Barbarians of the Beyond

By: Matthew Hughes

Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir

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.

©2020 Matthew Hughes (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing and Skyboat Media

It was ok but no Jack Vance

Very little of the Vance worldbuilding and mostly a nonexistent villain. But anything Vance universe is ok. As a standalone it would not really stand out.