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Our King and His Court
"Our King and His Court" by Rich Larson is a futuristic story about a high-ranking soldier in a criminal gang who has conflicting loyalties to his monstrous boss and that boss’s innocent young son.
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 21, 2018
About the author
Rich Larson
199 books254 followersRich Larson was born in Galmi, Niger, has studied in Rhode Island and worked in the south of Spain, and now lives in Ottawa, Canada. Since he began writing in 2011, he’s sold over a hundred stories, the majority of them speculative fiction published in magazines like Asimov’s, Analog, Clarkesworld, F&SF, Lightspeed, and Tor.com.
His work appears in numerous Year’s Best anthologies and has been translated into Chinese, Vietnamese, Polish, French and Italian. Annex, his debut novel and first book of The Violet Wars trilogy, comes out in July 2018 with Orbit Books. Tomorrow Factory, his debut collection, follows in October 2018 with Talos Press.
Besides writing, he enjoys travelling, learning languages, playing soccer, watching basketball, shooting pool, and dancing kizomba.
His work appears in numerous Year’s Best anthologies and has been translated into Chinese, Vietnamese, Polish, French and Italian. Annex, his debut novel and first book of The Violet Wars trilogy, comes out in July 2018 with Orbit Books. Tomorrow Factory, his debut collection, follows in October 2018 with Talos Press.
Besides writing, he enjoys travelling, learning languages, playing soccer, watching basketball, shooting pool, and dancing kizomba.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
June 8, 2020
Scipio’s knitted sweater all but swallows the boy’s skinny frame, but underneath it there are scars, rawpink and shiny, from what they did to him in the lab. Dry blood is flecked across his forehead from what Scipio did to them in return.
where has rich larson been all my life? this story is all good things: nonlinear storyline, day of the dead courtesans, dinosaur-bone-throne, post apocalyptic baddie with a flair for pageantry and creative punishments, an author who understands that you don't always need to say a thing but when you do a thing, it's best to do it decisively - it's spectacular. the story sucked me deep inside - his world, its details, the tension and power of his storytelling - i loved it through and through. it's violent and full of terrible things and people, so don't come to it looking for a feelgood time, but if you have ever shipped Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones and daydreamed a honeymoon for them in bartertown, this might be their baby.
i liked it so much that when i discovered the author had a novel coming out in summer, Annex, i immediately put it on my to-read shelf even though i have ZERO interest in alien invasion stories. such is my faith in him.
however, if this story ever became more stories, or a novel, or a graphic novel, or a breakfast cereal, i would shell out for it without hesitation.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
come to my blog!
April 10, 2018
4.5 stars for this short story, free here at Tor.com. Final review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
“Our King and His Court” is a bleak and horrific but engrossing short story set in post-apocalyptic Mexico. Scipio, a trusted soldier in the brutal criminal gang run by El Tirano (the Tyrant), has just rescued his boss’s young son Mateo from kidnappers who have left the boy with physical and emotional scars. Now he’s returning Mateo to the arms of his father, El Tirano … but there’s more going on here than initially meets the eye. The story pauses for four flashbacks ― Scipio’s meetings with a courtesan, a padre, and other members of El Tirono’s gang ― that gradually shed light on Scipio’s world and the decision he has to make.
The setting is rich with details, especially El Tirano’s throne room, with his chair inside the skeleton of a dinosaur, rotting corpses of his enemies dangling from the skeleton (the bodies are coated in a bacterial film to block their stench), surrounded by drug-dazed girls masked in Day of the Dead makeup. The story also weaves in some fascinating advances in medical technology that both spice up this tale and are necessary elements of the plot. “Our King and His Court” effectively builds toward a surprising, almost shocking, ending.
Content notes: gang violence with disturbing imagery, and some sexual content.
“Our King and His Court” is a bleak and horrific but engrossing short story set in post-apocalyptic Mexico. Scipio, a trusted soldier in the brutal criminal gang run by El Tirano (the Tyrant), has just rescued his boss’s young son Mateo from kidnappers who have left the boy with physical and emotional scars. Now he’s returning Mateo to the arms of his father, El Tirano … but there’s more going on here than initially meets the eye. The story pauses for four flashbacks ― Scipio’s meetings with a courtesan, a padre, and other members of El Tirono’s gang ― that gradually shed light on Scipio’s world and the decision he has to make.
The setting is rich with details, especially El Tirano’s throne room, with his chair inside the skeleton of a dinosaur, rotting corpses of his enemies dangling from the skeleton (the bodies are coated in a bacterial film to block their stench), surrounded by drug-dazed girls masked in Day of the Dead makeup. The story also weaves in some fascinating advances in medical technology that both spice up this tale and are necessary elements of the plot. “Our King and His Court” effectively builds toward a surprising, almost shocking, ending.
