Title: Gods of Jade and Shadow Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia Genre: Fantasy, Maya Mythology, Death My Rating: 5/5
Casiopea Tun dreams of dancing fast, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, and driving an automobile. Instead, she is trapped in a rural Mexican town serving her hateful grandfather and the rest of his family. One day, she opens the forbidden chest in her grandfather’s bedroom and releases the god of death, Hun-Kame, supreme leader of Xibalba. Together they must journey across Mexico and complete three trials to restore Hun-Kame to his throne. If they are successful, Hun-Kame will grant Casiopea’s heart’s desire. If they fail… Casiopea will die.
This story started off slowly, with exposition about the town, the family, and Casiopea’s hopes and personality, starkly in opposition to the show, don’t tell “rule” of writing. Based on the first chapter, I was prepared to be a little disappointed; I had my eye on this book for many months and was very excited to finally be able to read it. However, once Casiopea opened the chest, accidentally releasing Hun-Kame, the story took off and took me with it. I was completely caught up in the narrative, which does feature a lot of exposition, but it works. This is part historical fantasy, part love story, but the tone solidifies it as a beautifully-told brand-new myth.
Casiopea is as real as anyone, full of dreams, bitterness, curiosity, and love. She was inspiring in her strength, but it wasn’t a self-sacrificial strength a la Cinderella. She was always determined to save herself, and did, in the end.
As the story unfolded, I knew it was going to be a bittersweet ending and Garcia-Moreno delivered. I finished reading with a knot in my throat and stars in my eyes, hoping that Casiopea and Hun Kame could find a measure of peace in their futures. I love reading about Maya history, religion, and myth and this book was exactly what I was craving. I’ll be rereading Gods of Jade and Shadow regularly.
The things you name do grow in power, but others that are not ever whispered claw at one’s heart anyway, rip it to shreds even if a syllable does not escape the lips.
Title: The Hating Game Author: Sally Thorne Genre: Romance My Rating: 5/5
Lucy Hutton adores her job as assistant to the co-CEO of a publishing company. The only problem is that she works opposite the worst person in the world: Joshua Templeman. Everything is a competition between the two of them, including the newly announced job opening for Chief of Operations. One of them will win the position. The other will resign.
As the interview approaches, the tension between them rises and their relationship starts to change. Lucy isn’t sure whether this is another game, but she realizes that whether she gets the job or not, she’s going to lose something important.
I borrowed The Hating Game from the library last year, read it in about a day, and then immediately reread it. I finally bought a copy for myself this month, read it in about two days (I savored it this time!) and then… immediately reread it. It will be a go-to comfort read forever, at this point.
The story has the perfect balance of plot and character development. Lucy is a quirky, likable character whose insecurities don’t hold her back from standing up to people in power. Josh is a snarky, yet shy and gentle, antagonist turned love interest. The enemies to friends to lovers trope is a tough one to get right because it has to be believable that the two people hate each other enough, yet not so much that they couldn’t form a connection (and then fall in love). Sally Thorne executes this trope well, in my opinion. Yes, Josh is Lucy’s adversary, but anyone who reads between the lines will quickly realize that Lucy is obsessed (not in a super creepy, weird way) with Josh and wants his attention and the same goes for him. The sexual tension between Lucy and Josh practically sizzles off the page and comes to a very satisfying (hah) conclusion.
The Hating Game is a really delightful romcom. I read Sally Thorne’s second book, 99 Percent Mine, and reviewed it a while back, because I liked The Hating Game so much. This is a stronger story than that one, but both are solid romcoms and earned Sally Thorne a spot on my “will read anything by this author” list.
Have you read The Hating Game? Do you love or hate the enemies to lovers trope?
I have a theory. Hating someone feels disturbingly similar to being in love with them. I’ve had a lot of time to compare love and hate, and these are my observations.
