Fools Errant - Matthew Hughes

Fools Errant is Matthew Hughes's first novel, and introduces the Archonate, a loose confederation of human societies on a far-future Earth. The novel is obviously an homage to Jack Vance's Dying Earth series of books in style, milleu, and plot. In fact, several of the vignettes in Fools Errant would fit seamlessly into Vance's novels The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga.

Filidor is the leisurely nephew of the Archon, the ruler of most of the societies of civilized Earth. He is called away from his indulgences by his uncle who sends him on an ill-defined quest with only his (oft-disused) wits and his uncle's dwarfen asssistant. Along the way, Filidor is forced to interact with the diverse peoples and look beyond his provincial, if priveleged, lifestyle. The book is organized episodically with only the thinnest of connecting tissue linking one story to the next. This makes it a nice book to pick up, savor for a while, and put down for later. Unfortunately, the ending comes abruptly, and somewhat unsatisfyingly, as Hughes tries to rush Filidor's maturation and conclude the Archon's quest in one brisk passage.

The similarities to Vance make some of the differences all the more striking. Hughes emulates Vance's baroque prose and dialogue, but does so with a softer touch than Vance used. The result is the sensation of grandor and mystery without the burden of a vocabulary lesson. Hughes's hero is also more appealing. Filidor is not so much a scoundrel as Vance's anti-hero Cugel, but rather a lazy and indulgent sort who needs toughening. We relish the way Cugel always gets his comeuppance, but yet we pull for Filidor to learn and grow. Hughes also uses lower forms of comedy and farce to lighten his story, compared to Vance's dry, cynical sense of irony.

The best addition to Hughes's story is a book within a book called Discourses and Edifications of Liw Osfeo, consisting of a set of parables about a scholar who always succeeds in confounding expectations. Filidor carries the book with him through his travels and frequently reads excerpts from the book, hoping to attain some great wisdom from the stories. These stories are hilarious non-sequitors which serve as both diversion and satire. They remind me greatly of some of Stanislaw Lem's short fictions, especially the stories of The Cyberiad.

Hughes's two novels about Filidor – Fools Errant and Fool Me Twice – are currently out of print, but relatively easy to find used. Hughes has continued writing stories about the Archonate which deal with other characters and can be enjoyed separately.