Often, there ends up being a common thread connecting my favorite stories for a given month. Last month, for example, my favorite stories all touched on space colonization. This month, however, the differences between my favorite stories seem more notable, particularly when it comes to structure.
If you’re looking for a straightforward, linear narrative (but one with a surprising plot, great characters, and a detailed setting), check out “The Kingdom of Darkness” by Sarah Monette in Uncanny Magazine, a story of demons, witches, and witch hunts. “The Tyrant’s Heir’s Tale” by Carrie Vaughn (published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies), in contrast, doesn’t have a linear narrative. It’s a frame story that features several different characters’ perspectives, smaller stories pieced together to form a greater whole. Lastly, “The Sound of Children Screaming” by Rachael K. Jones (published in Nightmare Magazine) has a slightly more experimental structure. It does have a linear narrative, but it is composed of small vignettes focused on different characters, objects, and places. “The Sound of Children Screaming” is a heavy, serious story about gun violence and schools, but if you’re ready for that challenge, it is well worth a read.
“The Kingdom of Darkness” by Sarah Monette
Weeks earlier, as part of an unending witch hunt, John Cooper’s wife was hung as a witch. (She wasn’t a witch.) The witch hunt has been in progress for months, led by the town’s leaders, but much like The Crucible or the Salem witch trials, after each so-called witch is killed, another seems to appear.
When the story opens, a professional witchfinder has come to town, bringing with him a demoniack, a captive witch who can identify other witches with certainty. John Cooper is enlisted to assist the witchfinder and put an end to his town’s witch hunt once and for all, but that will force John into a dangerous confrontation with the town’s magistrates and judge.
“The Kingdom of Darkness” by Sarah Monette is a story about a witch hunt, complete with a witch, demons, and possession. It is a fantasy story and these things are real. What is most remarkable about this story, however, is that the witch is not the villain — a villain, admittedly, but not the villain. Instead, the core of this story is about how the witch hunt has gone wrong. It is a story about all-too-human failings rather than supernatural villains, about responsibility and power, punishment and justice.
This is a longer story. At 20,728 words, it’s technically a novella. It works great at this length. The plot has space to grow and develop at a natural pace, complete with a few surprises, and more importantly, the characters and the world have time to be fleshed out and then to change. It’s enough time to immerse you in the setting and make you want to spend more time there, and it’s long enough to depict round characters with nuance and put them in interesting scenarios and see how they respond. I can easily envision more stories set in this world with these characters, and I would be eager to read them.
“The Tyrant’s Heir’s Tale” by Carrie Vaughn
If the title of this story makes you think of The Canterbury Tales, that’s appropriate. There is one cohesive story here, but it’s made up of several narratives spliced together, stories shared by friends gathered at an inn.
King Matias the Younger is king now, but he wasn’t royalty when he was a boy. Back then, he was a commoner, and his father and his father’s friends plotted to depose the immortal tyrant king. Matias the Younger had believed the late tyrant lacked an heir, but a recent discovery has brought that into question. Did the magical and powerful tyrant have an heir, someone who might threaten the legitimacy and reign of King Matias? Matias gathers his late father’s companions to find out, and everyone has a different perspective to share, a unique story about the night of the coup. We break away from the frame narrative to hear the matron’s tale, the merchant-spy’s tale, and others.
This is a fun story, well told. I am always impressed by the quality of Carrie Vaughn’s prose, and this story is no exception. The prose is accessible and immersive. It is easy to envision the world, connect with the characters, and get lost in the story. I enjoyed watching the narrative shift into different characters’ tales, seeing that crucial night from their perspectives, and learning their secrets. It is a fun and interesting structure, executed smoothly, and it slowly develops the world and builds suspense along the way.
As the story progresses, it examines heritage and legacy, attempts to balance fate against self-determination, and seeks out honesty and kindness amid tyranny and violence. “The Tyrant’s Heir’s Tale” is a fun and ultimately touching story, and I recommend it heartily.
“The Sound of Children Screaming” by Rachael K. Jones
When a school shooting begins at an elementary school, fourth-grade teacher Michelle Dalton ushers her students into a bulletproof closet to keep them safe, but a portal opens within the closet, transporting Michelle and several of her students into a fantasy world. They meet Sir Miles, a talking mouse with a gun. He offers them shelter, but he also asks the children to fight for his side in a war.
The story is composed of short vignettes ranging from “The Teacher” and “The Gun” to “A Note About School Safety” and “The Truth.” The vignettes are insightful, often painfully so. For example, for “The Teacher,” Jones writes:
Michelle has six figures in student loans and makes less than $50,000 a year. She shares a rental house with two roommates and has a weekend job at Trek & Field selling athletic shoes to make ends meet. She does not get paid overtime, and the school district does not buy the art supplies. She is not entitled to bathroom breaks or a nonworking lunch, and she doesn’t get paid for summers.
And for “The Portal,” Jones writes:
The Portal has been exhibiting itself at gun shows recently, a gleaming bullet-proof vault in which to store kids when the shooter comes. The Portal has been installed in every classroom, funded by bake sales and cereal box tops, bought at the expense of pencils and math books and a music teacher.
The story is filled with shrewd social commentary like this — humorously absurd at times, yet all too relatable. This structure — a series of pointed vignettes rather than a close third-person narrative — makes the horrific story more approachable than it would otherwise be, and it makes room for an important and powerful layer of social commentary. For me, the structure helps make the story something I can critically engage with and even enjoy, rather than just a tragedy I don’t want to hear.
Although the series of vignettes makes space for poignant social criticism, there is a clear and compelling story here, one with a marvelous central conceit: a safe room that transports students to an equally dangerous fantasy world. I enjoyed discovering the ominous world of Sir Miles, and Jones does an excellent job slowly building the suspense and horror.
In particular, I love the ending of this story. Michelle tries to protect the students, but she can only do so much. Ultimately, the students are squeezed between two different threats, and Michelle can’t solve either. This ending works hard to respect children and treat them as individuals who possess agency and even power, even and especially in a tragic situation. This ending felt fresh, urgent, and sensitive.
Have you read any of these stories? What stood out to you about them? Do you have other favorite stories from October?