Title: The Denial of Death Author: Ernest Becker Genre: Psychology, Philosophy My Rating: 2/5
Becker posits that humans have a deep, innate fear of death and that all human action stems from attempts to mitigate this fear in various ways. I read this book ten years ago for a college class and thought I’d pick it up again to see what I could glean. I liked the premise because it seemed logical to me. The execution of the argument, however, left a lot to be desired.
The introduction outlines Becker’s arguments and got me interested in reading further. After that, however, he spends an inordinate amount of time describing the theories of philosophers/psychologists like Freud, Kierkegaard, and Otto Rank (with whom he seems to have an unhealthy obsession). I didn’t choose this book to go through all Freud’s nonsense again. I slogged through the middle section in hopes that it would end soon and we’d get to the good stuff.
Towards the end of the book, Becker discusses how different “mental illnesses” are a result of the fear of death. If he hadn’t lost me before that point, he would have when he describes how being gay or trans is a mental illness. On top of that, throughout the book women are treated almost as a separate species, barely worth mentioning except to describe their penis envy and the fact that their place is in the home, pushing out children. Needless to say, the book aged very poorly.
Becker never really developed an “answer” to the problem of the fear of death. A close contender was religion, with its belief systems, rituals, and afterlife, but since it’s a mythology, humans would always have the knowledge that it is fake. Becker’s solution is to suggest that psychology itself should become a religion. I’m still not clear on how that would work, but I found it a dissatisfying answer.
I pretty much finished this book out of spite. Despite the numerous shortcomings of Becker’s arguments, there are a few gems hidden in the text.
I really liked the idea that humans are creatures of opposites. They are animals in possessions of “creaturely” bodies that defecate and that crave food, sleep, and sex. However, they are also symbolic creatures, “gods” within their own minds and it is this dichotomy they constantly try to reconcile.
I also found interesting the idea that culture is an illusory creation of humanity, a way in which to make sense of both power over their surroundings and impotence in the face of death. Similarly, routines are a means of avoiding living in the world and not dealing with the awesomeness of it.
I gave this book 2 out of 5 stars because I hate-read it about 90% of the time (when it wasn’t putting me to sleep). Becker’s intriguing thoughts on the fear of death could have been consolidated to a few pages or maybe a chapter. The premise was fascinating, but his analysis was soporific, at best, and his “answer” to the fear of death was basically nonexistent.
“Man is literally split in two: he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order to blindly and dumbly rot and disappear forever.”
No one ever returned. None before. None after. Just him.
Until now.
A figure exploded from the edge of the forest, scattering twigs and scraps of mist. Donafel let out a sharp breath, a plume of condensation. Ghostly antlers crowned the figure’s head and, for a moment, the familiar terror gripped him. But no—the antlers were merely the crisscross of branches.
He took a shuddering breath, letting his fear and disappointment dissipate into the chill morning air. The wooden porch creaked as he shifted.
The figure spotted Donafel and careened to a halt, still shadowed by the towering trees. Mud streaked his face and clothes and he cradled his wrists, scabbed with dried blood. Donafel and the boy stared at each other.
The weight of another’s gaze—a human gaze—made Donafel feel naked. For so long his companions had been the silence of the cabin walls, the forest that crouched just beyond the fence, and the unseen watchers in the trees.
The sight of the boy brought back flashes of memory.
At the center of town, the fog dissipated until a rough circle cleared around the hitching post and the child tethered there. Out of the viscous, billowing white, a figure emerged.
His old life seemed more dream than reality. But that one night remained sharp, pungent. On the days the fog crawled from the forest, so, too, did the memories.
Once, it had been yearly; the fog would slink from the east, defying wind and sun to creep from between the trees, across the fields, through the town’s main gate.
Now… now it came far more often.
Each month, at the dark of the moon, the scars around Donafel’s wrists started to throb. The pain heralded the wall of white that oozed from the forest and occluded the cabin. When the ache in his left wrist extended to his elbow, he knew the fog had reached the town, and preparations had begun—quietly, so as not to alarm the children.
Donafel remembered the fear in his parents’ eyes. The children would be scared anyway.
