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Thraxas Martin Scott 9781857237290 Books

Download As PDF : Thraxas Martin Scott 9781857237290 Books

Thraxas Martin Scott 9781857237290 Books

. This is the first book in a popular British series that seems to have reached ten books so far, starting in 1999, although the first US printing was in 2003. I wouldn't agree with the Guardian's "Blindingly funny!" quoted on the cover, but it's amusing enough and a rather different take on a fantasy-mystery in a Classical-like setting. Thraxas was an investigator for the king of Turai until his fondness for strong drink and low company got him fired; now he scrapes out an existence as a private investigator who's very good at what he does, at least as long as he can stay sober enough to function. Turai is an extremely corrupt city, so it isn't surprising that the royal princess wants to hire him to recover some "letters", or that her brother the crown prince is involved in drug smuggling, or that the traditionally incorruptible elves are acting in a very peculiar manner. With the help of his half-human, quarter-elf, quarter-orc sidekick, the beautiful female warrior Makri, and the sometimes help, sometimes hindrance, of Hanama, the head of the Assassins' Guild, Thraxas manages to bring things to a satisfactory resolution (well, fairly satisfactory), including a last-minute payoff of a gambling debt that was otherwise going to get him offed. There's a good deal of humor, though it's more in the Tom Holt or Glen Cook line than Terry Pratchett or Robert Asprin, if you've read those authors.


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Thraxas Martin Scott 9781857237290 Books Reviews

A great mindless read. Thraxas's great loves are beer, food cooked by tanrose and gambling. He's often interrupted by having to take on investigations pay for the beer, food and gambling.
Thraxas is a great series and this is a terrific first book. Readers who are looking for Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings should go elsewhere. This is a funny subversive look at a detective who enjoys gambling and eating more than casting spells or pontificating about the past.

It is a lot of fun, and the characters of Thraxas, Makri, and Lisutarius (in future books) are well drawn.
If you like your detective noire sprinkled with dragons, wizards, orcs and stuff, then you'll probably like Thraxas. Martin Scott (Millar) is a talented writer whether he's writing about werewolf girls in existential crisis or about a good-looking, lying dame who shows up with a story and a bag of gold. This is the first in the Thraxas series. I just DL the second and I look forward to the read. )
The real name of the author of this series is

Martin Millar. You can go to [...]

to see what sort of fellow Thraxas is.

There are seven books in the series

so far, and the eighth is to be published in Spring 2005.

Each one seems better than the preceding to me.

This edition contains the first two.

The Thraxas stories have been translated into several

languages and have a worldwide following.

Unlike many science fiction and fantasy works, in these

stories you get to know the characters through their own

dialog and actions rather than second-hand through

descriptions. Anyway, Martin Millar is amazingly creative

and I eagerly await the next installment!
Thraxas (1999) is the first fantasy novel in the Thraxas series. It is set in Turai, a small citystate ruled by a king and senate. Turai belongs to the League of City States with Mattesh and others. It is a port city and heavily dependent upon its trade throughout the world.

Turai is administered by a Consul and a Prefect oversees each of the ten districts. The Civil Guards have a central station managed by the Consul and stations within each district commanded by the Prefect. The city has an official state religion -- the True Church -- governed by an archbishop and a council of bishops.

Thraxas is a commoner who had been expelled from the college for young sorcerers while little more than an apprentice. He then joined a mercenary band and became a skilled warrior. After the war with the Orcs, Thraxas became a senior Investigator with Palace Security. But he made a pass at the bride of his boss during their wedding reception and was fired.

In this novel, Thraxas is "forty-three, overweight, without ambition, and prone to prolonged bouts of drinking". He is a very competent fighter and tends to gamble at the chariot races. He also has a very high opinion of his various skills -- except sorcery -- which sometimes does not prove to accurate, particularly in his gambling.

Now Thraxas is a Private Investigator living and working at the Avenging Axe within the Twelve Seas district where the port is located. Although he is licensed as a Sorcerous Investigator, his magical skills are minimal. He works cheap, but does honest work for his clients.

Gurd is the owner of the Avenging Axe. He has fought alongside Thraxas around the world. Gurd is a friend of Thraxas as well as his landlord.

Makri has mixed ancestry, including human, elf and Orc. She is a former gladiator in the Orcish slave pits and is highly skilled with her weapons. She often helps Thraxas, especially when she gets to fight with blades or axe.

Makri is ostracized by most inhabitants of Turai because of her Orc blood. She is a barmaid at the Avenging Axe and wears a chainmail bikini to increase the tips. Despite her gender and ancestry, Makri is attending the Guild School and then wants to attend the Imperial University.

