I need something bigger than the sky
Hold it in my arms and know it's mine
Just how many stars will I need to hang around me
To finally call it Heaven?
Remember My Name by Mitski
Schedule
These are the dates the discussion posts will go up, but remember you can go at your own pace and contribute when you’re ready!
Kick-off:December 8, 2023✓Midway Check In:December 18, 2023✓Final Discussion: ⚔️ Last minute RSVP here
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A Very Correct Ranking of Every Story in Sword Stone Table
by Adri
Everything I know about King Arthur I learned from Meg Cabot. Okay fine, I may have learned a little bit from the movie A Kid in King Arthur’s Court and an obscure math-based picture book called Sir Cumference and the First Round Table. But it was mostly Meg.
After becoming thoroughly obsessed with the Princess Diaries book series in my teenage years, I turned my attention to Meg’s expansive backlist of stand-alone books, one of which turned out to be Avalon High, an Arthurian re-telling in its own right. In this YA contemporary spin on the Arthurian mythos, we’re following Ellie, named after Tennyson’s “Lady of Shallot” by her scholarly parents, who are both professors of medievalist studies. After moving to Maryland and enrolling in the titular Avalon High, Ellie encounters a whole host of new friends and acquaintances who may or may not be reincarnations of King Arthur’s infamous court.
It was just as wild as you would expect an Arthurian re-telling populated by high schoolers would be, but I ate it up, and I re-read it countless times over the years. Reading through the stories in Sword Stone Table made me think back on my Arthurian roots with Meg. And if there was one thing Meg Cabot loved to do in her YA books back in the day, it was to play with multi-media forms, like letters and lists. So in honor of the queen of lists herself, I thought I’d make a list of my own to do a very serious, definitive, absolutely correct ranking of all the stories in this collection!
First, let’s introduce the tiers.
The top honors I can bestow on any short story in an anthology is “I’ll Take a Whole Book, Please.” This means the story was so good, the world-building so rich, the subject matter so enticing, and the thematic explorations so effective that I could’ve happily sat down with the characters for an entire book. Not only that, but there’s enough substance and heft to the story that it could easily withstand being fleshed out for potentially hundreds more pages!
Coming in right below that is what I call “Goldilocks Just Right.” This is exactly what it sounds like. These are perfectly crafted short stories that don’t overstay their welcome and don’t feel like they’re missing a single thing either. They feel perfectly complete as-is in their current iteration. No notes.
In the middle of the pack we have “Did I Like It or Did I Just Like the Narrator?” These are stories that could honestly go either way. Maybe they could have been stronger in some ways, but they also did have some redeeming qualities, the strongest of which is a distinctive narrative voice.
Second to last is “My Brain Didn’t Store the Files.” Did I actually read this story? Did I not? I may even have enjoyed it, but I could not tell you a single thing about it after the fact. 404 file not found.
And lastly, we have “Well, That Was Certainly a Story.” Listen, sometimes I just don’t like things, or maybe I’m simply not smart enough to understand them. While these stories were serviceable, they went over my head for one reason or another. I just didn’t get it, and maybe I don’t need to get it.
The Once and Future Qadi by Ausma Zehanat Khan
The opener to this anthology was easily “Goldilocks Just Right” for me. Solid, enticing, thought-provoking, and providing just the right kind of slant when it comes to the infamous infidelity scandal between Queen Guinevere and her king’s favorite knight, Lancelot. I love the interrogation angle this story takes with introducing the wise, all-knowing Qadi to Arthur’s court.
Passing Fair and Young by Roshani Chokshi
Listen, I can’t be objective when it comes to Roshani Chokshi. This is known. She single-handedly tore my soul from my body when she wrote The Gilded Wolves trilogy, and that’s all there is to it. That said, this was another “Goldilocks Just Right” story. With her trademark lush, fairytale-like prose, Roshani crafts a beautiful and empoweringly-feminist story about a young girl fighting to claim ownership over her own destiny.
