Review of Template

Based on a “Big Idea” piece published in John Scalzi’s blog, I purchased a copy of Matthew Hughes’ new novel Template. It’s set in his Archonate universe, a far-future time where humanity has spread out to 10,000 worlds and Earth is just a bit player in the scheme of things, as evidenced by the fact that its lone spaceport is decrepit and rarely visited.

Hughes’ “big idea” was to write a novel in which each world was based on one of the seven deadly sins. This was an interesting challenge, one which Hughes succeeded in pulling off. His hero, Conn Labro, is an orphan who comes into some wealth due to a character’s violent death. The violence doesn’t stop there – now Conn finds that people are trying to kill him. So he must solve two mysteries, namely “who am I?” and “why are people trying to kill me?” Hughes does a masterful job of weaving these mysteries together, and at the end the title of the book makes perfect sense.

Template is a stand-alone book, but also a good exposure to Hughes’ Archonate universe. It’s a curious place, made more interesting, at least to me, by Hughes’ unusual prose style. It’s very formalistic, with a dry sense of humor, but surprisingly readable. Hughes is British by birth and Canadian by passport, so perhaps one could call his writing style “old-school British,” but whatever you call it, I like it.

Template is highly recommended.