Challenge 127

On the Cutting Edge

The beginning of chapter 8 in Julian Lawler’s Battle Seer seems like a good point to take stock of the main character. So far, Palance Demondread has emerged as a rather conflicted personality and an almost reluctant leader.
1. How is Palance’s authority affirmed in “A Matter of Duty”?
2. Might the historical background have made Palance’s character less ambiguous by being introduced in an earlier chapter? If so, where would have been a good place to put it?

The main interest in any mystery story is not “Who done it” but the characters, their interaction, and the plot. In the opening installment of Bob Sorensen’s “And the Truth Shall Set You Free,” how does the author make the characters distinctive and interesting?

Jörn Grote’s “Eating Everything” is like a two-edged blade:
1. What makes the story humorous? Why is the story a comedy?
2. What ethical issues does the story raise concerning experimentation in medicine and technology? How might these issues apply to remedies for disease and hunger in today’s world?

Does anything in R D Larson’s “Phantom of the Sea” imply that Thomas’ death cannot be an accident? Does he die by suicide? Vicarious murder? Both?