Scruffians! Stories of Better Sodomites

by Hal Duncan

Are you prepared to enter acclaimed author Hal Duncan's world of scruffians and scamps and sodomites?

Beware, for it is filled with the gay pirate gods of Love and Death, immortal scoundrels, and young men who find themselves forced to become villains.

But who amongst us does not adore a gamin antihero? These fantastical tales from the fringes of an imaginative realm of supernatural fairies and human fey will captivate the reader.

Light a smoke, raise a cup of whiskey, and seek a careful spot to cruise the Scruffians!

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Queer, Science Fiction, LGBT, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

210 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

Hal Duncan is the author of Vellum, which was a finalist for both the William H. Crawford Award and the Locus Award for Best First Novel. He is a member of the Glasgow SF Writers’ Circle. He lives in the West End of Glasgow.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

A fairly weird story collection. The first few stories are about a group of mostly queer ragamuffins, the Scruffians, who have been 'Fixed' so they don't age and regenerate injury. They're like highly sexed spliff-smoking Borribles, basically, with a mythos that touches on Greek stories, the Fisher King, Peter Pan, Osiris, Dickens and much more, and a backstory that's all about exploitation and cruelty and the persecution and resilience of queer youth. It feels like the stories are coming together to make a bigger story arc, but they don't: it's a collection of multiple stories so we fade out of the Scruffians world without realising, almost, and into others. I was sorry about that, I felt a unifying thread arc could really have worked and the world was compelling.

I couldn't grasp a couple of the other stories (the Pelops and Cubism ones) at all, found them incomprehensible. The werewolf story is tremendous--queer vampire hunters, one of whom is a werewolf who operates exactly like a dog, hilariously, and a spectacularly good vampire concept--and I rather wish the author would write less experimentally more often because he's bloody good. People who like experimental writing will doubtless disagree.

All in all very interesting as a story collection, if ultimately leaving me wanting lots of other things from it.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy moly. I feel like this collection was written specifically for me: the legends of a group of British street kids who are also immortal fey; queer(er) revisions of Peter Pan and The Tempest; a love/hate letter to the metacomics of Grant Morrison; a western in which Cain, Satan, Judas, and the resurrected Christ challenge God to an OK Corral-style showdown, and what can only be described as Twilight revenge fic in which Jacob is gay and a secret agent tasked with killing Edward before he kills Bella.

I could go on. It's that good. Read this book.

[Gerhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember trying Vellum many years ago, and it drove me to distraction. I must confess I never finished it. I was much younger then; you probably have to be ready to read certain books.

Suffice it to say I enjoyed Scruffians! so much that I will return to Duncan’s longer works again. It almost feels like a totally different writer: the dazzling word play and erudition are still there in abundance, especially in a few delectable Delanyesque pieces about semiotics and art theory (one of the best stories in the collection, ‘The Shoulder of Pelops’, is original to this collection).

But there is such feeling here, such love, brio and mischief, that the reader cannot help but fall in love. Of the 15 stories, only nine deal with the titular Scruffians, which is a reworking of the Peter Pan mythos. My favourite of this bunch is ‘The Disappearance of James H–’, a jaw-droppingly gorgeous and heart-rendingly sad Peter Pan origin story. I defy anyone to be dry-eyed at the exquisite ending of this luminous story of love and loss.

Then there are such delectable gems as a story about gay comic book heroes, and a bona fide Wild West gunslinger tale. And then there is ‘Sic Him, Hellhound! Kill! Kill!’, perhaps the ultimate werewolf/vampire (erotic) fantasia, that puts paid to the twinks of Twilight in the most transcendent and sexually visceral way possible.

Wow. What a magnificent compilation, bounteous testament to the imagination and humanity of Hal Duncan, scribe extraordinaire of the New Sodom. Long may he write and dream.

[Keeloca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4,5.

This has waiting on my book shelf for years and years, because I was somehow convinced I'd already read it – but it turns out I hadn't. Congratulations to me! :D I wasn't even sure what it WAS – I think I might have thought it was all The Scruffians Project? – and was pretty delighted to realize it was collection of short stories. The first few pages are a bit of a struggle, before you settle back into the rythm of Duncan's prose. Then it's a wild, glorious ride of queer rebellion, and I love almost every single moment of it. It only took me so long to read because I'm way, way into Shameless and Gallavich right now, and have little enough time for anything not directly related to that.