The townsfolk would lock their doors, keep the children hidden beneath beds. Livestock would huddle in the farthest corner of each barn. The main gate would stand open to the abandoned streets: an invitation.
Donafel whimpered, throat too raw to scream anymore. He tugged at his bonds, frantic, until his wrists bled down his arms, but the hitching post was set deep into the ground. The figure stepped forward...
If you liked my story, please remember to vote for it for Reader’s Choice Award. Voting ends on 6/21/2020.
Vote at ShortFictionBreak.com by clicking the green button “Send My Vote Here.” You can click on the dropdown menu and start typing “The Night Harvest.” It will show up after you input a few letters.
Comment below and let me know what you thought of my story.
Title: Abhorsen Author: Garth Nix Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult My Rating: 5/5
Abhorsen is a continuation of the previous book, Lirael, and picks up where the last one left off. The Destroyer, an ancient and terrible evil, has been released and is intent on the destruction of the world. Lirael, sent away from her home in the mountains, has just discovered that she is the Abhorsen-in-waiting, charged with laying the dead to rest and protecting the Kingdom. She and her friends the Disreputable Dog, Prince Sameth, and Mogget, the talking cat/imprisoned magical beast, continue on their journey to rescue Sam’s friend and defeat the Destroyer before it obliterates the world.
Like Lirael before it, Abhorsen is not a standalone book. These are basically parts one and two of the same story and cannot be read independently of each other. Abhorsen continues with a quick pace, starting in media res, and the action piles on until the very end. Lirael and Sam are much more likable in this book, as they’ve started to grow into their powers.Their companions, the Dog and Mogget, have strong personalities and mysterious backgrounds that come into play towards the end. Like threads being woven together, all major and minor storylines join beautifully in the conclusion. I have read Abhorsen dozens of times and I cry at the end every single time. A worthwhile read.
…It is better to do something than nothing, even if the cost is great.
Abhorsen, Garth Nix
Full disclosure: I photoshopped the photo of the book for the this post because I’m still in the process of moving and wasn’t able to take a picture. So I reused an old photo and inserted a picture of the cover over top.
Title: Lirael Author: Garth Nix Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult My Rating: 4/5
Lirael is a daughter of the Clayr, a matriarchal society in the northern mountains. All the Clayr have the gift of Sight–except Lirael. Abandoned by her mother when she was a child, she feels alone and irreconcilably different from the rest of her kin. She finds solace in her position as a librarian where she meets–or creates?–her dearest friend, the Disreputable Dog. However, when the Clayr See an ancient enemy that threatens the entire world, they also See that Lirael is the only one who could stop it. They send her out of the mountain with only her own skills and the help of the Dog to face this terrifying evil.
Lirael is the sequel to Sabriel, but doesn’t feature the characters from the previous book much at all. The pace in the beginning is a little slow and Lirael often comes across as mopey and childish. Initially, she is fourteen, so this is fairly forgivable, as long as you can make it through the first section. Lirael has a great character arc, however, and grows into her own strength. She meets Prince Sameth towards the end of the book, who has similar issues but also grows out of them. While Lirael isn’t as strong a book as Sabriel, it’s very enjoyable. However, it is NOT a standalone book. It should have been combined with the third book, Abhorsen, and just been released as one huge volume. Don’t read Lirael without also having Abhorsen ready to read!
I am the Disreputable Dog. Or Disreputable Bitch, if you want to get technical. When are we going for a walk?
Lirael, Garth Nix
Full disclosure: I photoshopped the photo of the book for the this post because I’m still in the process of moving and wasn’t able to take a picture. So I reused an old photo and inserted a picture of the cover over top.
Title: Sabriel Author: Garth Nix Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult My Rating: 5/5
Sabriel is eighteen and about to graduate from private school in the country of Ancelstierre. However, she is from the Old Kingdom across the Wall, where magic runs wild and necromancers can command the dead to rise. Her father is the Abhorsen, sworn to combat necromancers and lay the dead to rest. When he sends a message from beyond death, Sabriel must cross the Wall into a land she hasn’t visited since she was five. With help from Mogget, a talking cat who is actually a deadly magical beast, and Touchstone, a man she frees from an enchanted sleep, Sabriel must take on the mantle of the Abhorsen to find her father and defeat a great Enemy who seeks the destruction of the entire kingdom.
