71 pages 2 hours read

N. K. Jemisin

How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 2018

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Story 17Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Story 17 Summary: “The Narcomancer”

Cet, known for being a Gatherer, knows that in Gujaareh, “trouble” arrives in “twos” (296). For Cet, this trouble takes the form of “two women” (296). The first is a woman who has been “injured by an angry bull ox” (296). She is brain dead and needs help moving her soul into the “land of dreams,” which is why Cet has been called in (297). He arrives to find her husband hysterical and insisting she be kept alive. After threatening the husband with his “jungissa stone,” Cet explains that at best, if revived, his wife would have the mind of a child, which would then make their marriage inappropriate (297). Cet leans over and presses her eyelids, safely delivering her soul to the proper realm and gathering her “dreamblood” (298). When he is finished, he rises to find his “Temple Superior” watching him. He compliments Cet on his ability to give “peace without dreamblood” and tells him “our Goddess” would be impressed (298). Cet says the Goddess is more likely upset because there was just so much “violence […] at Her feet” (298). His superior tells him “chaos” is inevitable and then calls him to his office so that he can tell Cet what his next mission is (299).