Tanrose is the cook at the Avenging Axe. Although limited to common fare, she produces some of the best food that Thraxas has ever eaten. Tanrose is also Gurd's sweetheart and maybe his wife if he ever works up the nerve to ask her.

Hanama is an assassin. She is ranked third highest within her Guild. Of course, the organization is not officially a guild, but nobody seems to care.

Praetor Cicerius is running for Deputy Consul in the coming elections. Rittius -- the incumbent -- is associated with Senator Lodius, who is leader of the opposition party. He is also the man who fired Thraxas from Palace Security.

In this story, Thraxas is hired by Princess Du-Akai to recover some letters that she has written to a Niojan diplomat named Attilan. Nioj is the large kingdom to the north. The League of City States exists primarily to prevent Nioj from conquering them piecemeal.

Since the princess is the third heir to the throne, the letters would be powerful tools for blackmail. Any hint of their existence to the senate or the newspapers would immediately bring scandal upon the Royal family. The Populares party would sweep the elections. The letters must be recovered quietly and quickly.

Thraxas sneaks into the house of the diplomat and finds the box that supposedly contains the letters. Despite his client's orders, Thraxas takes a peek in the box. It doesn't hold letters, but rather a magic formula.

On the way out through the garden, Thraxas stumbles over a body. Then a servant appears and finds him standing over the remains of Attilan. Thraxas quickly discards the box. Then the Civil Guard carries him off to jail for murdering the diplomat.

After the Guard releases him, Thraxas has a confrontation with Princess Du-Akai. She claims to know nothing about a magic formula. Then the King's new dragon is slain and the Princess is arrested. Thraxas gets drunk.

Praetor Cicerius comes to take Thraxas to the palace to talk to Princess Du-Akai. Thraxas tells the lawyer a few truths, is carried off to the palace and given deat to make him sober. The princess gives him much more gold and insists that he try to set things straight.

This tale presents Thraxas with several seemingly irrelevant problems. Among them is the disappearance of a bolt of red Elvish cloth that blocks magic probes. It cannot be found by magic in spite of a magical mark temporarily placed on it to allow tracing the material.

Thraxas knew nothing about the cloth, but people seemed to think that he has some information about it. But now he knows where the cloth was hidden and something about the suspects. Then he is hired by two Elves to find the cloth.

Turai seems to be the remains of a larger empire. The term Imperial is used for both the university and the palace. The names seem to be Romanized, so maybe the author was thinking of Rome. The population appears to be degenerate enough to be Roman. However, the author is a resident of Great Britain, so maybe the association is closer to home.

Thraxas is a private investigator much in the style of Mike Hammer. Although having the weight of Nero Wolfe, he is willing to fight -- or kill -- those who oppose him with fists or swords. But Mike Hammer never had to battle against sorcerers. Enjoy!

Recommended for fans of noir mysteries and heavyweight fantasy.

-Arthur W. Jordin
I have been a fan of Martin's work for years. I've been hovering over Thraxas for a while - waiting for the right time to dive in. I am so happy that I did. The enjoyment and entertainment value of Thraxas is ten times what I paid for it. I'm looking forward to the next time I need to escape into a book. Fortunately there's another Thraxas tale asking me to buy it.

Do yourself a favor and buy this book.
. This is the first book in a popular British series that seems to have reached ten books so far, starting in 1999, although the first US printing was in 2003. I wouldn't agree with the Guardian's "Blindingly funny!" quoted on the cover, but it's amusing enough and a rather different take on a fantasy-mystery in a Classical-like setting. Thraxas was an investigator for the king of Turai until his fondness for strong drink and low company got him fired; now he scrapes out an existence as a private investigator who's very good at what he does, at least as long as he can stay sober enough to function. Turai is an extremely corrupt city, so it isn't surprising that the royal princess wants to hire him to recover some "letters", or that her brother the crown prince is involved in drug smuggling, or that the traditionally incorruptible elves are acting in a very peculiar manner. With the help of his half-human, quarter-elf, quarter-orc sidekick, the beautiful female warrior Makri, and the sometimes help, sometimes hindrance, of Hanama, the head of the Assassins' Guild, Thraxas manages to bring things to a satisfactory resolution (well, fairly satisfactory), including a last-minute payoff of a gambling debt that was otherwise going to get him offed. There's a good deal of humor, though it's more in the Tom Holt or Glen Cook line than Terry Pratchett or Robert Asprin, if you've read those authors.