Judge Dee and the Executioner of Epinal

Judge Dee #7

by Lavie Tidhar

Unknown forces attempt to stop Judge Dee and Jonathan from transporting a mysterious and possibly dangerous prisoner, who holds a secret about the Judge, to an executioner in France…

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Vampires, Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Adventure

32 pages, ebook

First published April 17, 2024

About the author

Lavie Tidhar was raised on a kibbutz in Israel. He has travelled extensively since he was a teenager, living in South Africa, the UK, Laos, and the small island nation of Vanuatu.

Tidhar began publishing with a poetry collection in Hebrew in 1998, but soon moved to fiction, becoming a prolific author of short stories early in the 21st century.

Temporal Spiders, Spatial Webs won the 2003 Clarke-Bradbury competition, sponsored by the European Space Agency, while The Night Train (2010) was a Sturgeon Award finalist.

Linked story collection HebrewPunk (2007) contains stories of Jewish pulp fantasy.

He co-wrote dark fantasy novel The Tel Aviv Dossier (2009) with Nir Yaniv. The Bookman Histories series, combining literary and historical characters with steampunk elements, includes The Bookman (2010), Camera Obscura (2011), and The Great Game (2012).

Standalone novel Osama (2011) combines pulp adventure with a sophisticated look at the impact of terrorism. It won the 2012 World Fantasy Award, and was a finalist for the Campbell Memorial Award, British Science Fiction Award, and a Kitschie.

His latest novels are Martian Sands and The Violent Century.

Much of Tidhar’s best work is done at novella length, including An Occupation of Angels (2005), Cloud Permutations (2010), British Fantasy Award winner Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God (2011), and Jesus & the Eightfold Path (2011).

Tidhar advocates bringing international SF to a wider audience, and has edited The Apex Book of World SF (2009) and The Apex Book of World SF 2 (2012).

He is also editor-in-chief of the World SF Blog , and in 2011 was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award for his work there.

He also edited A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults (2008); wrote Michael Marshall Smith: The Annotated Bibliography (2004); wrote weird picture book Going to The Moon (2012, with artist Paul McCaffery); and scripted one-shot comic Adolf Hitler’s I Dream of Ants! (2012, with artist Neil Struthers).

Tidhar lives with his wife in London.

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

📚 Free short story from Tor Reactor 📚

‘Would you believe I was young once?’ he said.

Judge Dee? Young? Errr...No?



Quite right you are, my dear.

So this one is about the pursuit of young love (by none other than Judge Dee, shockingly enough)...and of sausages (by my boyfriend Jonathan, unshockingly enough). It also features radical ideas about sandwiches moveable feasts, Buddhist vampires (I kid you not), French coachmen with a superiority complex, that creep Julius Caesar, Jonathan NOT being the refreshments, and girls who like pies.

‘We do the hanging thing about once a month. I’m a wanted woman, you see. There’s a price on my head and Lady Samantha likes to claim it whenever she’s low on cash. And every time I escape the noose the price on my head increases.’

‘What are you wanted for?’ Jonathan said.

‘This and that. A couple of murders, some armed robbery, arson, theft of holy relics, counterfeiting money, receiving and selling stolen goods, perjury, kidnapping, a spot of blackmail here and there. You know. Moral turpitude, mostly.’

Fiona, a girl after my own heart 😍😍.

I was going to share more delectably delectable quotes but then realized I'd be posting 95% of the story, which might result in copyright issues so I'll leave it at that. You're welcome. Besides, either a) you're already familiar with this darkly hilarious series, have read this installment, and therefore are in no need of a refresher course or b) you have no idea what the shrimp this is about and should therefore be kicked out of Goodreads head over to the Tor Reactor website and read ALL the free stories in this series post haste.



P.S. Mess with librarians thou shalt not.



[April 2024]

New Judge Dee story available!!!!



➽ You can read it for free here and stuff.

· Story 1: Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law ★★★★
· Story 2: Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels ★★★
· Story 3: Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre ★★★★
· Story 4: Seven Vampires ★★★★
· Story 5: Judge Dee and the Mystery of the Missing Manuscript ★★★★★
· Story 6: The Locked Coffin ★★★★

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some excellent background on Judge Dee during ancient times, quite a treat for fans of the series.

[Roslyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the seventh in a series of short, wry (and dry), quirky stories about vampire Judge Dee and Jonathan, his human sidekick, set in medieval times. This latest is the most interesting so far, with Dee finally showing a 'human', fallible side, and Jonathan filling out as a character as well. No longer just a string of adventures, this is turning into a series with interesting character arcs. Looking forward to the next one.

[Elena Linville-Abdo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stars: 5 out of 5.

Oh to think that the stoic Judge Dee was young and in love once... who would have imagined?

This was a fun little story that showed us Judge Dee in a different light, and Johnathan made a lady friend who also loves cheese! This was rather cute and light-hearted, and I loved it.

[York · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another chapter in the Judge Dee and Jonathan story. This one is a bit different as the mystery has to do with Judge Dee himself. I recommend this series of short stories and novellas. They set a great dark scene but have a humorous mood throughout..

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars rounded up)

The Executioner of Epinal strays from the formula of previous Judge Dee stories by focusing on a more personal tale, and it is all the better for it. It was cool to get some more background on the character and to see a new side of him. It was also nice to see Jonathan get to find a little happiness.

[Badseedgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Somehow Fiona was so warm and so there and…
Their lips met.
They kissed.
Since the invention of the kiss, it is said, there have been just five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure.
This kiss wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t even close.
But it felt like it was to Jonathan."

