Ratspeak

by Sarah Porter

Ratspeak is the the shrill and sly language of the rats of New York City's subway. When a curious boy is granted his wish to speak and understand the secret language of the rats, he brings a curse upon his home. "Ratspeak" is a standalone story by the acclaimed author of Vassa in the Night (Tor Teen, September 2016).

Cover Anna & Elena Balbusso

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Contemporary, Urban Fantasy, Fiction

19 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2016

About the author

I'm no longer checking goodreads. If you'd like to contact me, please write to wateryden (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank you!

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Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“It’s worse than that,” Zach insists. “It’s worse than that. He’s focused on something. It’s just something no one else can hear.”

Oh, you hear it, Zach. You don’t choose to pay attention, that’s all. And once you’re asleep I’ll get up very softly and slip back to the tunnels, where I can listen to ratsong, shrill and sly. To ratspeak, its tones poised on the very brink of revelation.

review to come.

read it for yourself here:

http://www.tor.com/2016/08/24/ratspeak/

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:

Young Ivan is obsessed with the idea that the rats living in New York City speak a meaningful, profound language, and that if he could only understand it he would find personal happiness and acceptance with the rats. One day he saves a young rat in the subway station from being stomped on by some other boys, getting beaten by the boys for his trouble. Afterwards the rat’s grateful mother, speaking English, offers Van a boon for saving her child: The assistance of a rat horde if he ever needs it? Stock tips? ― rats can prophesy with great accuracy. Riches and good fortune? But Van knows what he really wants: to speak and understand Rat. The mother rat tries very hard to talk him out of it, but Van is obstinate and patient and eventually gets his way.

It doesn’t work out the way he planned it. Van wants only to be the rats’ friend, but rats value their privacy and resent that he can now understand them. Rats have the ability to make a human’s life very difficult, in ways that one might not expect (but perhaps should, given that the rats here have prophetic and other supernatural abilities). Van remains obdurate; he still believes that he can win his way into their hearts and lives.

It’s a surreal story that gets more and more weird as it goes along, further burdened with an indeterminate ending that leaves the reader hanging. There seems to be a theme in this tale about searching for meaning and a sense of belonging, along with how we’re swayed by our selfish desires, but it got lost for me somewhere around the time Van’s home turned into an oozing, creeping block of slime with him inside of it.



Free online at Tor.com.

[Igrowastreesgrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

An imaginative and vivid story but didn't give me a satisfied feeling.

[Ɛɾιɳ ẞҽҽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

As mama to a pair of rats, I loved this story. It was weird, surreal, musical, and ratty ^.^ This is the first story I've read by Sarah Porter but I have a hardcover copy of Vassa in the Night on my shelves that I'm very excited to read now.


Ravio (AkA Ravi Ravioli) and Link (AkA Linky Link) ♡♡
(The cage/Critter Nation looks a bit sterile because I was in the middle of cleaning it, so the floors are missing their fleecy carpets and the cover for the ceiling is half missing.)

“They’re hardly just intelligent,” I say, indignantly. “They’re the epitome of brilliance and artistry!” I’ve always suspected what incredible geniuses rats are—I was a sensitive child, and I noticed stuff like that—but knowing ratspeak has given me a completely new appreciation for their culture. The whole universe becomes song, once you just know the right notes.

Read it online here: https://www.tor.com/2016/08/24/ratspeak/

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good example of how mania and a fixation on something unhealthy can destroy one's self, family and life. Gross and depressing. Two stars, because I didn't believe the kid could be that dumb.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like weird stories, but they are hard to pull off. Despite the strangeness, there still needs to be some narrative structure, or at least a structure that is interesting in and of itself. Ratspeak features an oddly fairy tale like tone with a frustrating protagonist and an ending that baffles. I can handle stories where nothing makes sense, but something has to be enjoyable. Alas, the prose in this one was stiff and the worldbuilding unsatisfying.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, weird story of a boy who wants to know the language of rats.

And of course, it is always the ending that makes the story, and I was not quite pleased with it, thus the three stars, but the rest of the story is way weird, and well done.

Try it for yourself. A very quick, quirky read.

This is available on Tor, right now.

[ambyr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly interesting premise that just . . . stops, abruptly, with no warning, resolution, or even interesting lingering questions. The characterization was interesting, but I resent being given half a story.

[Bobbi Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not my cup of tea. The concept was fine but the execution? What even happened, here?

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Feels kind of like a dark/demented modern fairy tale. It felt a little *too* short and not quite finished, perhaps could have used another draft? Hard for me to put a finger on what didn't 100% work for me.

[Caden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mmmmm. Really cool visually but the story arch didn’t blow me away.

['*•.¸♡ nay♡¸.•*' · Rating 1 out of 5]

The concept was fine, but the dialogue was uncomfortable to read and the story had an odd, abrupt ending. Little to no world building and uninteresting characters.

[Kate (Looking Glass Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very surreal and has some interesting ideas. The ending is quite abrupt, though, like modern-day parable had ended 2/3 through the story.

[nizza · Rating 2 out of 5]

read here

[Toby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, what did I just read? Talk about a surreal little novella that was weird and gross and didn’t have a defined ending. I hate endings that leave readers hanging! *sobs in rat*

[Lynn Montgomery]

I have no idea what to rate this. I don't think it's fair to rate it poorly, all because I didn't understand it. So, uh I'll leave it at this book was just really confusing.

[elsewhen and away · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had this not ended at what felt like a sudden, random point before being finished I'd have given it 4 stars.

[A.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ivan can hear the subway rats singing. But he can’t understand their language. He is special enough that they deign to speak to him in their rat version of English but he wants more; he wants to speak Rat.
***
*whispers* I feel like this story doesn’t have an ending.
And while I get that we are supposed to know what will happen, mostly because everything the rats said would happen did happen, it doesn’t feel right to me.

“It’s a tonal language,” the rat says. “It’s very difficult. We sing to mean. And besides, we’re pretty sensitive about our privacy. This thing about being like us? Ratspeak won’t do it. Not on the table.”

We sing to mean… huh? Is there a word missing?
The imagery is interesting and vivid. I am intrigued by modern day city magic as an idea. Rats should know everything about a city, right?
But it’s the MC that disappoints me.
Ivan is wilfully blind and incredibly selfish. He’s pretty unsympathetic. He uses the fact that rats keep their word against them. And he doesn’t care about his family, other rail commuters, or even ultimately, the rats.
Read it here:
http://www.tor.com/2016/08/24/ratspeak/
3 stars

[Marco · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very bizarre yet entertaining short story, with a really disappointing ending. The main character, young Ivan, realizes that the rats living in New York City can speak, and he is obsessed about learning their language. One day he saves a young rat in the subway station from being stomped on by some other boys, getting beaten by the boys for his trouble. As a reward, the rat mother offers riches and fortunes, but Ivan decide to learn the rat language instead. The choice comes at a price though.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was drawn in by the premise of the story, but I was left feeling empty and disappointed. The story felt disjointed and the characters felt incomplete. By the end, I felt completely unsure what the author was going for.

[Brook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hm. This was... interesting. I liked the concept, and I could kind of see where Porter it was going in terms of themes, but it never really... got there. It did have the kind of imagery I've come to love from Porter, but it also felt rather hollow. Can't say I enjoyed this one much.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this one quite a bit but disappointed in the ending.

[Kinsey_m · Rating 3 out of 5]

Van (Ivan) wants to be able to understand ratspeak and he has a plan. The rats, on their side, also have plans for him...
Insteresting Tor short.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

short & sweet

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say this one really got me. It was one of those screaming at the screen moments. Definitely will be looking up Sarah Porter in the future.

[Linguana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Soph Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un cuento rarísimo, extraño e inquietante... Está escrito maravillosamente. Me ha gustado mucho.

[Francesca · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Ileana]

Creepy. Love the description of ratspeak. Lacks tension due to the absence of an actual plot driven by the MC. Also, the MC seems absolutely despicable, which isn't generally something I'm a fan of.