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A review by tome15
The Other by Matthew Hughes
4.0
Hughes, Matthew. The Other. Underland Press, 2011.
Matthew Hughes’ bio says he “writes science-fantasy in the Jack Vance mode.” Vance is certainly a model worth following, and The Other offers a good example of what Hughes can do with the form. The hero, Luff Imbry, a clever, self-reliant art dealer and con man is kidnapped by parties unknown and dumped on a backward planet with a ridged eugenic standard that the paunchy Imbry comes nowhere near meeting. He is thrown into a traveling circus of genetic misfits and has to figure out a way to escape and get off the planet that has no spaceport and no obvious way to phone home. Adventure, as you might expect, ensues. Imbry is an engaging character who has a way with artificial intelligences, in this universe called integrators, even if they have had their ethical subroutines suborned. The plot is a bit slow to develop, but patience pays off. 3.5 stars.
Matthew Hughes’ bio says he “writes science-fantasy in the Jack Vance mode.” Vance is certainly a model worth following, and The Other offers a good example of what Hughes can do with the form. The hero, Luff Imbry, a clever, self-reliant art dealer and con man is kidnapped by parties unknown and dumped on a backward planet with a ridged eugenic standard that the paunchy Imbry comes nowhere near meeting. He is thrown into a traveling circus of genetic misfits and has to figure out a way to escape and get off the planet that has no spaceport and no obvious way to phone home. Adventure, as you might expect, ensues. Imbry is an engaging character who has a way with artificial intelligences, in this universe called integrators, even if they have had their ethical subroutines suborned. The plot is a bit slow to develop, but patience pays off. 3.5 stars.