Great short-story compilation of Gath Bandar

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	• The Commons Matthew Hughes Robert J Sawyer Books, 2007 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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a new perspective

This book contains a number of stories which were originally published in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, some of which were also collected in the book "The Gist Hunter." In the later part of the book there is a story which shows the events and plots told in Hughes's book, "Black Brillion" from a new perspective: the viewpoint character in "The Commons" meets the viewpoint characters from "Black Brillion" in an episode told in the latter book, and experiences many of the same events as them.

However, while the plot and events have a lot in common, the parts played by the various characters and their knowledge of what it all means are quite different. The story, if you will, is different because the protagonists portray different people with different histories and different futures.

The approach Matthew Hughes takes here is clearly not to everyone's taste, but I found it entertaining and very worthwhile reading. If all you care about is the twisting and turning of the plot or new and shiny plot coupons, read "Black Brillion" and perhaps leave "The Commons" aside. If character and story beyond plot are the reason you read, or even if you just love Hughes's Jack-Vance-informed writing style, read both for maximum enjoyment.

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Great short-story compilation of Gath Bandar

This book contains many short stories of Gath Bandar, some of which are in book form elsewhere (The Gist Hunter and others has a few), and chains them together with slight modifications into a book.

The noosphere is a fascinating concept, and it lets the author introduce pretty much any fantastic or mythological setting he wants. In some cases he introduces fables/stories/myths the reader is familiar with (though the protagonist is not, which leads to some amusing predicaments), and in others the reverse holds true. I have read that the last story tied into another story the author has written as well (I have ordered it used, don't have it yet).

The tone of the stories is quite distinct from his vance-style Hapthorn stories - the protagonist is more serious, and the dialogue is as well. In terms of dialogue, these are not funny stories, though funny things DO happen.

Overall, a very entertaining way to spend a few hours. This author is very readable, and I recommend this, or any of his Night Shade publications.

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The Helper's Call to Adventure

The Hero's Call to Adventure, primarily defined by Joseph Campbell is a familiar trope in myth and archetype. Here we have something a little different, a talented individual groomed to be, not willingly, not the hero but the hero's helper.

This novel contains a few short stories originally published elsewhere as well as a novella detailing the events of Black Brillion from Guth Bandar's viewpoint. In my opinion, this version makes more sense than the same story portrayed in Black Brillion.

The short stories, which now take up the first few chapters of the book serve the purpose of introducing the main character Guth Bandar, the idea of the noosphere-the collective unconscious of the human race where dreams, mythical archetypes and important events occur and appear over and over as well as the development of Guth Bandar to be a helper. Bandar starts as being one of the most promising and talented explorers of the collective unconscious, talented enough to realize something is amiss in this world which is supposed to be entirely explored and nothing new should happen. We see the rules of the noosphere broken down and Bandar is cast into the archetypical role of helper against his will.

The major portion of the book, the aforementioned novella, deals with the events from Black Brillion. A now much older Guth Bandar travels to a great wasteland and encounters 2 other travellers, one of which has an unheard of talent for exploring and manipulating the noosphere. He is the one Bandar has been groomed to help. From this point we explore the noosphere of other races and learn of a long term plot of a defeated alien race that is about to culminate.

Hughes prose is as urbane as ever, and the idea of the noosphere is unique and interesting, allowing for the portrayal of many different characters and events for the purpose of story telling. Hughes world is well created, being the last age of earth before Jack Vance's Dying Earth era.

Those looking for something beyond the typical fiction of the various series or franchises would do well to look at this book, and Hughes' other works. They are different and will reward the discerning reader.

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A Second Telling of Black Brillion

This novel tells another version of the story told in Black Brillion, here focussing on Guth Bandar instead of Baro Harkless and Luff Imbry. I found the novel well written but, unfortunately, I don't find Guth Bandar as interesting a character as Luff Imbry. Also missing is the entertaining dialog between the main characters of Black Brillion.

My rating here may be unfair, if not compared to the other works of Hughes, I would rate this book a 5. Since I cannot help but compare this to his other novels I ended up rating it a bit lower. It might be better to pick up The Gist Hunter and Other Stories which contains a couple of the stories told here plus some great stories surrounding Hengis Hapthorn (see Majestrum and The Spiral Labyrinth).

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Includes the story The Helper and His Hero, nominated for a Nebula Award - Best Novella, 2007

For years now, 40,000 readers of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction have been reveling in the adventures of Matt Hughes's Guth Bandar, the hero of this novel. Hughes is one of the top voices in modern SF, and this book has a huge audience waiting for it.

For 100,000 years, Old Earth's Institute for Historical Inquiry has mapped the collective unconscious of the human race. They have encountered all the archetypal figures - the Wise Man and the Fool, the Destroyer and the Redeemer - the "usual suspects" that populate the myths and legends at the back of the human mind.

And now young Guth Bandar suspects the collective unconscious has become aware of itself. Worse, it has an agenda. And worst of all, it can force Bandar to go deep into the darkest forests of the mind, where the only escape from madness is death.

"A fascinating premise. There is interest for the reader here on several levels: in following Guth Bandar's adventures, in the various archetypical personality types he encounters, in his reflections on the more philosophical questions of the nature of consciousness. In The Commons, Hughes has created a universe with particularly fertile prospects for speculative activity."
-- Tangent

"Irresistibly good reading."
-- Booklist on Black Brillion

"Hughes's boldness is admirable."
-- The New York Review of Science Fiction

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