First posted at Fantasy Review Barn If I were a more humorous writer I would make an incredibly witty joke about how excited I was to read a new Discworld book when I picked up 'Thraxas.' Unfortunately I don’t have anything witty lined up, so I will just move on with the review.Martin Scott is the pen name for Martin Millar, whose works I have enjoyed for quite a while. This book is not unknown; it won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2000. But at least for me, it proved to be hard to find until recently released in E-book format. I was immediately struck by two things; it was very short, and the aforementioned similarities to Discworld.Much like Discworld the author takes a trope filled world and bends it slightly. So Thraxas is a private investigator in the city of Turai, a typical fantasy city with all the trappings; criminal guilds, magicians, even a dragon in the zoo. He is an overweight man, but well aware of it. He is also a surprising man, still fearsome in a fight and a competent PI. His major failings are being a bad gambler and a mediocre sorcerer, he can only memorize one major spell at a time (something Pratchett played with early in Discworld and abandoned). He never turns into the bumbling idiot played for amusement. His best friend and sometimes body guard is a pretty bikini chainmail wearing girl with orc, elven, and human heritage named Makri. Of course she wears the bikini chainmail because the bar she works at has a barbarian theme, she wouldn’t be caught dead in it in an actual fight(where she would prefer full body leather armor). One would expect her to be a possible love interest for our hero Thraxas, but no, she is much more interested in her studies at the university and involvement in a guild for women’s advancement.The plot is a fairly interesting mystery tale, with Traxas taking on multiple cases in order to gain enough money to pay off a gambling debt. Along the way he runs into rogue magicians, top assassins, a princess, and lots of dope dealers. He pieces together the puzzle, has some adventures, fights a nasty dragon, and runs into an old adversary is a lot tougher than he remembers. Nothing revolutionary, the author sticks with all the fantasy basics. This doesn’t affect the book negatively at all, it actually keeps the book moving quickly, no info dumps needed.The book is incredibly short and moves very quickly. Compared to later works like ‘Lonely Werewolf Girl’ it is downright simple. But the short story is entertaining, the humor is subtle, and I hope the next EIGHT books in the series are just as good.4 stars. Nothing revolutionary, but highly enjoyable.Side note: Despite the Pratchett comparisons I made, the book is even more accessible than Discworld, and the humor is more subtle. So please don't think the author was aping Pratchett, his writing style has a unique voice.