”Sic Him, Hellhound! Kill! Kill!” was one of my favourites, in spite of me tending to choose vampires over werewolves at any given time. It made a decent case for the hounds... and any not-so-subtlle diss of Twilight is likely to make me giggle. The set-up is reminiscent of a/b/o dynamics and I'm even tempted to take it out for a spin in some unsuspecting fandom, because I think it would fucking FLY (buuuuut my relationship status with a/b/o is firmly stuck at ”it's complicated”, since I find it a little intriguing but mostly squicky, so well, I doubt it'll happen). It is also way more self-contained than any of the other stories – apart from the above-mentioned diss and the general nod to vampire/werewolf fictions, it doesn't overtly reference any other stories, penned by Duncan or anyone else. (Well. In Jared Swift one might see endlessly dying Thomas, but only if one is primed to latch on to any such potential references.)

The things is, Duncan is very, very good at grabbing hold of any and all myths, stories and what-not and use them for his own nefarious ends, more often than not changing out perspective of the original story. (It's reminiscent of Neil Gaiman, but on a whole 'noter level, and queer as fuck.) I absolutely love that – and it makes you feel clever, feel slightly smug that you understand what is going on here. Of course, when you stumble upon something you don't quite understand it all falls apart and might well leave you in a mighty sulk: theoretically I'm decently versed in both discourse theory and Greek mythology but ”The Shoulder of Pelops” left me absolutely cold. These are the Corona Days, and I'll have my Story with some sprinklings of Philosophy, please – not the other way around. Likewise, ”Bizzare Cubiques” had me unengaged.

But those were exceptions! For the most part, the stories were either something I liked (anything with the Scruffians, ”The Behold of The Eye,” which I HAD read before, and liked even then, ”Jack Scallyway”, ”The Origin of the Fiend”) or loved:

”Sons of the Law” was an absolute favourite, a Western reimagining of the Bible that felt like entirely appropriate reading on Holy Saturday. I didn't cotton on to what was going on until two and a half pages in – sloppy of me, given the apple reference and all – but when you do, you get both the happy feeling of being in on a joke, and the story (which I think DOES work as a piece of fiction all of its own, even if you're completely unfamiliar with the Bible) opens up in new, exciting ways. This, again, is Ducan's strenght: the reference to other works both strenghtens his own AND reshapes our understanding of the other. When it works, it is glorious. It probably helps if you naturally tend to vibe with Lucifer's rebellion over the Law of the Lord, but yeah.

Same goes for ”The Disappearance of James H--”. I love the original ”Peter Pan” story – the prose is fucking ace – and have, predictable soul that I am, always have a fondness for Captiain Hook. This manages to be very perfectly in character for Pan, and casts Hook in a new light. And it's not actually until the very end that I realize just what this work is a re-telling off, and then I go back an re-read all the very sly little references and ah, you are GOOD, Mr. Duncan.

I haven't actually read or seen ”The Tempest” and so probably miss whatever extra layers there's to be found in ”The Island of the Pirate Gods” (I recognize the names Ariel, Caliban, Prospero, and vaguely assosciate ”The Tempest” with the sea, but have no idea what they're up to in Shakespeare's work. Maybe someone is a wizard or a magician?) but that doesn't matter because JACK AND JOEY ARE BACK AND AT IT! Ungh. I, predictably enough, have always loved Joey (and even named one of my phones, a very cool looking thing, Joey Narcosis back in the days. Pro tip, kids, don't name a piece of equipment for the ultimate betrayer because that will not work out... ) and his and Jack's relationship was and remains my favourite part of ”The Book of All Hours”. And what do we get here if not a DAMNED JACK/JOEY/PUCK OT3 THING! :o Induced by love magic, but STILL! I need to lay down, I have too many feelings, this is a dream come true, and aaaaaah, I love these guys.

Ahem.

Given what I've just said, it should be no surprise that ”The Angel of Gamblers” work for me. I've read this one before, too; found, incidentally, during one of my frenzied hunts for whatever references to Joey Narcosis the web will offer. I am a simple soul and allow my fancies to take me where they will.

After a somewhat slow start ”Oneirica” reads to me like a supercondensed variant of ”The Book of All Hours”, with the Jack/Joey/Puck thing suggested in ”The Island of the Pirate Gods” pushed to the forefront, and yeah. Down for that. It also felt a little like coming home, very comforting – and tbh I kind of picked this collection up now because I really want to re-read Vellum and Ink but have apparently lent my copy of Vellum to some friend (note to self: stop letting people borrow my favourite books, I need to keep them at hand) and so I can't. :o Maybe I'll just jump straigt into Ink – which I like more anyway – but mm. I think I would like to have the whole experience. We shall see.