How, After Long Fighting, Galehaut was Overcome… by Daniel M. Lavery
Now, I actually enjoyed this one more than the tier ranking table suggests at a glance. It’s ridiculously tongue-in-cheek and borderline-satirical in its own highly-stylized way, and I respect it for that. I’m a fan of absurdism, and I love how the author uses these long, winding sentences to build out the narrator’s voice and personality. It was fun to read, but it was also a little too short and didn’t really land anywhere.
I Being Young and Foolish by Nisi Shawl
Hand over the full Arthurian re-telling, Nisi Shawl, and no one gets hurt. An Arthurian re-telling casting the Lady of the Lake as an albino Ugandan sorceress with a cat familiar and the ability to traverse time and space? Are you KIDDING ME with that, Nisi? This could easily be its own novella or full-length novel, and let me tell you: I would be first in line to read it.
The Bladesmith Queen by Sarah MacLean
When the concept of “Arthurian re-tellings” comes to mind, my ragged little imagination would never have come up with a steamy Arthurian romantacy take on Arthur’s origins from the POV of a sexy—and sexily cursed—female blacksmith. I am a simple person. When a beautiful man says, “You are not the wound. You are the balm,” my soul simply slips from this mortal plane. Give me the whole book and give it to me now.
Do, By All Due Means by Sive Doyle
This story was an easy lay-up for Sive Doyle. You simply can’t go wrong when writing a queer Arthurian re-telling where a budding lady knight follows Merlin’s advice to go seek her destiny (and her future girlfriend) beyond the walls of the kingdom. This had a really fun “mysterious tower of terrors” kind of slant to it, too. I didn’t need any more or any less from it. It’s just right.
Mayday by Maria Dahvana Headley
This story flew right down the middle for me. It’s the longest in this anthology by far, and I think you definitely start to feel it towards the end. I enjoy the way it integrates multi-media elements and jumps around between so many different characters and narrative pieces in a way that almost feels reminiscent of Emily St. John Mandel’s story structures. For me, the pay-off wasn’t there, but I loved the way it was told. Plus, in the audiobook, this story is read by Joel Froomkin (AKA Joel Leslie, the voice of Cat Sebastian’s catalogue), who delivers a *stellar* performance.
Heartbeat by Waubgeshig Rice
I have yet to read a full-length novel by Waubgeshig Rice (don’t worry, I’m on it!) but this is the second short story I’ve read of his (the first being in Never Whistle at Night) that absolutely does what it came to do and then some. I love how the author takes the prompt of “Arthurian re-telling” and bends it towards *his* aesthetic and his truth, as opposed to the inverse. This radiant, powerful story about a young Indigenous boy discovering a magical drum that reunites his community with their traditional values is an absolute winner without question.
Jack and Brad and the Magician by Anthony Rapp
It’s simply unfair for Anthony Rapp to be a mega-talented actor, Broadway star, singer, *and* writer. What’s left for the rest of us, Anthony? This tender and heart-wrenching depiction of a gay couple meeting a modern-day Merlin when the magician visits an AIDS ward to perform magic for the patients in residence absolutely devastated me in the best possible way. It’s quietly sad but it’s also quietly hopeful at the same time. Not too hot, not too cold; just right.
The Quay Stone by S. Zainab Williams
Unfortunately with this story, we have our first (and only) entry in the dreaded last-rung “Well, That Was Certainly a Story” tier. I don’t really know if I got anything out of this one, gang. In my view, the main character is mostly being confronted with an annoying, overbearing, manipulative, borderline-abusive “friend,” which the story never really contends with in a meaningful way. The Arthurian elements were not as strong in this story compared to the others I’d read up to this point, either.
Black Diamond by Alex Segura
Not to be that person, but Alex Segura knocked it out of the park with this one. I’ve already professed that I’m a simple person, and this story once again proves that to be true, because when I realized this was about a Latine baseball player chasing his late father’s former glory by working his way up through the minor leagues, I’m pretty sure I blacked out. Add on the fact that the story is tinged with just a pinch of murder mystery and even some minor horror elements at one point and there’s no way I wouldn’t have enjoyed it.
