The Cartography of Sudden Death

by Charlie Jane Anders

Time travel doesn’t actually solve problems. It just makes them more complex…

When Ythna is sent to serve the Beldame Thakkra, she is only a child, but as she grows, so does her love of her mistress. When tragedy strikes, Ythna has no idea what to do, or how to save herself from Obsolescence, until she meets the mysterious Jemima Brookwater. Ms. Brookwater claims to come from the future, and wants Ythna to come on a terrifying journey that uses a most unusual mode of travel.

This short story was acquired and edited for Tor.com by senior editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Audiobook, Fiction, Fantasy, Novella

32 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 15, 2014

About the author

My latest book is Victories Greater Than Death. Coming in August: Never Say You Can't Survive: How to Get Through Hard Times By Making Up Stories.

Previously: All the Birds in the Sky, The City in the Middle of the Night, and a short story collection, Six Months, Three Days, Five Others.

Coming soon: An adult novel, and a short story collection called Even Greater Mistakes.

I used to write for a site called io9.com, and now I write for various places here and there.

I won the Emperor Norton Award, for “extraordinary invention and creativity unhindered by the constraints of paltry reason.” I've also won a Hugo Award, a Nebula Award, a William H. Crawford Award, a Theodore Sturgeon Award, a Locus Award and a Lambda Literary Award.

My stories, essays and journalism have appeared in Wired Magazine, the Boston Review, Conjunctions, Tin House, Slate, MIT Technology Review, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, Tor.com, Lightspeed Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, ZYZZYVA, Strange Horizons, Apex Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, 3 AM Magazine, Flurb.net, Monkey Bicycle, Pindeldyboz, Instant City, Broken Pencil, and in tons and tons of anthologies.

I organize Writers With Drinks, which is a monthly reading series here in San Francisco that mashes up a ton of different genres. I co-host a Hugo Award-winning podcast, Our Opinions Are Correct, with Annalee Newitz.

Back in 2007, Annalee and I put out a book of first-person stories by female geeks called She’s Such a Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology and Other Nerdy Stuff. There was a lot of resistance to doing this book, because nobody believed there was a market for writing about female geeks. Also, Annalee and I put out a print magazine called other, which was about pop culture, politics and general weirdness, aimed at people who don’t fit into other categories. To raise money for other magazine, we put on events like a Ballerina Pie Fight – which is just what it sounds like – and a sexy show in a hair salon where people took off their clothes while getting their hair cut.

I used to live in a Buddhist nunnery, when I was a teenager. I love to do karaoke. I eat way too much spicy food. I hug trees and pat stone lions for luck. I talk to myself way too much when I’m working on a story.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!

last year, amy(other amy) tipped me off to this cool thing she was doing: the short story advent calendar, where you sign up to this thingie here and you get a free story each day.

i dropped the ball and by the time i came to my senses, it had already sold out, so for december project, i'm going rogue and just reading a free online story a day of my choosing. this foolhardy endeavor is going to screw up my already-deep-in-the-weeds review backlog, so i don't think i will be reviewing each individual story "properly." i might just do a picture review or - if i am feeling wicked motivated, i will draw something, but i can't be treating each short story like a real book and spending half my day examining and dissecting it, so we'll just see what shape this project takes as we go.

and if you know of any particularly good short stories available free online, let me know! i'm no good at finding them myself unless they're on the tor.com site, and i only have enough at this stage of the game to fill half my calendar. <--- that part is no longer true, but i am still interested in getting suggestions!

DECEMBER 27

“You are but one of a thousand retainers to the Beldame. But each of you is a finger, or a toe. Your movements are her movements. Do not make her a disgrace.”

huh. i just don't know about this one. i liked the writing and the characters and the setting, but it's one of those stories that just ... goes nowhere. no resolution, no conclusiveness. maybe this is the opening of a longer piece not indicated here, but as it stands, it's a bit disappointing.

read it for yourself here:

http://www.tor.com/2014/01/22/the-car...

