The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Discuss the story The Best Man Wins by K.J. Parker.

No spoiler tags required. Though it would be highly appreciated if you Uncheck Add to my Update Feed to avoid accidentally spoiling this for your good read friends.

Please do not discuss other stories in this thread.

Been meaning to read Parker for a few years now so was happy to see him included in this anthology. I thought the story had some interesting elements but I saw the “twist” coming from the first mention of revenging the murdered father.

I enjoyed it, but I saw the twist coming pretty early as well. That didn't spoil it for me though. Are we to assume he was banished for killing his friend in the tavern brawl?

I thought it was well written. I'll have to look into some of his novels.

Rob wrote: "Are we to assume he was banished for killing his friend in the tavern brawl?"

That was the sense I got but if that was the case I don’t understand why it took him so long to make the connection.

Yeah. Then again didn't the story of a guy killing his best friend in a tavern brawl ring any bells at all?

I enjoyed this one. I didn't pick up on the twist until about halfway through but even after that point I thought it would end differently. As far as why he didn't figure out what was going on, I figured either the guy wasn't a "best friend" or he had killed so many people he couldn't keep track.

Is that your way of telling me we're not really best friends?

C'mon, you know we're bff