[Mel]

probably not based on sample: the writing style is super unique but a bit too hard to get into for me right now

[Jack Deighton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike normal folk (groanhuffs,) Scruffians are mis-shapes and misfits - Orphans, foundlings, latch-key kids; Urchins, changelings, live-by-wits; Rascals, scallywags, ruffians, scamps; Scoundrels, hellions, - in their chant that last word is followed by, Scruffians STAMP. The Stamp is how they came to be fixed as Scruffians, an excruciating procedure which stops any growth in age from that time on and embeds all their existing characteristics. Only nicks to the Stamp mark on their chests will allow alteration thereafter. Their lore is expressed by tales known as fabbles (an ideal coinage,) some of which appear here as if addressed to potential or newly-Stamped Scruffians. Not all of the stories here are of Scruffians but each section within one that is has a title (or number, depending on the story) and each paragraph a first line in bold type. All are excellent reading.
In How a Scruffian Gets Their Story a new recruit falls in with the Scruffians.
How a Scruffian Gets Their Name tells of how and why Slickspit Hamshankery got that title.
The Behold of the Eye is where humans store all the things they prize most highly. What catches their eye is stored by the eye – and each is a home to a faery. The story relates the experiences of newly born faery Flashjack as he seeks his Beholder (to be found by Toby Raymond Hunter’s Behold) and follows Toby’s life as he comes to terms with himself and his sexuality.
Scruffian’s Stamp is the story of Orphan, the first Scruffian, and how groanhuffs came to invent the Stamp without realising it would Fix Scruffians for good.
An Alfabetcha of Scruffian Names describes the characteristics of twenty-six Scruffians.
Jack Scallywag expands on the one paragraph about the Scruffian Knight in the Alphabetcha, how said Jack aspired to knighthood and came to it as others did, (by stealing it more or less,) how he set off on his mission to slay the dragon only to find out who the real dragons are.
The Disappearance of James H riffs extensively but explicitly on Peter Pan - a shadow, a crocodile tear, “‘I’m not a…’ ‘Fairy?,’ ‘Every time you say that, I whisper, a little part of you will die,’” - in its tale of the titular disappearance.
The Island of the Pirate Gods is another swashbuckling Pannish adventure (with added language) wherein the twin lovers Matelotage and Mutiny are the background to a story of The People’s Independent Republic of Arse, Cock and bloody Yo-ho-bloody-ho, ie PIRACY.
Very well constructed and set against the background of the playing of a hand in a Texas Hold ‘Em game The Angel of the Gamblers is a meeting with the devil type of story except it’s not the devil who demanded a soul, it was the eponymous angel.
The Shoulder of Pelops features figures from Ancient Greek myth and legend in a story about signs, meanings and the difference between words and the things they name.
Bizarre Cubiques is a history – and critique – of an alternative world art movement, the creation of artists Bricasso and Paque. The narrator has made his way from home in New Amsterdam in Amorica to Pharis via Caerlundein, Felixstoff and Diephe.
The worlds of superhero comics are the inspiration for The Origin of the Fiend, a metafiction where differing origin stories for different supercharacters impinge on the consciousness of a young lad ‘sending his mind back and forth along his own timestream,’ in a mundane world where no superhero can stop his brother dying whether that be in France or Korea or Vietnam or Iraq.
Sons of the Law is a Western story with a framing device positing it as a manuscript handed down through a family. It transcends all the Western clichés while at the same time deploying them – the saloon, the hunter, the killer, the slave (whose name, Abraham, and experience embed a Biblical reference,) the bargirl, the gambler, the wrangler, the drifter, in a tale of revenge and implied poetic justice.
Sic Him, Hellhound! Kill! Kill! ticks off two fantasy tropes in one swoop with a story of a boy and his lover (a werewolf) hunting vampires.
Oneirica melds many myths and legends into one tale as it describes a trip by various characters to find a stone chest containing mythological objects.
Inventive, delightful stuff.

[Lucian Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories that is held back by a few. Duncan's writing is wonderful as always and always a treat to read and experience. However, some of the stories seem out of place compared to the beginning of the collection and mess with the tone of the overall book. These handful of stories also tend to drag on, but were never difficult to read.

I wish I could give it 5 stars for containing my favorite short story ever written, "Sic Him, Hellhound! Kill! Kill!" and would suggest picking up a copy of that alone.

If you're a fan of Duncan, like I am, you will be a fan of this collection! However, I definitely prefer The Boy Who Loved Death as a more cohesive collection.

[Suvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent start to this year! I've been meaning to read this for ages. Now I want more Scruffians.

[Kyri Freeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really loved Ink and Vellum but didn't find this book appealing.