DECEMBER 1: FABLE - CHARLES YU
DECEMBER 2: THE REAL DEAL - ANDY WEIR
DECEMBER 3: THE WAYS OF WALLS AND WORDS - SABRINA VOURVOULIAS
DECEMBER 4: GHOSTS AND EMPTIES - LAUREN GROFF
DECEMBER 5: THE RETURN OF THE THIN WHITE DUKE - NEIL GAIMAN
DECEMBER 6: WHEN THE YOGURT TOOK OVER - JOHN SCALZI
DECEMBER 7: A CHRISTMAS PAGEANT - DONNA TARTT
DECEMBER 8: DEEP - PHILIP PLAIT
DECEMBER 9: COOKIE JAR - STEPHEN KING
DECEMBER 10: THE STORY OF KAO YU - PETER S. BEAGLE
DECEMBER 11: THE HEEBIE-JEEBIES - ALAN BEARD
DECEMBER 12: THE TOMATO THIEF - URSULA VERNON
DECEMBER 13: THE JAWS THAT BITE, THE CLAWS THAT CATCH - SEANAN MCGUIRE
DECEMBER 14: ROLLING IN THE DEEP - JULIO ALEXI GENAO
DECEMBER 15: ANTIHYPOXIANT - ANDY WEIR
DECEMBER 16: THE AMBUSH - DONNA TARTT
DECEMBER 17: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A TRAITOR AND A HALF-SAVAGE - ALIX HARROW
DECEMBER 18: THE CHRISTMAS SHOW - PAT CADIGAN
DECEMBER 19: THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS - PAUL CORNELL
DECEMBER 20: THE TRAINS THAT CLIMB THE WINTER TREE - MICHAEL SWANWICK
DECEMBER 21: BLUE IS A DARKNESS WEAKENED BY LIGHT - SARAH MCCARRY
DECEMBER 22: WATERS OF VERSAILLES - KELLY ROBSON
DECEMBER 23: RAZORBACK - URSULA VERNON
DECEMBER 24: DIARY OF AN ASSCAN - ANDY WEIR
DECEMBER 25: CHANGING MEANINGS - SEANAN MCGUIRE
DECEMBER 26: SHOGGOTHS IN BLOOM - ELIZABETH BEAR
DECEMBER 28: FRIEDRICH THE SNOW MAN - LEWIS SHINER
DECEMBER 29: DRESS YOUR MARINES IN WHITE - EMMY LAYBOURNE
DECEMBER 30: AM I FREE TO GO? - KATHRYN CRAMER
DECEMBER 31: OLD DEAD FUTURES - TINA CONNOLLY

come to my blog!

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book version of Charlie Jane Anders’ short story The Cartography of Sudden Death or Ythna and Jemima Brookwater on a time travel adventure following the murder of Ythna’s mistress Beldane Thakkra.

I’m always amazed how some authors can do so much excellent world building in only a few pages (32 pages in this case). This would be wonderful as a full length novel.

Narration was done by Imani Jade Powers who has a beautiful silky smooth voice. If only the story had lasted longer to hear more of her.

The audio book is available on Scribd.

4 Stars

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time travel with a twist. In a few pages a world was built and characters sketched that I hope might grow into a full novel.

[Mary ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars

Most short stories I read this year are blowing my mind! *review to come*

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really absorbing short story. Very enjoyable and it didn't feel like it cut corners with detail. It hit all the right notes for me. I'd love to read more about Professor Brookwater's adventures through time!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would really love to read more about both Ythna/Dhar and Professor Jemima Brookwater. This short story felt like a brief glimpse into a world that is a bit terrifying and really interesting.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 STARS

CW: death, blood, grief, violence, mention of war

I listened to this on audio while doing the dishes and I was entertained but I wish the story was longer. I really liked the idea that important persons' sudden death are used as anchor points for time travel (although I'm curious how this actually works, I'm pretty sure the explanation is simply "magic"). Overall, a very nice short story that I really enjoyed.

[rick. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Cartography of Sudden Death is a delicious title for short story. With those few words imagery and plots begin to weave. In Anders' story the cartography of sudden death is a form of time travel using the paradoxes generated in unplanned deaths to ride the ripples to other points in the timeline. In general the concept is strong, but it would seem more likely that moments of paradox or divergence would provide dimensional rather than chronological pathways. The writing lacks poetry and leaves the characters thinly rendered and motivations unclear. Apart from the interesting premise there isn't much to grab onto.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting short story. It left me wanting more. I think that was a big pert of the problem. The being was really good, the end felt rushed and cut off. It was a quick and enjoyable read. For me possibly the best part is it makes me want to search out more by this author.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! After reading, I noticed how many readers did not like the ending, but I think that leaving it open-ended was a perfect way to conclude this story, as it leaves it open to the reader. However, I would really enjoy reading more about Professor Brookwater and Ythna.

[Hisham El-far · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fresh take on time-travel stories, well written and paced, but the ending was a bit flat. It felt like the story should have continued much further in its narrative, maybe as the foundation for a novella or even a full novel.

I want to know what happens next dammit! :)

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely prose, but not much of a plot, rather bland. Reads like a prologue to a longer story.

[Kavya · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting idea for time travel, but frustrating as a short story because there could have been so much more!

[Trinity · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent beginning, but not self-contained enough as a short story. The ending just trails off, leaving a "where's the rest" feeling.

[Chinook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this time travel story! I’d love to see the concept as a novel.

[Nakarem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really like this and I don't think I can explain why..
And wow would you look at that? It's possible to have weird concepts and even time travel in your short stories without confusing the readers unnecessarily! Crazy how that works!
Seriously though, I never felt completely shut out because of a lack of lore-knowledge which is already a lot more than I can say for other short stories I've recently read.