I don’t think I can ever review Sabriel as an unbiased reader. It will always be dear to me as one of the books I read annually (along with Lirael and Abhorsen) and as a paragon of the types of stories I want to write. Nix writes Sabriel as a down to earth, intelligent, strong, emotional lead. She was written as a person who happens to be female, rather than as a tropey “strong female character” or, even worse, as a sex object. As a result, she felt more real to me than many female fantasy characters who often come across as caricatures. Sabriel’s companion Mogget is an absolute delight. Will he kill Sabriel? What even is he? It doesn’t matter because you end up liking him regardless. Touchstone takes getting used to because he is overly servile in the beginning, although his motivation for his behavior soon becomes clear. Perhaps the love story between him and Sabriel was a little quick, but I buy it because Sabriel and Touchstone work well together and people who go through great trials together bond deeply and quickly. The pace of Sabriel is quick but not rushed, the worldbuilding is one-of-a-kind (in fact, it wasn’t until many years and many rereads later that I realized this is essentially zombies with magic), and the characters feel real. Sabriel has a permanent spot on my top ten list of favorite books.
Let this be my final lesson. Everyone and everything has a time to die.
Sabriel, Garth Nix
Full disclosure: I photoshopped the photo of the book for the this post because I’m still in the process of moving and wasn’t able to take a picture. So I reused an old photo and inserted a picture of the cover over top.
Cool air slinks between the blankets, startling goosebumps from my skin. Tarek must have opened the window sometime in the night. I reach across the bed, expecting to feel his warm, bare shoulder. My hand meets cooling sheets.
On the nightstand, my phone buzzes and I jolt. The sound claws away the hush of the apartment.
When I pick it up, it vibrates again. My gut twists: something isn’t right.
The screen flares bright, blinding me. Half a dozen missed texts in the last three minutes. Overlaid in front of them is a gray notification box.
Image description: notification box stating “Emergency Alert: Do not look at the moon. This is not a drill.”
“What the—”
Two more texts come in. I ignore them for now and swipe on the emergency notification. ALERT: DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON. STAY INDOORS AND CLOSE ALL SHADES. REPEAT—DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON.
Fear strikes like lightning through my body. “Tarek?” I call.
Twenty missed texts. The number climbs as I watch it.
Gorgeous out tonight! check out the sky Look at the moon!
“Tarek!” I can hear the panic in my voice.
Whoa, the moon is HUGE!!! Guys, are you seeing this?
A message from my mom appears.
LOOK AT THE MOON
I jump out of bed, flinging the phone to the floor where it continues to buzz. The curtains are closed, but I yank them tighter, to be safe. Bright, white light beams in through the gaps. “Tarek!”
“Mae,” he calls from the living room. His voice sounds odd.
I’m halfway across the room before I notice the curtains are pulled back from the picture window. I shout, reaching for the nearest panel; it catches on the joint in the curtain rod and jerks to a stop.
The light is dazzling. The moon must be close. Big. How it must loom on the horizon, dwarfing the skyscrapers. My eyes make it to the sill before I realize.
Tarek stands eerily still, arms limp at his sides, chin tilted upward. His face, bathed in moonlight, is practically beatific.
I reach past him for the other curtain.
His fingers around my arm are steel. “Mae,” he says, eyes on the sky, “look outside.
“Tarek, get away from the window! There was a warning—”
“Mae. Look at the moon.”
Fear shudders through me.
Stella trots in from the kitchen, golden fur silver in the moonlight. I see the moment the change takes place. She loses the arthritic limp and steps primly to the window. Her pupils dilate, becoming a vast black mirror. The moon, a giant orb, shines from their depths. I tear my gaze away.
Stella starts barking.