[Damian · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with any collection of stories, there were some here that I enjoyed more than others, but what impressed me was the sheer range of styles, all from a single author.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read Duncan's Vellum, I already knew what it was I should expect when picking up Scruffians!. As with his other work, there is a neck-breaking shift of perspective and a fluid change in POV from first person limited to third person omnipresent. That said, the characters are just as lively, vibrant, and interesting. The mythos itself of the scruffians is interesting and feels so fleshed out despite the barest mentions of the world's lore.

While Scruffians didn't solve all the problems I had getting through Vellum, it felt more approachable and was easier to digest. For every story that felt too abstract and metaphysical, there was a dashing adventure of pirates or lurid angels gambling for souls. My major issue with the collection, however, is that while we learn a little more of the scruffian lore with each tale (the Stamp, the groanhuffs, the properties of the scruffians), there is a suggested story that never seems to emerge. We are introduced to this world by a boy being rescued by the scruffians, warned and taught of their history, but then nothing ever comes from it. While it works as a device to introduce this fantastic world, having some sense of closure or purpose (e.g., having the boy choose a name or discovery of the scruffian lair by the groanhuffs) would make it feel less like a device Duncan abandoned to tell the stories within.

All in all, the collection was enjoyable and I was eager to read the next short story as soon as I finished the one I was on. Duncan's style is one of the more artful and unique ones I have ever come across; hopefully by reading more of his work, I will get to understand it better with each story.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

So when a good friend gave me this book for christmas, I was pretty skeptical. Gay boys, again?? Give me a break... but it turns out I was dead wrong: this anthology is sharp, twisted, jagged, clever, and irreverent in a way that is deeply beguiling, though I can't suppress some frustration that Duncan doesn't pursue some of the ideas that gain prominence in the earlier stories. At any rate, I am eternally skeptical of stories involving fairies, but the concept as applied here is hilarious, bawdy, and quite self-aware. Unflinching in his allusions to the ugly history of workhouses, Duncan's scruffy victims are rewritten literally and figuratively to let them wield their afflictions as weapons against the powers that grind them down. Hal Duncan uses Scruffians! to scramble queerness and madness and punk and oppression without narratively dawdling where identity-politics infighting could bog him down-- he doesn't even open that door, to my intense relief. Scruffians! takes its queers as they are, as they've been made, as they become, all without a mote of saccharine triteness. I'm pleased.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't describe how very much these stories disappointed me, at times I almost hated them because Hal Duncan is a writer I admire greatly. I have read 'Vellum' and 'Ink' multiple times and always with enjoyment. But he appears to have written himself into a creative rut, almost everything he has written since is derivative of, or fag-end cast offs from those two volumes. I found these stories impossibly trite and derivative when not downright annoying. One of the worst aspects of these stories is a 'sentimentalising' of being young, poor and on the streets a la Dickens at his worst. There was nothing like that in his harsh, deeply political and committed early writings with their wondrous imaginative reinterpretation of literature, language, history and the possibility to believe in something other. These stories are embarrassing and only my incredibly fondness for the author's early work prevents me from shelving this work in a more damning way.

I suppose some people will love them, I've seen the reviews praising them on Goodreads, but I think they are embarrassing.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of Scruffians! was posted on Strange Horizons (http://www.strangehorizons.com/review...) on June 27, 2014. Click the link to get to it. Suffice to say, at four stars, I enjoyed the book. Also suffice to say, I would greatly enjoy seeing Duncan further explore the urban fantasy world he establishes in these stories. Individual reviews of each story in the collection will eventually be forthcoming on my short story LJ community, http://365shortstories.livejournal.com/.

It should be noted that I reviewed an ARC of the paperback edition; the hardcover special edition has one additional story I have not read.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm gonna be a little mean; Hal Duncan isn't an author who the usual Goodreads user is well-equipped to appreciate. His work is unapologetically loud, dirty, faggy, rough, and obtuse. It's grudge-match spit-fucking. This is not cozy YA m/m. You will not be able to recommend Scruffians! Stories of Better Sodomites on BookTok.

But if more challenging gay fiction doesn't scare you off, and especially if you're a gay man, you owe it to yourself to pick up Scruffians!. Not every story is gonna work for you, but it's overall such a tour de force that it demands to be read. You like it? Pick up his other shit, it's all great.

[Tyrannosaurus regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really needed to read something boldly and fantastically queer today, and this was exactly that. Either I was all-in with these stories or I wasn't, there didn't seem to be much in between. Of all of them, it was "The Origin of the Fiend" that left me breathless.