I also just like the concept of time travel via sudden death and someone being trapped? in the past. I am very intrigued.

[Mori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going to be honest, I forgot I read it the second the audiobook finished. But the story itself was very interesting, just not as memorable as I would've liked. I did enjoy the narration though.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating: 3 stars

I picked up this short story because of reading Charlie Jane Anders’s All the Birds in the Sky and because it had the word “cartography” in the title (I’m a huge map geek). You can find this short story at http://www.tor.com/2014/01/22/the-car....

This was an ok book with an interesting story and interesting world that it took place in. But, it’s a little confusing and it did not fully capture my interest. The cartography thing did not pan out as there was not much “map” business going on. I mean, I guess I understood the story but I felt like I needed more.

[Carroll Nelson Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a darker Doctor Who. Treats history as a landscape of accumulated causality with "significant" deaths (ones affecting lots of people) as milestones, and you travel through time through "torsions" at those points. Large-scale settings and lots of action, but no real conclusion, just an exit. The beginning of a series, perhaps?

[Alex Sarll]

If America produced a far fightier, but also female-led, version of Doctor Who - and if the set designer were Clark Ashton Smith with a frankly stupid budget - you might end up with something not unlike this.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked this unusual time travel adventure. Now I want more!

[Jon]

3.5 stars

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lot of action but could have used more plot. overall, pretty good for a short story.

link: http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/01/th...

[Deborah Replogle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story really. An interesting take on time travel.

[Chris Eddins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly engaging. To be honest I listened to this on audible and the narrator Imani Jade Powers did an excellent job. This is vaguely scifi and I love. The book is from the perspective of a young girl who would be the equivalent of a slave/peasant in our society. She lives in a highly authoritarian stratified empire and meets an interesting woman just as her world begins to fall apart. This was only 45 minutes to listen to. So it definitely is very short, short story, but I loved it. In that short space I felt transported into another world. However, there was an air of mystery due to the fact that the author obviously had limited space to describe this world and could only allude to a few things. This is a planet spanning empire where a mysterious woman enters their world changing everything from one the protagonist. I have a feeling this might to turned in a longer novel at some point, but who knows. There was a resolution but it was not a fully fleshed out complete resolution like you would get in a longer novel. However it's the best they could do for a short story. While there is something that could have been gimmicky in this book the book focuses on the people and their relationships in a short period of time. I felt like I understood the young character. I honestly don't understand the low reviews. It feels like people wanted this to be something that it never promised. Instead of taking this story for what it is and enjoying it.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a story that's not even an hour long on audio book, this was a wild ride. It was an incredibly passive narrative, in that Athena is taken along a journey and told what's happening or we're just being told the history of a character from an omnipresent narrator rather than a third person character perspective, which is very different to what I'm used to. To me it felt like part of a story that began with a well written concept outline – but it was still very enjoyable.

The settings and concept were just so wild, and Athena's point of view (when we had it) was really engaging. The way she thinks about her role in society is so different to what we normally want from a protagonist as modern readers, but it gives such a good insight into the setting and by the end I really felt for her.

If you're looking for an introduction to sci-fi, I think this could be really good place to start (and the text is free online)!

[Blade Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually really liked the concept of the plot but I don’t think the execution pays off. I feel like I was reading just a random, small piece of a bigger story and this focused on the most boring piece of the novel. Like this felt pointless. I guess it introduced the characters and had a bit of world building but other than the most basic intros, nothing else happened. Honestly, I was so disinterested in this that even if this was a preview for a longer novel, I don’t think I would be compelled to read the full novel. This one definitely wasn’t for me.

TWs/CWs - Blood; Bullying; Colonisation; Cussing; Death; Death Camps; Gun; Kidnapping; Murder; Physical Abuse

[Andy Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:

This was less a short story than a start of a novel. It's got an interesting approach on time travel but it ends with a couple of mysteries that could easily fill the rest of a book. Even the story with the girl could just be a unique way to introduce how time travel works, along with both the main protagonist and antagonist. But, I did like the part that was there!

Read it!

[Julia Sarene · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cartography of Sudden Death by Charlie Jane Anders could easily have been a 4* read for me, if it was just a tad longer.

I really enjoyed the idea behind the story, and the writing was good, it was just too short to really manage to draw me in. So by the time I started to get into the story, it was already over, leaving me quite unsatisfied by the end.

Which is a shame, as I would have enjoyed reading in at that point!

[Rob Hermanowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another short story by Charlie Jane Anders, whose has become one of my favorite contemporary science fiction writers. This offers an imaginative take on time travel, and I would love to see her apply this idea to a longer story. I believe this is the first time I've heard narrator Imani Jade Powers, and I hope to hear more from her as well!