Number 95 - Of Whimsies and Noubles - Matthew Hughes

 

As you might be able to guess from the title, this book is a whimsical affair.  A whimsy in this case though, is a portal through different dimensions that works as a wormhole to vastly distant corners of the universe, but can send people mad who enter them unmedicated.

An art forger in the distant future trades his latest forgeries for Noubles, a rare and highly sought after jewel. He soon finds that he's been double crossed and is stranded on a prison planet and forced into dangerous work.  Can he find a way out?

There are some nifty science fiction ideas at work in this.  Where do Noubles come from?  Who built the whimsies since they're certainly not natural occurrences?  What lives inside them?

The whole thing is engagingly written.  Hughes has a slyly sarcastic style that I like a lot.  To be completely honest he won me over with the author bio.

"Matthew Hughes writes science fantasy.  Booklist have called him "heir apparent to ack Vance," George RR Martin has called his Archonate tales "a tremendous amount of fun", and Robert J Sawyer has called him "a towering talent". Hughes calls himself "Matt". His webpage is at www.matthewhughes.org ."

Everything after that was a bonus.  

It's very short.  I read it in a couple of hours and enjoyed myself immensely in the process. i will be seeking out more of his work.