luff was spared in the final book by the intervention of Hughes's editor at Tor, David G. Hartwell and first appeared in a lead role in "The Farouche Assemblage", beginning the character's long association with ''

Postscripts ''Postscripts'' was a quarterly British magazine of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and crime fiction, first published in June 2004.PS Publishing PS Publishing is an independent book publisher based in Hornsea, UK. Background PS Publishing was founded in 1999 by Peter Crowther.Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...

. Hughes has called Luff his favourite of his own Archonate characters and has expressed interest in completing the story begun in ''The Other''. *''The Other'' (2011) *''The Meaning of Luff and Other Stories'' (2013) **"The Meaning of Luff" (First published in ''F&SF'', July 2006) **"The Farouche Assemblage" (First published in ''Postscripts'', Spring 2006) **"Nature Tale" (First published in ''Postscripts'', Autumn 2006) **"Passion Ploy" (First published in '' Forbidden Planets'', November 2006) **"The Eye of Vann" (First published in ''Postscripts'', Summer 2008) **"Enemy of the Good" (First published in ''Enemy of the Good: Postscripts 19'', October 2009) **"Another Day in Fibbery" (First published in ''Edison's Frankenstein: Postscripts 20/21'', December 2009) **"Quartet & Triptych" (First published as a standalone novella, August 2010, reprinted in ''F&SF'', November–December 2011) **"The Yellow Cabochon" (First published as a standalone novella, January 2012) *''Forays of a Fat Man'' (2019) **"Quartet & Triptych" (First published as a standalone novella, August 2010, reprinted in ''F&SF'', November–December 2011) **"The Yellow Cabochon" (First published as a standalone novella, January 2012) **"Of Whimsies & Noubles" (First published as a standalone novella, August 2014) **"Ephiphanies" (First published as a standalone novella, April 2016) *"Arboghasz Dal Axander Rides Again" (First published in ''Mixed Bag'', July 2022)

The Kaslo Chronicles

In the '' Lightspeed'' serial "The Kaslo Chronicles", Hughes for the first time showed the apocalyptic moment of transition from the age of rationality to that of magic through the eyes of Erm Kaslo, a confidential operative in the Ten Thousand Worlds whose client, the aristocratic dilettante Diomedo Obron, intends to become a powerful

thaumaturge Thaumaturgy is the purported capability of a magician to work magic or other paranormal events or a saint to perform miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking. A practitioner of thaumaturgy is a "thaumaturge", "thauma ...

in the new era. Kaslo, by contrast, is a poor fit for the dawning age as his practical competence does not translate to a talent for magic but he nonetheless attempts to salvage what he can and fight back against interplanar threats. After this serial was collected as ''A Wizard's Henchman'' in 2016, Hughes returned to the character in prequel stories set when Kaslo was still "a hard-boiled, Sam-Spade-type private eye." *''A Wizard's Henchman'' (2016) **"And Then Some" (First published in ''Asimov's'', February 2013, reprinted in ''Lightspeed'', September 2013) **"Sleeper" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', November 2013) **"His Elbow, Unkissed" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', January 2014) **"Phalloon the Illimitable" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', March 2014) **"The Ba of Phalloon" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', May 2014) **"A Hole in the World" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', July 2014) **"Under the Scab" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', September 2014) **"Enter Saunterance" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', November 2014) **"The Archon" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', January 2015) **"A Face of Black Iron" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', March 2015) **"The Blood of a Dragon" (First published in ''Lightspeed'', May 2015) *"Thunderstone" (First published in ''Extrasolar'', August 2017) *"Solicited Discordance" (First published in ''Asimov’s'', January–February 2018) *"The Bicolour Spiral" (First published in ''Pulp Literature'', April 2020)

