Friday, January 03, 2003


A completely unbiased review of The Greyminster Chronicles, as uncovered at Barnes and Nobel. com...I swear I did not pay Mr Steventon any money, send him any illegal photographs of Ulrika Johnson in the nude or offer him any of my rare bone marrow for his up and coming transplant.



John Steventon, a Cartoonist who loves great Sci-Fi, December 30, 2002.


Funny and completely original!


I am very picky about what I read, and cannot stand the ordinary or predictable. Fortunately, I found some of Brian Hughes' early work some years back, which is completely original Science Fiction. This book is very formidable, but well worth any price. It contains all but one of Brian's novels, and all of his short stories that take place in the fictional small English town of Greyminster, a town that has seen it's glory fade into the past. Here the working stiffs and pensioners do their best to survive each day, which is even more difficult than normal considering that Greyminster is a nexus of oddities and strange occurances, where Robots from outerspace visit, and evil Overlords from alternate futures try to rearrange the Space-Time continuum to their own advantage! These are delightful tales, with some recurring characters and landmarks that become as real as your own hometown by the time you finish the book. You definitely want more, and thankfully, Brian continues to write. I would call his writing a cross between Douglas Adams, Monty Python, and Red Dwarf, but this would be a disservice, since Mr. Hughes is definitely in a class of his own. And yes, Brian has written the foreword to my recently published comic strip collection, and is now a close friend of mine, but this review is totally unbiased. I first met Brian as a fan, and a fan I remain. I truly enjoy these stories!


I have never met this man, despite his insistence to the contrary, but already I can see that Mr Steventon of Happy Glyphs. Com is a sincere and decent chap with none of the buggered-up, bitter sensibilities that certain so-called readers from Dublin and/or wombat-shaggers from Victoria have.