Unreliable Narrators
I’ve enjoyed tales with unreliable narrators ever since the crew on the Writing Excuses podcast put a name on this literary device for me. These are stories told by a narrator who lets you know, right up front, that you shouldn’t trust what they tell you. K. J. Parker is a master of this form. In the book I reviewed this month, Saevus Corax tells you in his first paragraph that he’s an untrustworthy liar with his own agenda, and that’s not even his real name. Even worse, he was formerly a playwright. He says, “Lying is like farming, or draining marshland, or terracing a hillside or planting a grove of peach trees. It’s an attempt to control your environment and make it better.” Then he tells the reader “This is a true and accurate history of the Great Sirupat War, told by someone who was there.” Keeps you guessing, doesn’t it?
That story made me think about the unreliable narrator in the novel for which I’m just finishing the first draft. He’s unreliable not because he chooses to overtly lie to us, but because he’s realizing that his memories may have been tampered with. That enables him to be completely confident of his version of events, only to learn later that he is completely wrong. Done well, this device can build plot twists in a natural way. On the next draft, I’ll take a pass through to make sure I’m taking full advantage of that unreliability. Till next time.
Our Books
Sellenria: The Starship and the Citadel
Chuck Boeheim, Daniel Elswit
Believing in the impossible may be my only chance of survival.
As a professor of archaeology at the University of Trondhjem, my life revolved around telepresence digs and simspace classroom lectures—stable and predictable, exactly as I preferred. But the discovery of a peculiar artifact — a gem owned by my ancestor — upended everything. Now I’m in a dire situation, stranded on a pre-technological planet hundreds of light-years from civilization. A fey swordswoman has made me her apprentice after saving me from a creature that couldn’t possibly exist. I became advisor to the king. And now all three of us are fleeing an assassination plot. It’s mad enough to be a fantasy simspace, but it’s deadly real.
The most confounding part is that these people think my ancestor was an ancient warlock and that I’ve returned with his gem to wield his magical powers in the fight against the Blight. I’m a man of science, of order, of logic; I don’t believe in magic.
But that’s not the way this world works.
Of Gods and Globes III
Lancelot Schaubert
The authors of this anthology were challenged to write a story connecting our ancient mythology of the cosmos to a science fiction setting that incorporates elements of that mythology. These 23 stories explore everything from Venus out to Castor and Pollux and everything in between, including a few non-Western mythologies.
My own contribution, Charon, is a poignant tale of loss and reconciliation. It follows Simon Aeneas Kost on his solitary voyage to Pluto and its moon, Charon. He confronts his deepest fears as he encounters our first interstellar visitor while far from human company, wandering the desolate banks of the river Styx.
What We‘re Reading
Visit our archive of reviews and recommendations on the Books We Like page of our website. You‘ll find over one hundred recommendations in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Non Fiction.
I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons
Peter Beagle
It’s been a while since I’ve read a Peter Beagle story. He’s a great fantasist with a distinctly gentle and witty style, as exemplified by the title of his new book alone. The entire book that follows doesn’t disappoint.
We have a young dragon exterminator named Robert, who’s just inherited his father’s business. He’s very good at what he does. He hates that he’s good at it because he rather likes dragons. The kingdom’s princess, Cerise, is very beautiful and of a marriageable age. She’s very good at rejecting suitors. Other things, not so much. Then there’s Reginald, a prince of a neighboring kingdom on a quest to prove his heroism to his father. His heart’s just not in it, so he’s making a mess of it. The three have to band together to defend the kingdoms against a warlock who was killed by Reginald’s father, who could have done a more thorough job on the killing part.
What results is a modern fable about fulfilling expectations and following your heart, when those two things remain stubbornly misaligned.
Buy on Amazon
Saevus Corax Deals With the Dead
K. J. Parker
Saevus Corax is a battlefield contractor. This means that he bids on the privilege of cleaning up battlefields, recycling weapons and clothes and burying the dead. He took the name (Savage Raven in Latin) when it was no longer healthy to continue his career as a playwright. Before that, it’s better not to ask if you don’t want to end up dead. He tells you up front that you shouldn’t believe his story anyway.
Through a series of improbable and darkly humorous coincidences, he pursues and loses the rewards of the battlefield and the treasures of those who no longer need them. He ends up in a small island kingdom under siege, where his past catches up with him. He has to defend the walled city from invasion using his own unique skills.
The book is filled with Parker’s signature mix of satiric philosophy, dark humor, snappy comebacks, and amazing technical descriptions of sieges and the defense therefrom. I enjoyed this and the two remaining books in the trilogy that form a tight arc, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle and Saevus Corax Gets Away with Murder. I especially enjoyed seeing the rogues, scoundrels, and con men of previous stories now ensconced in the history of this world as great philosophers, statesmen, and playwrights.
Buy on Amazon
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