Raffalon

The character of Raffalon, a skilled but seldom lucky thief in the Dying Earth, was created when George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois invited Hughes to submit a story to their anthology '' Rogues''. After writing the first Raffalon story, "The Inn of the Seven Blessings", Hughes realised the potential of the character and went on to write eight more stories about Raffalon's earlier adventures, which he collected in 2017. *''9 Tales of Raffalon'' (2017) **"Wearaway and Flambeau" (First published in ''F&SF'', July–August 2012) **"Stones and Glass" (First published in ''F&SF'', November–December 2013) **"The Inn of the Seven Blessings" (First published in '' Rogues'', June 2014) **"Avianca's Bezel" (First published in ''F&SF'', September–October 2014) **"Prisoner of Pandarius" (First published in ''F&SF'', January–February 2015) **"The Curse of the Myrmelon" (First published in ''F&SF'', July–August 2015) **"Telltale" (First published in ''F&SF'', January–February 2016) **"The Vindicator" (First published in ''F&SF'', November–December 2016) **"Sternutative Sortilage" (Original to this collection, reprinted in ''F&SF'', May–June 2019)

Baldemar

The creation and subsequent development of the Baldemar series is comparable to that of the earlier Raffalon stories. Hughes was invited by Gardner Dozois to submit a story to '' The Book of Swords'': the resulting story, "The Sword of Destiny" introduces Baldemar at the end of his career serving the ambitious but incompetent thaumaturge Thelerion. Subsequent stories have followed Baldemar's life from his streetwise beginnings through the rest of his time as a wizard's henchman. *''Baldemar'' (2022) **"Ten Half-Pennies" (First published in ''F&SF'', March–April 2017) **"The Prognosticant" (First published in ''F&SF'', May–June 2017) **"The Sword of Destiny" (First published in '' The Book of Swords'', October 2017) **"Jewel of the Heart" (First published in ''F&SF'', January–February 2018) **"Argent and Sable" (First published in ''F&SF'', May–June 2018) **"The Plot Against Fantucco’s Armor" (First published in ''F&SF'', March–April 2019) **"A Geas of the Purple School" (First published in ''F&SF'', November–December 2019) **"Air of the Overworld" (First published in ''F&SF'', January–February 2020) **"The Glooms" (First published in ''F&SF'', November–December 2020) **"The Cat and the Merrythought" (First published in ''Shapers of Worlds, Volume II'', October 2021)

Cascor

*"The Forlorn" (First published in ''F&SF'', September–October 2021) *"The Mule" (First published in ''F&SF'', March-April 2022) *"The Dire Delusion" (To be published in ''F&SF'', May-June 2023)

Standalone Dying Earth stories

Hughes has to date written three standalone short stories and a novel in the same Dying Earth setting as the Raffalon and Baldemar series. *"The Prevaricator" (First published in ''F&SF'', July–August 2018) *"The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable" (First published in ''The Book of Magic'', October 2018) *''A God in Chains'' (2019) *"The Last Legend" (First published in ''F&SF'', March–April 2020) *''The Ghost-Wrangler'' (working title, TBC)

To Hell and Back

''To Hell and Back'' is a

contemporary fantasy Contemporary fantasy, also known as modern fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy, set in the present day or, more accurately, the time period of the maker. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenre, urban fantasy. Strictly, supernatural fiction c ...

trilogy about mild-mannered actuary and superhero fan Chesney Arnstruther, who causes chaos in the spiritual realm when he accidentally summons a demon and refuses to sell his soul. His actions cause Hell to go on strike but also provide Chesney with an opportunity to live out his

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

fantasies. *''The Damned Busters'' (2011) **"Hell of a Fix" (an early version of the first three chapters of ''The Damned Busters'', first published in ''F&SF'', December 2009) *''Costume Not Included'' (2012) *''Hell to Pay'' (2013)

Demon Princes

Hughes's authorised sequel to Jack Vance's Demon Princes quintilogy, ''Barbarians of the Beyond'', was released by Spatterlight Press. The book was published in the "Paladins of Vance" series, a line dedicating to preserving Vance's legacy by permitting authors to create new stories about new characters in Vance's worlds, avoiding the commodified "

