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Originally published in Asimov’s Science Fiction (June 1986), “The Bloody Man” introduces Jack Limekiller—a restless, observant outsider navigating a place where history, folklore, and uneasy truths overlap. In this episode, we set the stage for Avram Davidson’s singular voice, its rhythms, humor, and moral complexity, and the world Limekiller inhabits.

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Chapters 17–20 bring everything to a rolling boil, as power changes hands, jobs vanish, pressure mounts, and the town’s many moving parts drift toward the same crowded moment. Avram Davidson balances tragedy, farce, and dark humor with astonishing ease—moving from private grief to public spectacle without ever tipping his hand. Old loyalties surface, institutions close ranks, and a few quietly overlooked people turn out to matter more than anyone expected. When celebration, denial, and mechanical inevitability collide, Yokums proves it can turn even a parade into a moral stress test. The result is funny, unsettling, and deeply human, with Davidson letting cause and effect do the talking.

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In this episode, Virgil and Bob discuss “The King’s Shadow Has No Limits,” unpacking Davidson’s portrayal of empire in decline and the quiet, unsettling ways power manifests among the poor, the faithful, and the forgotten. They explore the story’s historical texture, its use of religious ritual and civic tradition, and the unsettling ambiguity at its core. The conversation touches on themes of identity, sacrifice, political decay, and the blurred boundary between ruler and subject—along with why this story feels both ancient and eerily modern.

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Chapters 12–16 widen the lens, moving from the streets and sewers of Yokums into offices, courtrooms, newsrooms, and living rooms where everyone has an opinion and nobody has a clear answer. The mystery grows more elaborate, but Avram Davidson keeps it human—showing how power talks past itself, institutions protect themselves, and ordinary people quietly carry the weight of all that confusion. There’s a wonderful sense here of systems grinding on while individuals improvise, dodge, rationalize, and dream their way through the Depression. Humor and menace sit side by side, and the satire sharpens without ever losing its sympathy. By the end, the story feels larger, stranger, and much harder to contain than anyone first imagined.

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In this episode, we listen to “The King’s Shadow Has No Limits” by Avram Davidson, originally published in Whispers #8 (December 1975).

Set in a fading, multi-ethnic empire straining under age, tradition, and unrest, the story follows Dr. Eszterhazy, a learned observer moving through the city and witnessing moments of labor, devotion, and poverty that quietly echo the fate of the nation itself. Davidson weaves history, politics, religion, and myth into a dense, atmospheric meditation on power, impermanence, and what it means for authority to extend beyond the throne. Subtle, haunting, and deeply human, the story unfolds less through action than through implication—and lingers long after the final page.

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Chapters 9–11 deal with the morning after—when consequences arrive wearing sensible shoes and asking pointed questions. The town of Yokums sobers up just enough for authority, ambition, and self-preservation to reassert themselves, though not always in the order you’d expect. Avram Davidson is at his sharpest here, letting irony do the heavy lifting as plans unravel, alliances shift, and everyone insists they were reasonable all along. The comedy tightens, the satire deepens, and the story quietly pivots from celebration to reckoning. It’s less about beer now, and more about what people do once they’ve tasted the impossible.

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Chapters 6–8 kick the door open on pure, gleeful chaos as Yokums stumbles into an impossible discovery that turns an ordinary workday into a civic fairy tale. The town reacts exactly as you’d expect during hard times: with wonder, hustle, disbelief, and a very practical approach to joy. Avram Davidson leans hard into his gift for turning civic minutiae, oddball characters, and moral gray areas into comedy that feels both mythic and deeply human. There’s laughter, suspicion, authority figures scrambling to look authoritative, and the unmistakable sense that something magical has briefly elbowed its way into the everyday. It’s funny, sharp, and affectionate, with Davidson quietly reminding us how thin the line is between order and delight.

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Chapters 3–5 plunge us deeper into Yokums, where politics, ethnicity, morality, and money collide with the steady thrum of everyday life. We meet larger-than-life civic figures, reformers who truly believe they’re saving souls, and working stiffs just trying to get through the week without losing their jobs—or their dignity. Avram Davidson’s voice shines here: wry, generous, and sharp enough to skewer hypocrisy without ever losing affection for his characters. These chapters quietly braid power, temptation, and history together, setting forces in motion that feel inevitable long before anyone realizes what they’ve touched. Nothing explodes yet—but you can hear the fuse hissing.

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