“Look at the moon!” Tarek commands. He forces me towards the windows, bruising my arms.
“Tarek—please!” I cry. I am sobbing now.
Stella’s bark turns deeper, more vicious.
“Look at the moon!”
Tarek seizes my chin, turning me slowly towards the light.
Title: Call Down the Hawk Author: Maggie Stiefvater Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult My Rating: 5/5
Ronan Lynch can dream things into reality–both miracles and nightmares. After years of practice, he has control over his dreams, for the most part, but something new is happening to him: A mysterious person, nameless and faceless, has been haunting his dreams. And if Ronan spends too long not dreaming, dark liquid oozes from his nose.
Jordan Hennessy creates living copies of herself if she allows herself to dream. Worse, every time she does, she meets a malevolent force that is slowly sucking the life out of her.
Meanwhile, dreamers around the world are being hunted and killed. Ronan and Jordan must work together to find out who is behind the killings and to save themselves.
The Raven Cycle series introduced Ronan and his dreaming and Stiefvater follows up with a new trilogy featuring him and characters old and new. Call Down the Hawk is the first book in the trilogy and it ends on a cliffhanger, setting the stage for book two. It is impossible for me to be completely objective about this book because I fell in love with the Raven Cycle series immediately and would have read anything further involving this world. Despite my high expectations, I wasn’t disappointed. I was enthralled from page one and I enjoyed immensely getting the perspective of Ronan’s brother, Declan, and the new character, Jordan Hennessy (who is actually two characters). At first I wasn’t as interested in the perspective of the person who is hunting dreamers, but it got more interesting by the end because the stakes were so high. I was breathless for most of the book. Maggie has long been on my list of “will read anything by this author” because of her imagination, characterization, and lyrical prose. I can’t wait to read the next installment.
Dreams are not the safest thing to build a life on.
You’ve created an imaginary world and populated it with well-rounded characters. You’ve pinpointed the conflict and dreamed up a gratifying conclusion.
But how do you knit it all together into a satisfying story?
Narrative structure is the scaffolding that holds your story together. Think of it as a wire form over which you can papier-mâché the beautiful details that make your story special: plot, setting, and characters.
There are several well-known narrative structures to choose from, some of which have been around for thousands of years. Below are six common structures that have different effects on a reader’s experience.
Read on and find out which one is best for your story, or jump to a specific one using the links below.
You may remember the three act structure from high school English when you used it to outline Greek tragedies and Shakespearean plays. It is still a popular structure for modern novels and movies.
Act One takes up approximately the first quarter of the story, introducing your characters and your world. At some point during this section, the “Inciting Incident” occurs, drawing your main character into the action. This Act establishes the main question of the story: Will the heroine defeat the villain? Will the man find love? Will the lawyer win the case?
Act Two, which comprises the majority of the story, is mostly “rising action.” The main character tries to solve a problem, but often ends up in a worse situation. They must develop skills (here’s your character arc!) in order to overcome the obstacles before them.
Act Three occurs in the last quarter of the story. It contains the climax as well as the denouement, or descending action, that wraps up loose ends and draws the story to its conclusion.
The Fichtean Curve begins immediately with rising action, which peaks at a mini crisis, followed by brief falling action. This cycle repeats, resulting in a series of crises that all lead to the main climax around two-thirds of the way through the book.
This structure leads to an action-packed story that keeps readers turning pages.
Writers may be familiar with this Latin phrase for “in the middle of things.” Scenes often start in media res, but the term also refers to a plot structure in which the story as a whole starts in the middle of things. Looking at the Three Act Structure above, a story that uses In Media Res as a narrative structure would begin at the midpoint of Act Two, during the middle crisis.
This throws the reader directly into the action. The story basically follows the rest of the Three Act Structure, with rising action, climax, and falling action, while also cluing the reader in to how the conflict all began.
Thrillers or mysteries often use this structure to start with high tension that only increases as the story progresses.