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

ian reanimation" of characters Hughes criticised in posthumous continuations of series such those by Robert B. Parker. Hence rather than continuing the story of Vance's protagonist Kirth Gersen, Hughes's novel instead focuses on the new character Morwen Sabine, whose parents were enslaved in the Demon Princes' Mount Pleasant Massacre, as she returns to their much changed homeworld seeking a treasure she could use to buy her parents' freedom. The critic

James Nicoll James Davis Nicoll (born March 18, 1961) is a Canadian freelance game and speculative fiction reviewer, former security guard and role-playing game store owner, and also works as a first reader for the Science Fiction Book Club. As a Usene ...

positively received the book as a "worthy companion to Vance's series" which was also accessible to readers who hadn't read the original Vance books. An audiobook narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir was released by Skyboat Media in February 2022. *''Barbarians of the Beyond'' (2021)

Standalone novels

Hughes has called his 2019 magic realist historical novel ''What the Wind Brings'' his "magnum opus". It was inspired by a footnote Hughes read in a university textbook in 1971, which described how African slaves shipwrecked on the coast of

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

in the mid 16th century created a mixed society with the

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

and successfully "outfought and out-thought" the

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

to gain their independence. Hughes was unable to pursue the idea at the time due to the lack of English-language scholarship but forty years later a

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the fede ...

grant and the increased attention to this passage of history in North America enabled him to complete the book, which received critical acclaim and won the 2020 Endeavour Award. The 2022 novel ''Ghost Dreams'' is a

story about a commercial burglar who helps the ghost of a woman who died wrongfully confined in an asylum in the 1940s to discover what happened to the child taken from her. *''What the Wind Brings'' (2019; Endeavour Award winner, 2020) *''The Emir's Falcon'' (2022) *''Ghost Dreams'' (2022)

Collections

Stories set in the Archonate are marked with a *: *''The Gist Hunter and Other Stories'' (2005) **"Mastermindless"* (First published in ''F&SF'', March 2004) **"Relics of the Thim"* (First published in ''F&SF'', August 2004) **"Falberoth's Ruin"* (First published in ''F&SF'', September 2004) **"Finding Sajessarian"* (First published in ''F&SF'', April 2005) **"The Gist Hunter"* (First published in ''F&SF'', June 2005) **"Thwarting Jabbi Gloond"* (First published in ''F&SF'', August 2005) **"A Little Learning"* (First published in ''Fantasy Readers Wanted — Apply Within'', October 2003, reprinted in ''F&SF'' June 2004) **"Inner Huff"* (First published in ''F&SF'', February 2005) **"Help Wonted"* (Original to the collection, reprinted in ''F&SF'' October–November 2005) **"Shadow Man" (Original to the collection, reprinted in ''F&SF'' January 2006) **"The Devil You Don't" (First published in ''Asimov's'', March 2005) **"Go Tell the Phoenicians" (First published in ''Interzone'', #198 May–June 2005) **"Bearing Up" (First published in ''Takes'', 1996) **"From the Discourses and Edifications of Liw Osfeo"* (Excerpt and variant of the Liw Osfeo sections from ''Fools Errant'', original to the limited edition of this collection) *''Devil or Angel & Other Stories'' (2015) **"Devil or Angel" (First published in ''F&SF'', January–February 2013) **"Petri Parousia" (First published in ''F&SF'', February 2008) **"The Devil You Don't" (First published in ''Asimov's'', March 2005) **"Not a Problem" (First published in ''Welcome to the Greenhouse'', February 2011) **"Grolion of Almery" (First published in ''

'', July 2009) **"Timmy, Come Home" (First published in ''Is Anybody Out There?'', June 2010) **"Go Tell the Phoenicians" (First published in ''Interzone'', #198 May–June 2005) **"The Hat Thing" (First published in ''Asimov's'', September 2004) **"Hell of a Fix" (First published in ''F&SF'', December 2009) **"Hunchster" (First published in ''F&SF'', August–September 2009) **"The Ugly Duckling" (First published in ''

Old Mars ''Old Mars'' is a "retro Mars science fiction"-themed anthology edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, published on October 8, 2013. According to the publisher Tor Books, the collection celebrates the "Golden Age of Science Fiction", a ...

