CACOPHONY OF CROWNS

Interstellar travelers, modern-day creatures, and knights from long ago come together in Broussard’s offbeat debut story collection.

In the story “Ascension,” a freezing spell narrowly stops an assassin from taking out a little girl. Her father seeks retribution in an unusual way, which starts with creeping into a dragon’s cave. More than half of these tales take place in medieval settings in unnamed lands and often feature unnamed characters. There’s the battered knight in “Dark Forest,” who appeals to the forest and the dwellers within for healing. “Green Hood” spotlights another assassin, whose latest job doesn’t necessarily require a kill so long as it sparks war between two powerful families. Other stories move to the present day and well beyond; in “Embrace the Change,” friends at a rental cabin face off against something monstrous, while the SF outing “The BarDive” finds a woman named Denise planning an anti-gravity getaway. Broussard’s stories are notably compact and, as such, move at a swift pace. There’s engaging conflict involving wizards and sorcerers, armored knights and cloaked figures, and assorted otherworldly beasts. This doesn’t mean the author skimps on character development; for example, a young female and a shadowy killer unexpectedly bond as they break into a castle in “Trespassers.” In “Binky,” a woman does whatever it takes to protect her small, unorthodox pet when a colossal creature attacks an airport terminal. The book includes a handful of single-stanza poems as well, like the introspective “Shy Not” (“Look to yourself for the meaning of life”). Several stories feel as if they’re chapters pulled from longer novels; the self-explanatory and exhilarating “Grab the Booty” is essentially just an action scene. Whatever their provenance, the stories showcase Broussand’s pithy writing—readers will want to keep their eyes out for his future releases.

Endlessly entertaining short fiction in a medley of genres.