Jacks and Queens at the Green Mill

The Shadow Society #0.5

by Marie Rutkoski

Few know that the Great Chicago Fire was started deliberately, as a genocide of deadly creatures called Shades. Fewer still know that they didn't die, not quite...but one human will confront the truth when an ominous beauty makes him gamble for his life.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Novella, Science Fiction

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 16, 2012

About the author

Marie Rutkoski is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for children and young adults. Her latest novel, ORDINARY LOVE, will be published June 10, 2025.

Born in Illinois, Marie holds degrees from the University of Iowa and Harvard University. She is currently a professor at Brooklyn College and lives in Brooklyn with her family.


https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...

https://us.macmillan.com/author/marie...

(photo credit: Beowulf Sheehan)

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zephyr felt the weight of her flesh settle on the branch-and-twig network of bones.
***
His body was long, rangy, his stance somehow naturally dishonest, alive with the energy of someone who couldn’t be trusted, but also couldn’t be blamed for it, because it was easy to guess from the way he constantly shifted his weight that he couldn’t quite trust himself either.

This is how Author Rutkoski limns her two characters in this shortest-possible taste of a story. It's lovely. I like her work in general, though I'm not usually a YA consumer. It's not easy to beguile me into accepting majgickq or the supernatural, my eyebrows are helium-powered lifters when someone tries to splodge it all over my alternate history. But this story, and the series of books that follow it in The Shadow Society series, make the Shades (Zephyr's people) into an oppressed minority of differently abled people.

I got time for that.

Anyway. The series deals with an alternate, evil Chicago where humans, in our accustomed vile way, persecute the Others among us. It's all in this story, the basic reality that Author Rutkoski wants us to experience; and it's done with a deft and delightful touch, making words pirouette in place, so you think you see what you don't in fact see. It's lovely to watch.

AND it's free: https://www.tor.com/2012/10/17/jacks-...

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a tiny novella from Marie Rutkoski's The Shadow Society series. In a short space of time it introduced us to a very unique and intriguing alternate 1920s Chicago. A Chicago of hidden wars, Shades, and parallel universes. It also introduced us to two very interesting characters in the burnt gangster Joe and the Shade Zephyr. I was totally sucked into the story and would definitely like to read the main series after reading this novella.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

[La Coccinelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read The Shadow Society back in 2015. I didn't love it, but I thought the writing was decent. So I figured I'd try this short story that's set in the same world.

It's really more of a character study than a story, introducing Zephyr (a Shade) and Joe (a human). We learn a little about the world's history, although there really isn't much here that's not explained in the subsequent novel. This story takes place in 1926, so it doesn't directly tie in with the events in The Shadow Society, except as distant history.

The language is lovely, and it works fine in this short story. However, I was kind of hoping for a little more plot. And, just like when I read The Shadow Society, I was a little confused by how one fire in Chicago could so alter the rest of the world that their alternate timeline didn't have movies or even jazz music (that premise didn't make sense to me then, and it doesn't make sense to me now; Chicago was not the centre of the universe).

I liked this as a short story, perhaps more than I liked the novel. It left me wanting to know more, and it didn't lean so heavily on some of the YA tropes that appeared in The Shadow Society (like the 19-year-old IBI agent at the top of his game; why is every teenager a savant in YA fiction?).

Quotable moment:

"You're fair," he said quietly.

"Fair?" She wasn't sure what he was driving at.

"Did you know that, long ago, 'fair' meant both 'beautiful' and 'just'? Isn't that nice, the thought that justice and beauty were once twins?"

"You're an odd sort of gangster, to be concerned with justice and words."

"You're an odd sort of anything. But, I hope, you're also fair." A hand pulled a deck of cards from his suit pocket. "Play me for the gun."

[Kayla Sunshine Spencer]

Just a little novella not gonna bother rating it just came with the book itself.

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too brief for much actual character building or plot but the world building is enticing and the writing lovely.

And that cover is phenomenal and perfectly tailored to the story.

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pleasant 5 minute diversion that I read for free on tor.com. Although I knew it was short, I was still annoyed that it was short. Nothing really happened. It very much felt like a fanfic fragment - an interesting interchange happening in someone else's world.

http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/10/ja...

I originally gave this 2 stars, back when I first read it in Oct 2012, but now (May 2014) I re-read it while I'm in the middle of The Shadow Society, and it all makes more sense, and really adds interesting depth to the main book. My original complaint was that it was just a snippet, doesn't stand up on its own, and I suppose that still holds, but now that I know more background, my enjoyment is greater. More like 3.5 stars.

[Rebecca Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short story to read before The Shadow Society. Taking place in 1920's Chicago. Marie Rutkoski's writing is always beautiful and flawless and this story is no exception.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

wow, that was short.
but it was interesting to get inside Zephyr's head.

[huni]

I thought the title would have a cool hidden meaning that you would figure out as you read the story, but it’s literally jacks and queens at the Green Mill.

Also, can we please talk about THAT COVER. So magnificent! Too bad that it’s only a short story and not a complete book because that cover deserves all the appreciation in the world.

[Claire Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too short

Just as was getting interested in the story and enjoying it; it ended with she vanished. 😳 I wish I had known it was a short story. Thought it was a novel. So many unanswered questions.

[Gretchen Fatouros · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shortest little snippet ever. Maybe I need to digest it more, but it didn’t really do much. Yeah, Zephyr is nicer than many shades might be, but not sure why it was even written.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing. I suppose I shall have to read the book to find out more!

