A Point of Honor

by Aeryn Rudel

The United States has instituted archaic dueling codes overseen by a government agency called the Bureau of Honorable Affairs. Victims of slander and libel, among other crimes, can force their tormentors to face them in state-sanctioned combat. Jacob Mayweather is challenged to a duel by a man he has never met. The accusation is for a considerable crime, and Jacob must choose whether he will fight or be blacklisted as a duel dodgers.

Genres: Science Fiction

28 pages, Paperback

Published September 27, 2019

About the author

Aeryn Rudel is a writer from Seattle, Washington. He is the author of the Acts of War novels published by Privateer Press, and his short fiction has appeared in The Arcanist, The Molotov Cocktail, and Pseudopod, among others. Aeryn is a notorious dinosaur nerd, a baseball fanatic, and knows far more about swords than is healthy or socially acceptable. He occasionally offers dubious advice on the subjects of writing and rejection (mostly rejection) at www.rejectomancy.com or Twitter @Aeryn_Rudel.

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What a banger.

[Alex Khlopenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

It ended too early, i thought.

But that is the point, i thought and set the rating to 5 stars.

Sublime.

[Vera Kurian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story imagines a world where every person is held accountable for everything they say--where an insult could lead to an official summons to duel, and there are serious consequences for rejecting the duel. I could see something like this on Black Mirror. Your first instinct is to sympathize with the main character--that he's just a hapless victim of a crazy system--but then you question what sort of person he actually is.

[Alexander Pyles · Rating 4 out of 5]

*review pending*