Barbarians of the Beyond

Twenty years ago, five master criminals known as the Demon Princes raided Mount Pleasant to enslave thousands of inhabitants in the lawless Beyond. Now Morwen Sabine, a daughter of captives, has escaped her cruel master and returns to Mount Pleasant to recover the hidden treasure she hopes will buy her parents’ freedom.


But Mount Pleasant has changed. Morwen must cope with mystic cultists, murderous drug-smugglers, undercover “weasels” of the Interplanetary Police Coordinating Company, and the henchmen of the vicious pirate lord who owns her parents and wants Morwen returned. So he can kill her slowly…


Barbarians of the Beyond is a return to “Jack Vance Space” and space-opera derring-do that follows in the science fiction Grand­master’s footsteps.


“I really enjoyed Barbarians of the Beyond. Matthew Hughes does Jack Vance better than anyone except Jack himself.”

— George R. R. Martin


“Lock the door, turn off the phone, get into a comfy chair, and deep-dive into a marvelous continuation of Jack Vance's Demon Princes series. Matthew Hughes is a treasure and Barbarians of the Beyond is a terrific adventure.”

— David Gerrold


“Matthew Hughes follows nimbly in Jack Vance's footprints, then breaks some fresh trail. First-class space opera.”

— Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids


“Engaging and enchanting…a fine companion adventure to Jack Vance’s The Demon Princes series, told with Matthew Hughes’s excellent sense of charm, ethical complexity and exotic worldbuilding. Let’s hope this is just the beginning!”

— Kurt Busiek


“Barbarians of the Beyond is just plain old-fashioned space opera fun with a relatable heroine who is sometimes fallible, rather than some Shaolin Temple kung fu megamaster. I enjoyed it a lot.”

— Glen Cook


“…a tale that captures that special ‘golden age’ feel in which mankind has travelled far into the stars yet still behaves as though it’s the Wild West.”

— David White, RNR Magazine


“Deeply enjoyable and entirely delivers on its promise.”

— Andrew Wheeler, Editor, Science Fiction Book Club


On the Paladins of Vance label, Spatterlight publishes original works by authors who have given their own imagination free rein in the many wonderful worlds of the Grandmaster of fantasy & sci-fi.