Content notes: gang violence with disturbing imagery, and some sexual content.
March 23, 2018
Wow! Definitely liked this one!
July 27, 2020
Tor.com’s summary says it all. It’s a partially deconstructed story, one that gives the reader a moment, then goes back to a few isolated moments that lead to a crisis of conscience. Despite that somewhat piecemeal storytelling, it packs an emotional punch.
“He knows his way to the bone room by rote, but the walk seems unreal this time, something from a dream. He moves slower and slower. Partly the fault of the body: lactic acid seething in his muscles, bone-deep aches in his limbs. Partly the fault of the mind, of the familiar shadows reminding him that Mateo was the only bright thing ever born in this place.”
Although it takes place post-apocalyptic events, those aren’t really the point or the meat of the story. I’d definitely read more by Larson, although I’d treat him the same way I treat Abercrombie, and make sure I was in a mood for blood.
review permanently at https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2020/...
story at: https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
“He knows his way to the bone room by rote, but the walk seems unreal this time, something from a dream. He moves slower and slower. Partly the fault of the body: lactic acid seething in his muscles, bone-deep aches in his limbs. Partly the fault of the mind, of the familiar shadows reminding him that Mateo was the only bright thing ever born in this place.”
Although it takes place post-apocalyptic events, those aren’t really the point or the meat of the story. I’d definitely read more by Larson, although I’d treat him the same way I treat Abercrombie, and make sure I was in a mood for blood.
review permanently at https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2020/...
story at: https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
August 18, 2022
Everything burns eventually.
Scipio is a high-ranking soldier in a criminal gang run by El Tirano. When El Tirano's son, Mateo is kidnapped, Scipio promises to return Mateo to El Tirano. But when he finds out El Tirano's plans for Mateo, he is conflicted and has only a short time to make a difficult decision.
What an amazing story set in a dystopian world that is full of plague, misery, and action. Scipio is the perfect anti-hero turned hero. I was instantly engrossed in the story and this world. It is so well written that explains everything and left me wanting more. I would love to get a full story even a series based on this.
5 stars
Scipio is a high-ranking soldier in a criminal gang run by El Tirano. When El Tirano's son, Mateo is kidnapped, Scipio promises to return Mateo to El Tirano. But when he finds out El Tirano's plans for Mateo, he is conflicted and has only a short time to make a difficult decision.
What an amazing story set in a dystopian world that is full of plague, misery, and action. Scipio is the perfect anti-hero turned hero. I was instantly engrossed in the story and this world. It is so well written that explains everything and left me wanting more. I would love to get a full story even a series based on this.
5 stars
April 25, 2018
Solid piece of dark fiction set in a not very speculative future.
If you've read The House of the Scorpion you'll probably see the reveal coming well ahead, unfortunately.
If you've read The House of the Scorpion you'll probably see the reveal coming well ahead, unfortunately.
July 14, 2020
5 DAAAAAAMMMM stars. It's a short freebie at Tor.com. Just read it. It's amazing. Review for Our King and His Court by Rich Larson.
April 3, 2018
This is phenomenal - it's easy to see this world sitting in the world of Mad Max or a similar eco-dystopia, though it's only touched on. The same gloriously hedonistic and somewhat unlikely elements (but we stop caring about likely because we're all having fun here!) combine with genuinely emotional and touching moments to create a story that was so much more than it's length.
The imagery really made me want to see this book, actually - the sugar skull "courtesans" and the throne of bone in particular.
Read it (still free!) here: https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
The imagery really made me want to see this book, actually - the sugar skull "courtesans" and the throne of bone in particular.
Read it (still free!) here: https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
April 5, 2018
A free short story on tor.com - available here.
Post apocalyptic Mexico, dark, brooding and atmospheric writing, which achieves a lot in a short story. The characters build history via flashbacks, the imagery is vibrant and appealing in a Mad Max sort of a way. Courtesans add some sex to the violence of our protagonist Scipio, and the foot soldiers.
Short review for a short story.
5 short story stars.
Post apocalyptic Mexico, dark, brooding and atmospheric writing, which achieves a lot in a short story. The characters build history via flashbacks, the imagery is vibrant and appealing in a Mad Max sort of a way. Courtesans add some sex to the violence of our protagonist Scipio, and the foot soldiers.
Short review for a short story.
5 short story stars.
April 9, 2026
Meteor shower raining down pain
3.75
3.75
August 9, 2019
Excellent dark short story, very cleverly constructed, mixing Mexican and American influences in a post apocalyptic context, and with very well drawn characters.
Morbid and hopeless universe, but a striking one.
Morbid and hopeless universe, but a striking one.
