Gullible's Travels (Fools Errant / Fool Me Twice)

...of course, I'm not a big Vance fan, and I'm rejoicing too. Matthew Hughe's has set his far future tales in a milieu very similar to Vance's dying earth stories. In the "penultimate age" of the earth, science is slowly losing power to the rise of magic. A young urban decadent who spends his days drinking, eating, and scheming his way in and out of the smallclothes of young ladies, Filidor Vesh is the nephew of the vaguely all powerful Archon, but he'd rather you didn't mention it. Vesh is sent, in the first book collected here, on a world spanning adventure through the odd countries of the dying earth. Each new encounter seems a little more unlikely than the last, with Vesh clumsily encountering sentient, giant beavers, cheerful revolutionaries and their guilt-ridden oppressors, giant, sentient ants, and a society of ultimate narcissists. Vesh gains a little from each encounter, and with the help of an ill-tempered midget sent along by the Archon, transforms himself into a hero worthy of his uncle's respect. By the beginning of the second book, Fool Me Twice, Vesh has fallen back rather considerably. Now an employee of his uncle, Vesh eats breakfast at expensive restaurants, sleeps late, parties late, and tries very hard to avoid making any decisions that might lead to having to make more decisions down the road. (which is why he keeps an adventure book handy for times when he can't leave he office.) Little does he know he's about to suffer through an attempted assassination, be captured by aliens in league with existential pirates, join a traveling show with a penchant for petty thievery, and, in the ultimate test of his committal to noncommittal behaviour, fall in love. Did I mention he also gets a super-intelligent computer with a rather low opinion of his skills, intelligence, and outlook on life lodged in his ear? Filled with witty, at times laugh-out-loud wordplay, ridiculous situations, and entertaining characters, these books are more than just a pastiche of Vance's works. They are entertaining, well written and enjoyable to even those who have read little Vance, such as myself.

I've already read this book twice. The writing is crisp, the story unique. The author's style is very easy to read and he uses humor effectively. The story might seem like science fiction at first, but it also incorporates some adventure elements and a bit of fantasy. Imagine a world where you can have dwarves, futuristic devices, and a life or death struggle all at the same time. The bumbling fool that is the focus of the story turns out to be smarter than he looks, or perhaps just luckier. By the end of the story, you get a glimpse of the convoluted logic the author used to lead you through a twisting path of intrigue laced with humor. I almost hoped the book would never end, but it did. If you read this book, you'll quickly become hooked and read it again.

Matt Hughes, Canadian author, has written a loving homage to Jack Vance's dying earth tales (naturally dedicated to Vance). Here are the two full length novels set in Earth's penultimate days when science is turning to magic while the landscape and creatures of Vance's dying earth are coming to life. Although Hughes breaks no new ground in writing this dualogy prequel to _The Dying Earth_, _Rhialto The Marvellous_, _The Eyes Of The Overworld_ and _Cugel's Saga_, Vance fans have every right to expect an honorable aquittal for an author who's task it is to do what Vance can no longer do. Other authors have tried and succeeded to greater or lesser extents - Michael Shea who wrote the official sequel to _The Eyes Of The Overworld_, namely _The Quest for Simbilis_, a good effort but incompletely realized. L. Warren Douglas attempts a couple novels in the direction of Vance's Alastor Cluster sci-fi tales perhaps less well than Shea's attempts. Does Hughes succeed in his recreation of Vance? You bet your boots! Filidor Vesh, who begins the first story, _Fools Errant_ only slightly ahead of Vance's Cugel in earnestness, poverty and honesty, and his uncle Desnehdah Vesh, the 98th Archon (of earth one presumes) are the main characters of both stories. The second novel included in this edition, _Fool Me Twice_, takes Filidor and the Archon on even more astounding journeys and the whiz-bang ending is a joy of writing, very, very close to the grand master of sci-fi, Jack Vance. Filidor is a hero in training but his education takes two books filled with humor, adventure and odd meetings with fantastic characters to save earth for the latter days upon which Vance's finest prose is lavished. The homage is complete, well rounded, done with a keen ear to Vance prose, character and setting. Well worth reading for those who savor Vance as well as those fantasy fans who have been living under a rock for their entire lives. Check out Vance AND Hughes. =TD