[Toussaint Egan]

On October 8th, 1874, in an alternate universe, the people of Chicago orchestrated the mass extinction of a race of amorphous creatures known as the “Shade.” This genocide was disguised under the pretense of a massive firestorm that near burnt the entire city to cinders, the so-called “Great Chicago Fire.” But this was not the end of the shadow war, as another alternate universe of Shades immediately felt the excruciating absence of an aspect of themselves; a sort of “phantom-limb” sensation of the body and soul. Zephyr is one of the last of the shades in this universe and is determined to amass a stockpile of weapons to go to war for the existence of her people. The only thing between her and what she wants however happens to be a young Mafia guard with a disfigured face and a knack for sweet-talk.

I was surprised with how short this story felt overall considering its approximate 32 page length. It was a total breeze, undemanding and wholly comprehensible. The explanation of the alternate universes and how the shades’ empathetic link allows them to feel and traverse across different dimensions could have been better explained, but overall it felt like a serviceable story.

The central “conflict” and it’s “resolution” felt a bit ham-handed. Why would Zephyr spare Joe? Some reluctant affection for an individual funneled through the misguided indignation and resentment of an entire race? I don’t know. It was an okay story though. Not great, not euphorically prosaic and life-affirming, just okay. Besides, for such an average story there’s a ton of really great descriptions and line in this one. And Okay stories are…okay.

[Becs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet Zephyr. She's a Shade. A seemingly evil species thought to have been eradicated during the mass genocide years ago. But Zephyr is very much alive, in an undead sort of way, and can take human form whenever she enters the human world. Zephyr resides in Alter, another world where the Shade's are still able to survive, and she needs a gun.

As she takes human form in a Jazz club, she encounters Joe, a human bodyguard with just the gun she needs. But Joe isn't just any human, he knows what Zephyr is, and so he accepts his fate. In exchange for a game of cards. Zephyr indulges this request.

I loved Zephyr. She's a fiesty character, with enough grit to keep me interested and a totally eerie sort of mystery about her. What an amazing female lead. Joe is also an interesting character, with what appears to be some pretty big mysteries of his own.

I haven't read Rutkoski's other books, this is my first delve into the world of The Shadow Society but it most definitely has made me bump up her main series to the top of my to-be-read list. I definitely recommend this to fans of the main series, there's a nice bit of back story which I think will be a nice addition. However, I think it's best suited, due to how short it is, to people new to this world to see if they would enjoy Rutkoski's characters and writing style.

This is part of the Fierce Reads Anthology, but also on Tor.Com for free at the time of writing this review.

[starryeyedjen · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, that "cover" illustration is just gorgeous, brilliant, and so significant. And I loved getting this peek at Zephyr, at what may have been the moment that she decided she didn't want to wage war on the humans like most of her fellow Shades. All because of a scarred boy she met in the Alter.

I just finished buddy reading The Shadow Society with Kristen and I think we're both in agreement that this author's writing is just made for readers like us. I wish I had something else to read from her!

[Rikke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shadow Society prequel was gorgeous! and so very compelling! I have been wanting to read TSS sometime this Summer, but having read Jacks and Queens and the Green Mill, I'll definitely have to read it sooner!

As I've already read The Winner's Curse; and The Winner's Crime, I really don't need an incentive for reading any of Rutkoski's books - if you haven't read said books, and if you like historical fantasy, I recommend that you do - and yet, JaQatGM Is not only an awesome short story, it's also free to read on Tor.com and thus an obvious opportunity in regards to getting a sense of how TSS might read. My guess is, it'll be delightful!

[Caroline Clutterbuck Kapulkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★

This short world building tie-in was included at the back of The Shadow Society paperback. My only regret is that it isn't long enough! I loved the Shadow Society book and it's world, I wanted it to actually become a series... (Funny because one of the reasons I picked up the book was because it's a standalone...)
This short story gives us just a glimpse of what-could-have-been, at other diverse stories within this universe. I'd like to read a whole collection of these. Too short, but an interesting read!

[A.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is available free at Tor.com http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/10/ja...
It caught my eye because of the gold medal winning illustration, which is utterly beautiful, by the way.

A well written short story with good dialogue.

The doorman was intriguing and oddly perceptive. Lucky for humanity. Always interesting to think of alternate worlds and what each does or doesn't have. And if things can be taken from one world to another.

[Elevetha · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

Maybe it'd help with the confusion factor if I read The Shadow Society. Yeah, probably. Still, nice writing but nothing spectacular and not enough length and meat to the story to make me terribly intrigued.

[Carol (bookish_notes) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice addition to The Shadow Society. We only saw Zephyr for one scene, if I remember correctly, and then was only mentioned in passing for the rest of the book. So, it was nice to understand her a little bit more and seeing her interact with a human.

[gremlinkitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been a solid four if had just been a page or two longer, otherwise it's a 3.5 star read. The concept is intriguing and now that I know there's a book, I'll definitely pick it up. Even with its length, the ambiance makes the story come alive.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the language and how I could visualize everything.

[usagi ☆ミ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great prequel to "The Shadow Society"! Still not enough for me, though. <3

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this is just a short scenario between a shade and a human. However, I really enjoyed it. I do hope Marie Rutkoski writes more stories. She is so talented.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't get the point of this short story, but it was pretty nice to see more of a side character we didn't really ever see.

[Keyreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cover is amazing!! The story was a little too short for me, but still enjoyable.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those wish-it-were-longer shorts.

[William L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not realise this was a supplementary story for The Shadow Society, which I have not read. Whoops.

[Rustic Red Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick but fun read.