August 13, 2018
A freebie from Tor.com, which tells of a postapocalyptic time in Mexico in which drug gangs are the rulers and there are references to dinosaur-type creatures having been in existence (El Tirano, the drug lord, has a throne room made of the skeleton of what may well be a dragon), and the earth being blighted. The story is told from the point of view of Scipio, one of El Tirano’s top soldiers, very loyal and obedient, but who hates El Tirano for what he had done to Scipio’s family in the small town they had lived in. Scipio has just rescued Mateo, El Tirano’s young son, from kidnappers. Over the course of the story, including flashbacks to Scipio’s contacts with a court prostitute, a priest, an “accountant,” and a doctor, Scipio comes to find out what had been done with Mateo when he was kidnapped and why. He also comes to find out what El Tirano’s own plans are for Mateo. This leaves Scipio in an intense internal conflict regarding what he should allow to be done.
I’ve left a lot vague, but the fun (and, yes, horror) is letting the plot and background unfold. This was a very well-written story, and I would recommend it. I will certainly be looking for other works by Mr. Larson. Four stars.
I’ve left a lot vague, but the fun (and, yes, horror) is letting the plot and background unfold. This was a very well-written story, and I would recommend it. I will certainly be looking for other works by Mr. Larson. Four stars.
March 26, 2018
Loved it. Everyone, this is how short stories should be told. Short, tight sentences. No wasted space. Clear characterizations. Thank you, Rich Larson, for your clear demonstration.
May 18, 2019
Loved this one!
July 20, 2021
This was fantastic.
This is one I would like to re-read.
This is one I would like to re-read.
October 9, 2018
The author got into my radar recently and the way he talks about short story writing is really interesting. Obviously, I immediately looked for a freebie (thanks, Tor.com) and quite satisfied with the result. While the plot is fairly simple and I don't like the (only) female character here, the worldbuilding was fabulous, dense and refreshing at the same time. I'll definitely check out his other works, including his recently published novel, Annex.
September 28, 2020
now he laughs, because he thinks my meteor is coming.
italicizing all of the spanish? why would you
I think this story is a little stereotype-heavy, actually! (did u kno that mexico is more than drug lords and día de los muertos? wild, right?) also a little gross! (the ethanol thing? gross!) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
weirdly similar to a major plot point in a memory called empire, lol
here, if you think I'm being overly harsh and would like to form your own opinion
italicizing all of the spanish? why would you
I think this story is a little stereotype-heavy, actually! (did u kno that mexico is more than drug lords and día de los muertos? wild, right?) also a little gross! (the ethanol thing? gross!) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
weirdly similar to a major plot point in a memory called empire, lol
here, if you think I'm being overly harsh and would like to form your own opinion
Read
June 20, 2018Take everything that's already broken about Mexico and then project it into a future of increasing climate change and nasty new technology. The result is efficiently nasty, but I'm not entirely sure it adds up to anything more than that.
March 31, 2018
Medicalpunk Mexico. I liked the setting, but the characters felt a bit one-dimensional.
September 25, 2018
This is a Tor.com original short story and you can find it here and also more stories of the author here.
I really liked this story. It is a story full of unlikeable characters doing awful things but it manages to hinge on to the last bit of innocence that can be found in its world: children.
The story is set in a futuristic Mexico were the state has fallen and ganglords are running the show. The main character is Scipio, the second-in-command to the local leader El Tirano, who has just rescued Mateo, El Tirano's son. Mateo is that last bit of innocence found in this world, he's just a child, albeit one whose father is one of the most gruesome murderers to be found.
What stood out to me in this story is not the plot, the plot is rather straightforward, although it contains a twist. It is the world and its characters. The story kept me wanting for more. It is one of those short stories that functions well as a short story but the characters and the world are so interesting and so masterfully fleshed out, I wanted to sink into it and learn more about it and the characters living in it. If you ask me, that is one heck of an achievement, done with so little words.
I really liked this story. It is a story full of unlikeable characters doing awful things but it manages to hinge on to the last bit of innocence that can be found in its world: children.
The story is set in a futuristic Mexico were the state has fallen and ganglords are running the show. The main character is Scipio, the second-in-command to the local leader El Tirano, who has just rescued Mateo, El Tirano's son. Mateo is that last bit of innocence found in this world, he's just a child, albeit one whose father is one of the most gruesome murderers to be found.
What stood out to me in this story is not the plot, the plot is rather straightforward, although it contains a twist. It is the world and its characters. The story kept me wanting for more. It is one of those short stories that functions well as a short story but the characters and the world are so interesting and so masterfully fleshed out, I wanted to sink into it and learn more about it and the characters living in it. If you ask me, that is one heck of an achievement, done with so little words.
