The Quarter Century Project - intro and Thraxas by Martin Scott
Helloooo!
So what is my quarter century project about? Curiosity
I was not brought up on the epic fantasy books of the 80s and 90s when I grew up. I slowly got back into it the late 90s and what I read was hit and miss down to what SFX Magazine in the day recommended and what my local Waterstones had. Over 2000) to 2025 we’ve seen a huge range of outlets, blogs, tiktoks, vlogs and who knows what is next and throughout tastes change. I’m usually more interested in the now but with a milestone birthday in 2026 I wondered could I just see and work out if I’ve missed anything and how did we go from there to here?
I could as so many have looked at the Hugos and while I respect that award I’m aware there are plenty of blogs and projects looking at the longlists. I also felt we focus a lot on Golden and Silver Ages and again I’m not that fussed if I never must read Asimov again. I thought it would be interesting instead to read what is now a quarter of a century of SF, Fantasy and Horror award winners by the end of 2025. And I randomly have chosen.
· The British Fantasy Society Best Novel (which does split eventually into Fantasy and Horror)
· The British Science Fiction Associations Best Novel
· The Arthur C Clarke Award
· The World Fantasy Award
Why those? Well, I am a British blogger so a focus on the home team as it where sounded interesting. I especially like what the BFS and BSFA are doing these days to encourage their genres. The Clarke Award is always interesting, and the World Fantasy Convention comes to the UK in 2025 which is helpful but it’s also got an unusual mix of Horror and Fantasy in its selections.
We start with the winners of 2000 – hey I’m a purist on dates and that weirdly means we also have books from 1999 but its interesting to see where the genre was by the end of the twentieth century and what our starting point for what is to come.
I’m starting off with a book I do actually remember trying to read back in the day.
Thraxas by Martin Scott
Welcome to the magical city of Turai. You might not like it here, however. For in Turai, the only people more corrupt than the politicians are the royal family, and murder and mayhem and ruthless criminal brotherhoods reign. With the civic guards incapable of keeping order, it's left to men like Thraxas to do what they can. The city needs men of steel, men of virtue and honesty and clean living. Unfortunately, Thraxas is none of the above.
Running his business from lodgings above an inn in one of the seedier parts of town, Thraxas makes a living as a private investigator. Which means that he makes enough to pay the rent from time to time and enjoy the occasional glass of beer. When he is employed by the third in line to the throne, however, Thraxas believes that his luck is about to change. And indeed it does. A few hours later, he's in a cell, accused of murder. Ooops.
So with respect to the other books on the short list bar Gardens of the Moon (and call me evil but Malazan fans are fun to wind up and it is amusing to see it lost here) there isn’t much here making a lasting impression 25 years later. Thraxas intriguingly is now up to the 12th book in the series. I was a little surprised at that and I’m still surprised that it won a World Fantasy award because I really found it dull as dishwater.
This raises the question then why it became award worthy and a bit of me thinks Scott has a germ of an idea the PI in a fantasy world. We are not talking epic quests or Chosen Ones just someone investigating things and getting up to his neck in danger and intrigue. It’s a touch of sword and sorcery that by 2000 was felt to be on the way out. You could argue this kind of low fantasy is coming back in vogue a few years later with Grimdark. But the issue for me with this novel is the execution.
Thraxas ambitiously is first person narration that fits the PI novel, and we can see in many an Urban Fantasy that follows its traditional but for me he’s a pretty vague character. Scott falls into the trap then of Thraxas having to explain everything. Who is he talking to and that really slows down the pace of the story which itself felt by the numbers. The idea of an overweight lead character using his wits; and some would say nefarious nature should be fun and I was not getting any actual enjoyment. Weirdly this chimed with my experience when I tried to read it all those years ago. Thraxas’ powerful companion Makri also should feel revolutionary – fierce warrior and a yet an under-appreciated waitress but sadly nothing jumped out making her an actual living character. Perhaps at the time this was so novel to stand out but with 2025 eyes I’d say there have been many better books and authors since. Not one for me to recommend? If I’m generous it feels an attempt to recapture the feel of word and sorcery novels and perhaps nostalgia was a factor, but I cannot see into the minds of juries.
Have you read Thraxas? Am I too harsh? What did you think?