'', October 2013) **"Shadow Man" (First published in ''The Gist Hunter and Other Stories'', August 2005, reprinted in ''F&SF'' January 2006) **"Widow's Mite" (First published in ''MinusTides Magazine'', 1997) **"From the Discourses and Edifications of Liw Osfeo"* (Excerpt and variant of the Liw Osfeo sections from ''Fools Errant'', original to the limited edition of ''The Gist Hunter and Other Stories'', August 2005) **"So Loved" (First published in ''The New and Perfect Man: Postscripts 24/25'', March 2011) **"Ant Lion" (Original to this collection, to be reprinted in ''Trees'', 2022) *''Mixed Bag'' (2022) **"The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable"* (First published in ''The Book of Magic'', October 2018) **"The Gift of Gabby" (First published in ''Welcome to Pacific City'', December 2018) **"Thunderstone"* (First published in ''Extrasolar'', August 2017) **"Mean Mr. Mustard" (First published in ''Storyteller'', Winter 2003) **"Loser" (First published in ''Welcome to Dystopia'', December 2017) **"Greeves and the Evening Star" (First published in ''

Old Venus ''Old Venus'' is a "retro Venus science fiction"-themed anthology edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, that was published on March 3, 2015. All of the stories are set on the planet Venus as styled in the pre-space probe pulp magazin ...

'', March 2015) **"The Prevaricator"* (First published in ''F&SF'', July–August 2018) **"Hapthorn’s Last Case"* (First published in ''Lightspeed Magazine'', November 2018) **"The Bicolour Spiral"* (First published in ''Pulp Literature'', April 2020) **"Arboghasz Dal Axander Rides Again"* (First published in ''Mixed Bag'', July 2022) **"Awakening" (Original to this collection)

Crime novels (as by Matt Hughes)

*''Paroxysm'' (2013) *''One More Kill'' (2018)

Sid Rafferty

*''Downshift'' (1997) *''Old Growth'' (2013)

Crime short fiction

*"Fishface and the Leg" (First published in ''Western Producer Magazine'' (1983); reprinted in ''Storyteller'' (1998) and ''Pulp Literature'', January 2017) *"Something to Sell" (First published in ''Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine'', July 1998) *"Number Crunch" (First published in ''Blue Murder Magazine'', 1999) *"One More Kill" (First published in ''Blue Murder Magazine'', 1999; reprinted in ''Storyteller'' (2001), ''Alibis 9'' (2004), ''Son and Foe'' (2006), Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story winner, 1999) *"Stepping Stones" (First published in ''Blue Murder Magazine'', 2000) *"Wipe Out" (First published in ''Blue Murder Magazine'', 2000; reprinted in ''Iced: The New Noir Anthology of Cold, Hard Fiction'' (2001)) *"Mean Mr. Mustard" (First published in ''Storyteller'', Winter 2003) *"Muscle" (First published in ''Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine'', September 2004)

Tie-in fiction (as by Hugh Matthews)

*''

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

: Lifeblood'' (2007, reprinted in the ''Weapon X'' omnibus, 2020) *'' Pathfinder Tales Web Fiction:'' "Krunzle the Quick" (2012) *'' Pathfinder Tales: Song of the Serpent'' (2012)

Nonfiction (Ghostwritten)

*''Breaking Trail: The Memoirs of Senator

Leonard Marchand Leonard Stephen "Len" Marchand, (November 16, 1933 – June 3, 2016) was a Canadian politician. He was the first person of First Nations status to serve in the federal cabinet, after being the first Status Indian elected and serving as a Memb ...

'' (2000) *''What's All This Got To Do With The Price of 2x4s?'' (2006)