Flat White by Jessica Plummer
This story very nearly got shelved in the “My Brain Didn’t Store the Files” tier, because the beginning was largely forgettable for me. But I grew to enjoy the narrator’s wry self-awareness and her tongue-in-cheek narration. If I thought *I* was being drawn into a reincarnation of Camelot’s most infamous and scandalous love triangle, I’d also relentlessly berate myself for being a clown. So the story was definitely hashtag #Relatable in that sense. I feel like this was trying to achieve the same message of Roshani’s story—showing a young woman reclaiming her agency—but ultimately it was far less effective, in my opinion.
Once (Them) & Future (Us) by Preeti Chhibber
Well, I spoke too soon, because now we do indeed find ourselves in the dregs of “My Brain Didn’t Store the Files.” Look, I swear I read this story. Parts of it were even good. Could I tell you a single meaningful thing about it? No. Not one. My brain simply could not retain anything. Yes, I know I’m the problem in this equation, and I’m firmly going to stand in my truth about that.
A Shadow in Amber by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
If I can’t be objective about Roshani Chokshi, then there’s no chance in hell that I can be objective about anything Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes. The concept of this short story is just so freaking *cool*. A futuristic society where black market dealers sell memories for strangers’ consumption? Silvia always thinks up the coolest magic systems, and this is no exception. Perfectly penned, perfectly conceptualized. Give me the whole book, Silvia!
White Hempen Sleeves by Ken Liu
I’m just gonna give it to you straight right now: Ken Liu won this collection. I know it’s not a competition, and every story in this anthology has its own purpose and its own value independent of the rest, but let’s stop kidding ourselves. Ken won, and he won handedly. This story is simply *chef’s kiss*. It’s not too heavy-handed when it comes to the Arthurian touchstones, and in fact it uses the Arthurian inspiration merely as a springboard to create something wholly original. Even though the scope of this short story is ambitious, even though it kind of throws you in the deep end with all this futuristic lingo, even though it requires an immense amount of world-building to pull off, it is incredibly successful and executed with pinpoint precision. Only a master could craft a short story as dynamic, chilling, and unsettling at this. Ken Liu sci-fi novel when?!
Little Green Men by Alexander Chee
All I’m saying is that Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington knew exactly what they were doing when they structured this anthology to end with the triple sweep that is Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Ken Liu, and Alexander Chee. A queer, futuristic re-telling of “The Green Knight” set on Mars amidst the circus of a bizarre reality show? Only Alexander Chee could un-meme-ify that concept and make me feel on the edge of my seat until the sweet release of the final sentence. The *only* reason why this story doesn’t make the top tier is because I don’t think I need this as a full novel, and also it felt slightly incomplete to me. If *this* story had been as long as Maria Dahvana Headley’s story, it would have been perfect, and I would have been a very happy camper.
Conclusion
So there you have it! That is my definitive, super serious, nonnegotiable, utterly and obviously correct ranking of all the stories in Sword Stone Table! (If you disagree with me, kindly never let me know, because I will definitely mope in secret about it.)
Overall, I’m really glad I took the time to read through this anthology! It expanded and challenged my ideas of what Arthurian-inspired stories can be, and how these infamous medieval myths can truly be timeless in more ways than one. I can’t wait to hear about which stories excited you all the most!
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Adri (they/them) is a queer, trans nonbinary, Mexican-American content creator, writer, book reviewer, and YouTuber. They've been talking about books on the internet for over 10 years. When they're not online, they can be found getting emotional over anime, playing the same songs on repeat until they become unlistenable, and storing an unholy amount of bad memes on their phone.
Welcome to the Final Discussion 📖 Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices
Final Thoughts
Overall, how strong was the anthology for you?
Now that you’re done reading, how did the book make you feel?
What was your favorite ? What about it made it your favorite?
Is there an artist that you’re planning on looking into due to their work here?
Does Adri’s ranking match your own? Where do you coinscide and where do you differ?
Share your thoughts in the comments and I’ll see you in the next one! ♥