Diabolical Plots #123, May 2025

“Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” by Effie Seiberg

“The Rat King Who Wasn’t” by Stephen Granade

Reviewed by Mina

This issue contains two tales about characters whose view of the world is challenged and therefore change their course of action. The best tales are about character growth, so this issue was a treat.

“Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” by Effie Seiberg is a light tale with a serious core. A wheelchair user gets zapped by a falling piece of alien spaceship debris and develops laser eyes. Yet still their life is full of ordinary frustrations — the super-abled union they join won’t put in a wheelchair ramp so that they can join meetings with dignity. Nobody lets them contribute to the fight against the arch-villain, Doctor Croc, who is razing buildings. So they take matters into their own hands and decide to stop him on their own, only to find that they relate to his cause and can even find less destructive ways to help. A new alliance is born in a funny yet satisfying way. Well worth reading.

“The Rat King Who Wasn’t” by Stephen Granade is fascinating. I was a bit horrified at first as the protagonists really are rats. The formal, slightly archaic tone lends weight to the tale. The rat courtier Teodoer is sent along with his tails to find Nicolaas, who has abdicated as king, and his tails. What Teodoer finds challenges his view of the rat court and rat society. Nicolaas must die but will Teodoer pick up his mantle? A rat messiah is born.