December 11, 2018
Story 11 in my 24 Days of Shorts
This was dense and full and felt like a lot more than 30 pages. (It also felt like an action movie.) Well-written and well-plotted, with exactly the right amount of description to plunk you right into the world, but a tad too macho for my taste.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
My 24 Days of Shorts
1. Yiwu by Lavie Tidhar
2. The Night Cyclist by Stephen Graham Jones
3. AI and the Trolley Problem by Pat Cadigan
4. Sleeper by Jo Walton
5. She Commands Me and I Obey by Ann Leckie
6. Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny
7. This World is Full of Monsters by Jeff VanderMeer
8. The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal
9. Triquetra by Kirstyn McDermott
10. A Human Stain by Kelly Robson
11. Our King and His Court by Rich Larson
12. Errata by Jeff VanderMeer
13. Night's Slow Poison by Ann Leckie
14. A Kiss With Teeth by Max Gladstone
15. God Product by Alyssa Wong
16. Our Faces, Radiant Sisters, Our Faces Full of Light! by Kameron Hurley
17. The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho
18. The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson
19. Blue is a Darkness Weakened by Light by Sarah McCarry
20. The Too-Clever Fox by Leigh Bardugo
21. Daughter of Necessity by Marie Brennan
22. Red as Blood and White as Bone by Theodora GossRobert Charles Wilson
23. 'Tis the Season by China Miéville
24. Julian: A Christmas Story by Robert Charles Wilson
... eventually, everything burns.
This was dense and full and felt like a lot more than 30 pages. (It also felt like an action movie.) Well-written and well-plotted, with exactly the right amount of description to plunk you right into the world, but a tad too macho for my taste.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
My 24 Days of Shorts
1. Yiwu by Lavie Tidhar
2. The Night Cyclist by Stephen Graham Jones
3. AI and the Trolley Problem by Pat Cadigan
4. Sleeper by Jo Walton
5. She Commands Me and I Obey by Ann Leckie
6. Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny
7. This World is Full of Monsters by Jeff VanderMeer
8. The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal
9. Triquetra by Kirstyn McDermott
10. A Human Stain by Kelly Robson
11. Our King and His Court by Rich Larson
12. Errata by Jeff VanderMeer
13. Night's Slow Poison by Ann Leckie
14. A Kiss With Teeth by Max Gladstone
15. God Product by Alyssa Wong
16. Our Faces, Radiant Sisters, Our Faces Full of Light! by Kameron Hurley
17. The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho
18. The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson
19. Blue is a Darkness Weakened by Light by Sarah McCarry
20. The Too-Clever Fox by Leigh Bardugo
21. Daughter of Necessity by Marie Brennan
22. Red as Blood and White as Bone by Theodora GossRobert Charles Wilson
23. 'Tis the Season by China Miéville
24. Julian: A Christmas Story by Robert Charles Wilson
October 24, 2022
Our King and His Court by author Rich Larson is a short story you can read for free on the Tor.com site https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
A futuristic story about a high-ranking soldier in a criminal gang who has conflicting loyalties to his monstrous boss and that boss’s innocent young son.
Onto the next Rich Larson short. A partially deconstructed story but it works very well. Some dark shit, but I loved it!
4.5 Stars
A futuristic story about a high-ranking soldier in a criminal gang who has conflicting loyalties to his monstrous boss and that boss’s innocent young son.
Onto the next Rich Larson short. A partially deconstructed story but it works very well. Some dark shit, but I loved it!
4.5 Stars
July 5, 2018
This short story is set in a near future world devastated by climate change and by the collapse of democratic governments. Criminal lords have now taken over, and they use scientific discoveries to extend their power as much as possible. The main character is a high-ranking soldier in a criminal gang who has conflicting loyalties to his monstrous boss and that boss’s innocent young son.
December 29, 2019
i ADORED this story. it would make a dope as hell movie, like repo men plus altered carbon, and scipio / el cuervo is a deeply flawed but fascinating POV character (michael peña to play him in the movie?). i was really taken in by the vivid descriptions and the deep character dive on scipio, it was just start to finish a really solid story.
July 15, 2019
Excellent story.
“Javier, have your Southern dogs grown bold again?” El Tirano murmurs. “Tell me, Javier. You weakling. You puto.” He runs his tongue along the body’s ruined cheekbone, then spits on the floor. “Oye, he tastes like shit.”
“Javier, have your Southern dogs grown bold again?” El Tirano murmurs. “Tell me, Javier. You weakling. You puto.” He runs his tongue along the body’s ruined cheekbone, then spits on the floor. “Oye, he tastes like shit.”
March 1, 2021
Sicario marinated in Game of Thrones seasoned with a pinch of Altered Carbon.
March 31, 2018
Amazing story from one of my favorite Tor authors.
Read it here: https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
Read it here: https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/our-ki...
April 1, 2018
That was excellent! I was not expecting a short story to pull me in like this one did. It was dark in the best way. Glad I came across this!
May 27, 2018
una danza macabra intensa
June 1, 2018
This was pretty amazing, but very horrific.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews