In The City of Martyrs

by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

A young man searches for a memory.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction

12 pages, Unknown Binding

First published December 2, 2015

About the author

Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam lives in Texas with her two literarily-named cats: Gimli and Don Quixote. Her fiction and poetry has appeared in magazines such as Clarkesworld , Strange Horizons , Goblin Fruit , and Daily Science Fiction .

She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast program and reviews short fiction at her blog, Short Story Review. You can visit her on Twitter @BonnieJoStuffle or through her website: www.bonniejostufflebeam.com.

Reviews

[Phoenix2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The City of Martyrs was one of those short stories that manage to complete the story in such a short length. The characters were engaging, the whole world was engaging, the built up of the story was perfect, with a smooth pace, an unexpected conclusion, and a nice mystery. Well written and inspiring, highly recommended for short reads fans.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the City of Martyrs by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, read by Levar Burton on his podcast.

Super sad story. Wish it had ended better. Aah, as per the review, it’s based on a real life series of events. Makes sense now.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

[Chrysten Lofton · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0⭐ “We’re strangers. Let’s leave it at that.”

**spoilers**

If you’re following my reviews, thanks for rolling with me. ♡

We’re on the Season 3 LIVE episodes of Stitcher’s LeVar Burton Reads, and we’re gifted with "The City Of Martyrs” by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam.

I love this story, but it wrecked me of course. I wanted the siblings to come together and remember, but a happy ending might’ve been ingenuine to the reality that inspires stories like these. Authors are charged, even in fiction, with telling the truth.

I weigh these themes against my country and we've made some cruel choices in the past and present. We’ve also made up some great lies about ourselves. Each new headline brings new outrage, as if this isn’t who we’ve always been.

We see children on the border in cages and gasp, but Japanese Americans are just seeing something familiar.

Maybe the outrage is healthy. Maybe it’s a sign that we’ve come further than our ancestors in the fight for human rights, but it tells of a real ignorance too. Internment Camps are only 73 years in our past. That's only a single lifespan.

This story showcases how war becomes a people’s culture. It's normalized and patriotized. There manifests an attitude that everyone in some way must give themselves over to the cause, no matter the cost, no matter the motivation.

My main take-away, I actually missed on my first listen but was blown away by in the second. The benefactors of the war are just...completely aware that that they’re the bad guy, and just don’t give a shit. So often in fiction, the villain thinks they’re the hero, or their past is complicated and lead them to do something bad for a somewhat understandable motive. So often our villains are redeemed. Bonnie Jo hit us with something grim, but more importantly, true:

“But one day the war will end, and the people, they will take this palace down, and we will let them. It will be our time. Who will speak for us? Who will bury us if we have no children? Who will stoke our memories?”

There’s a vague sadness about legacy, but it’s not worth giving up the position of comfort the war affords them.

When we do see these psychotic headlines, we love to tout around phrases like, “You’re on the wrong side of history,” and “how do these people sleep at night?”

I think the vital message here is that, they know they’re on the wrong side and they don’t care. They sleep just fine. If you want the palace to come down, walk up to it and remove a stone. Your convictions and moral expectations aren’t even touching these people.

They aren’t concerned with the future downfall because they wont even be here for it, and they’re completely conscious of that.

I had a beautiful time at this LIVE reading. Someone AMAZING gifted me tickets and it was a wonderful experience. It’s worth taking a day off work or a lengthy drive. If you have a chance to go, GO.

Thanks for reading, and If you wanna chat about the latest LBR episodes, hit me up in the comments and come meet up with us at LeVar Burton Reads: The Community on Facebook.

- 📚☕♥

[David Blaylock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read to me by Levar Burton.

[Joy Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

a. hauntingly beautiful tale of children displaced and replaced by war and to government making decisions as to what best suits them.

[Eva Therese · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt like something I had read before. The basic premise, as chilling as it is, has been done before. It didn't really hold any suspense for me since I guessed what was going on long before the protagonist and then had to wait for him to catch up.
There were some well-written and original, grotesque details, but I feel like the story should have either gone full-on weird and had a lot more of those, or have gone the other way and been much more realistic. As it is, the story was for me stuck in a middle where I kept picking at the details and going "how would that even work?" because it didn't make me suspend my disbelief.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story reminded me of the novel 1984 with a dash of The Hunger Games. A young man sees a woman on a crowded city street whose face gives him déjà vu and gives him a memory that tickles his thoughts without him being able to fully realize it. He searches her out at the city palace and finds out his connection to her plus how the corrupt regime has been able to send so many young soldiers to war. This fantasy tale was solid, with some parallels to real-world kidnapings by authoritarian governments.

[Amanda]

I listened to this on the Levar Burton Reads podcast. It is always amazing to me how well these short story authors can develop a story and characters in so short a time. This story was about an alternate universe Russia where the children of royals were adopted children. A brother florist recognizes his sister, who is now a countess (or something like that).

[Amy Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written, and interesting, but ultimately depressing, especially the ending, so I didn't care much for it. A city-state constantly at war takes children, both to adopt and to send to war, and makes the families forget they ever existed. It is a commentary on horrific real-world practices, so it's not surprising it's depressing, or that I didn't find it enjoyable.

[Miroslav Mihov · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many questions asked and not answered. The whole premise barely holds together...
Listened to LeVar Burton reading it.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story was read on one of LeVar Burton‘s podcasts. I wish there had been more to the story because these pages were fascinating.

[MaryRose Donasco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narrated by LeVar Burton on his podcast! Great short story that kept me interested from start to finish.

[Kitt E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging. A fascinating mystery based on a heartbreaking reality.

[Cary Kostka · Rating 5 out of 5]

She uses the language brilliantly in both the development of characters and the plot. I highly recommend you give this piece a read.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Felicia J.]

LeVar Burton Reads Live in Dallas

[Darryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's always great how Levar Burton reads these stories. But this story wasn't any good (and didn't seem original, either).

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A flower seller sees a familiar woman and can't place her. Story inspired by Argentina's Disappeared.

[Maylanie Bosgieter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad story. Where kids are taken from there families and erased from their families memories. To be raised by the royal family because there structure won’t let them have there own children.

[Shelly]

Review of 'In the City of Martyrs' by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

2 stars

I listened to this on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast. I'm writing this review a few days after I listened to it, and I had to read others reviews to remind myself what it was even about. The story seems interesting enough, and I didn't hate it, but it obviously did not stick with me. I was a little frustrated about the main character taking so long to realize who the strange woman was. It was obvious she was related to him, but that it took him so long to realize was tedious for me. I also found the ending unsatisfying, I wanted his sister to take him in, or leave the palace with him so they could be a family again, especially since he had no family left. And that after all his fight to say he will remember, he doesn't. I wanted a different ending, even if it meant his sister leaving the palace and upsetting everyone. I also did not understand the idea of no children around, but the city never dies. If it was explained and I missed it, well, its likely because I didn't love this story. This was a miss for me.

[Amy Gideon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to me by Levar Burton Reads Live in Dallas. Q&A with author