A story within a story within a story (within a story)…
A Frame Narrative, which embeds one story (or more) within another, has been popular for centuries, even dating back to ancient Egypt and India. Perhaps the most well-known modern examples are the movies The Titanic (wherein Rose tells the story of her experience aboard the ship) and Inception (which has dreams embedded within other dreams). Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and One Thousand and One Arabian Nights also use this structure.
The Hero’s Journey
One of the most popular structures for fantasy and science fiction, the Hero’s Journey, is circular, rather than linear. Outlined by Joseph Campbell in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, it is another ancient story structure in which a character leaves home, faces obstacles, and returns triumphant.
This story begins when the hero’s life is interrupted by a call to leave home and go on a journey or quest (Call to Adventure); occasionally, he initially refuses. He meets a guide who gives him the tools needed to embark on his journey (Supernatural Aid). A minor obstacle marks the departure from the known world into the unknown (Threshold Guardian) and the hero begins his adventure (Threshold). Along the way, he gets aid from friends (Helper, Mentor) and faces challenges and temptations that attempt to lead him astray. He confronts the villain and fails (Abyss). All seems lost. The hero must turn inward, think differently, or draw on power he didn’t know he had in order to move forward (Transformation). Finally, the hero can achieve his goals and defeat the villain (Atonement). Victorious, he returns to the same place he began, but he is different; he has grown, and things can never quite be the same again (Return). The Lord of the Rings is a classic example of this structure.
In a counterpoint to the Hero’s Journey, the Heroine’s Journey more specifically addresses the modern female (or non-male) experience. Outlined by Maureen Murdock in her book The Heroine’s Journey: Woman’s Quest for Wholeness, the Heroine’s Journey is also circular, but with different plot beats.
The story begins when the heroine rejects her feminine side to achieve success in a patriarchal culture (Separation from the Feminine). She then chooses a masculine social role or identity, allying herself with powerful males (Identification with the Masculine). She experiences obstacles (Road of Trials) and eventually overcomes them (Boon of Success). Her success, though, comes at a price; her new life is shallow and she has had to betray herself in the process (Awakening of Feelings). She suffers an internal crisis. She meets a goddess figure, who inspires her return to femininity (Initiation and Descent to Goddess). However, the heroine can’t simply return to her old life (Urgent Yearning to Reconnect). First, she must reclaim the feminine values she initially scorned (Healing the Mother/Daughter Split) and come to terms with the masculine within (Healing the Wounded Masculine). Finally, she integrates the two aspects of herself, keeping a balance between both sides (Integration of Masculine and Feminine).
Which Narrative Structure Should I Use for My Story?
Whether you’re a “pantser” or a “plotter,” thinking about the structure of your story before you start writing can create a smooth narrative and a gratifying ending for your reader. But how do you know which framework is the best for your purposes?
If you already have most of your story planned, see if the plot beats line up with one of the structures above. If you haven’t quite gotten that far, you can pick one and craft your outline around the one that speaks to you.
The Three Act Structure is one of the most common frameworks used in modern storytelling. It would work well for most types of stories and would be a good starting place for most writers.
The Fichtean Curve is very similar to the three act structure, although it starts into the action immediately and keeps up a quicker pace throughout. Movies use this method to keep audience members at the edge of their seats.
In Media Res is most often used for mysteries and thrillers because it keeps the audience guessing as to how the situation began.
A Frame Narrative works best in combination with another type of structure. In One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, the overarching story of Scheherazade could have been its own novel, while each of the tales she tells has a beginning, middle, and end.
The Hero’s Journey has long been a favorite of fantasy and sci-fi writers because the main character travels from the known to the unknown (e.g. a magical world). The key to this structure is that the hero ends up back where they started.
In the Heroine’s Journey, the protagonist also ends up where they started, though this framework is more specifically geared towards the female/non-male experience in navigating a patriarchal culture.
There are more varieties of narrative structure than are listed here, though these are some of the most common and some I find most interesting. No one narrative structure is “right,” but it helps to understand these frameworks when crafting your own story. Try them out and feel free to adjust and combine as you see fit.
