Challenge 245

Born 700 Years Too Late?

In Gary Inbinder’s Noble Lies, Consul Cato offers Luddy a compact fraught with solemn heritage and responsibility. Does Luddy’s reaction to it raise any questions?

What does Luddy do with the laurel wreath delivered by the eagle? Is his gesture a good or bad sign or both? What might we expect from him in the coming chapters?
In Steven Berry’s “Dark Water,” does the appearance of the couple out for a walk constitute a deus ex machina ending? Or does their accidental appearance imply something sinister about the father’s lack of self-control?
Ed Coet’s “Simon and Papa John” depicts what amounts to a modern-day comic-book superhero without the fantasy elements of Superman or Batman. In slightly different clothing, Simon might be performing a morality play for 13th-century chivalry.
1. In what way is Simon a modern equivalent of a courtly knight? What is the equivalent of the king in the story?
2. In light of “Simon and Papa John” and “Big Bertha,” in issue 243, what are the social and ethical implications of violence in Ed Coet’s fiction?
In Michele Dutcher’s “Five Silver Discs,” Jean-Michel has linguistic abilities that defy credulity. How does the ending show that he has less talent in interpreting messages that come to him from the present than from ancient astronauts?
What are the “larger stories” implied in John Stocks’ “By Lambeth Bridge” and Michael Lee Johnson’s “Dad Died”?