Who doesn't love a Princess Bride Quote?

Lavie Tidhar, If you are reading this, for the love of all that is literal, please write a full length Judge Dee book. I beg of you!

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is Judge Dee so keen to bring a dangerous prisoner to the executioner of Epinal?

A sad and poignant mystery, which explores the history of Judge Dee. Carefully plotted and well executed.

[Asaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I'll grow bored of judge Dee. In this short story Tidhar is fleshing out the titular protagonist's past. Even a law incarnated once loved someone, once was young :)

[Olga · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Can you believe I was young once?” says Judge Dee apropos of nothing. This is a story about when he was young, and had feelings (gasp!). It is also very entertaining. Here’s a sample that I especially liked: “The coachman was clearly French, for his tone carried that sort of superiority mixed with exasperated dislike by which the French have always greeted the inquiries of English visitors to the continent.” Jonathan also meets a girl and invents the sandwich. The whole thing is delightful. I always read judge Dee stories as soon as they’re posted on Tor.com. There’s something about the dry humor, Jonathan’s fear of being eaten, and his constant hunger, that makes them very endearing.

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judge Dee and the Executioner of Epinal by Lavie Tidhar is the seventh short story in the Judge Dee series.

Unknown forces attempt to stop Judge Dee and Jonathan from transporting a mysterious and possibly dangerous prisoner, who holds a secret about the Judge, to an executioner in France…

My ongoing quest to get current with the Tor short stories.

It's always a joy to read a new Judge Dee adventure!

You can read this story (and all the other ones in this series) for free on the Tor.com site https://reactormag.com/judge-dee-and-...

4 Stars

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another vampire Judge Dee story. This one has him and Jonathan in pursuit of another vampire: only this time, Jonathan isn't sure why, since the vampire is apparently a librarian who hasn't murdered anybody. This story fills in some history on Judge Dee, and it becomes apparent that this particular case is a personal one for the Judge, and starts when the Judge was still young (hard to believe, but yes) and still learning the law. The story has a subplot where Jonathan meets a girl and falls in love.

[Chuck Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty fun little short story about vampires, long-lost love, and snacks that was quite fun to read. I read this as part of a Reactor Magazine Short Fiction collection for 2024 and didn't realize it was the seventh volume of the Judge Dee adventures, but the neat thing was that I don't feel that I missed out on anything, having not read the first 6 entries of the story. The assistant, Jonathan, was pretty humorous and I really enjoyed the humor he brought to the story, and I really liked this one!

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dee’s back

Dee and Jonathan have a prisoner between them. The Judge was taking the prisoner back to the town he knew. Three were attacked several times as if to delay the inevitable, the truth. Even Jonathan wanted to know it, even though he wouldn’t admit it. Instead, he was preoccupied with the human woman, Fiona, who is the assistant to the other vampire. An interesting tale. Got a bit confusing at the beginning, but solved itself as the story progressed. Still recommended.

[Alex Sarll]

In my youth, I would have read this and looked up to Judge Dee, the vampire even other vampires fear, a being of pure intellect - or so they say. But increasingly I sympathise with the human assistant Jonathan, his aches and pains and ongoing longing for cheese and sausage, so often frustrated. Beyond that, this time I enjoyed Tidhar's delight in having established the characters and the format firmly enough that he can start mucking around with them.

[Colin Murtagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new Judge Dee is always something to look forward to. This however was not quite what I was expecting.
While all the other tales have been mysteries revolving around the Vampire world, in this case it's a look into Dees life, and boy is he old.
Given this is a novelette, there's not much I can say about the story without spoilers, however I will say, it's nice to see Jonathan get a tiny piece of happiness.

[emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a funny little story; I think if I'd never read any of Jonathan L. Howard's Cabal books I'd have found it a lot more fun, but it just reminded me that I have 2 Cabal books to catch up on (and that I still haven't seen Renfield, lol). Still, if you like detective vampires and their familiars, there appears to be a whole series about these two, so go have fun.

[Urgewyrm · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Judge Dee short stories that are part of the Reactor ( Tor's blog? Zine? Whatever. ) are really quite fun. They have a wonderful style and are great little mysteries. The artwork that goes along with them is absolutely fantastic and really sets the mood.

I've found myself looking forward to each story both for the story itself and the world building it does. Really worth the 20 or so minutes to read.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally really enjoy the Judge Dee stories, but this one wasn't quite as good as the previous ones. I feel like it was trying to do more than the usual story, but it didn't really have enough room to do it, so it felt a bit like it was on fast forward. Maybe Tidhar just needs to write a full novel in this world already?

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional entry in this series of short stories that follow around a vampire judge and his person associate. I loved getting a look into Judge Dee's past in this one.

I read this on the Tor website, here.

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

"his tone carried that sort of superiority mixed with exasperated dislike by which the French have always greeted the inquiries of English visitors to the continent" - I felt that!

A saucy tale of Dees past. Who can say no to that?

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

#7 in an enjoyable series of short stories and novelettes about a vampire judge and his human companion. Should be collected at some point.

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

seventh entry in Lavie Tidhar's Judge Dee series; all short stories. Tidhar reimagines the historical Chinese Judge/Detective as a vampire judge. Fun series.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t plan on starting something 7 stories in but it stood alone well.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 4

Some interesting background on the Judge in this short story.
Quick easy read.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

link: https://reactormag.com/judge-dee-and-...

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent installment.

[Mariko1988 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judge Dee, #7