Siblings make the best friends and the worst enemies one can have. Most of us grow up and learn to coexist somewhere between these two extremes. In fiction, though, sibling dynamics in stories are often overshadowed by other types of relationships—friendship, romance, professional camaraderie, etc. Here are five stories that put siblings at the centre and explore how our relationships with our brothers and sisters can help us cope with everything from false accusations to world-changing catastrophes, or compel us to break ties and stretch the limits of our faith in them…
“Look Upon my Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair (In Three Months)” by Helena Bell
Sam’s brother Oliver succumbed to the plague and became a zombie during Christmas, so she had to kill him. Now his barely-visible ghost accompanies her as she scouts an abandoned Costco. They stumble upon Erin, who, among other surprises that almost convince Sam she’s simply hallucinating after seven years of isolation, has several bottles of Wishefiske. The liquid—if you manage to empty the bottle and keep the gloopy, fishy contents in your stomach—grants any wish you have. So Sam wishes Oliver were still alive. But the world is different now, with barely anyone else in it. Will his return help her grief, or was resurrecting him a bad idea?
“The Splinters of Our Bond” by Marissa Lingen
One night Nerit, a wood-witch, finds the body of the man who’d abused their stepmother lying on the floor of her cottage, left there by her brother, Royir. He’s done the killing; now it’s up to her to dispose of the body using her magical skills. She does so, somewhat reluctantly, for no matter how dreadful the victim was, his death had come about because of her brother. She gets the deed done and they rejoice in being rid of the man.
But then Royir kills another man and again leaves Nerit to take care of the corpse. Nerit is troubled; it doesn’t matter to her that Royir takes care not to get caught, but she cannot also ignore the fact that people aren’t completely good or completely evil. Bodies left on her doorstep force her to dispose of them, but she’s determined to stop being pulled into this repeating pattern. What will the cost be?
“Consigned to Moonlight” by Shaoni C. White
Onorei Foxcroft, Second Runewriter of Verdigris City, has died, trying to sabotage the runes that support the City’s weaponry. She was in possession of distilled moonlight, a key component of the work she did, but she didn’t use it all. It’s suspected that she gave the rest to her sister, Rilda, who is now alleged to be a co-conspirator. Except Rilda never opened Onorei’s letters and hated her sibling for building weapons and profiting from violence.
What actually happened when Onorei died? Transcripts, newspaper articles, wills, and journal articles provide an answer—one that is not entirely expected. A charming, at times hilarious, tale.
“The Ice Tree” by Sarena Ulibarri
Mirella, always seeking titles with superlatives, wants to be better than her sister, who doesn’t have the Izka stone. The town she saved from lizards by recklessly killing them all was then overrun with rats because she destroyed the balance of ecology, and is now running out of water, so she heads to the cliffs, to the Ice Tree made by Izka the creator goddess, which has a bear trapped inside. She goes to melt the tree, but everything she does creates chaos, and this time is no exception. Only Iska can help fix her deadly mistake, but she’s been missing for ages. Will she do something now to aid Mirella and the people being terrorized? And will Mirella make the right choice, or will her desire for fame and recognition get in the way?
“We Cast Our Eyes to the Unknowable Now” by Lynn D. Jung
Koreatown is riddled with fissures revealing the insides of the city, scars from the earthquakes that shook the city years ago. After their mother’s death, Christina is the family breadwinner and worrier-in-charge, looking after herself and her sister Sadie, who struggles with asthma—for who has time to care about cleanups and pollution in Koreatown?
Sadie has always been active and highly curious, which doesn’t help Christina’s worries over her health. Now, Christina returns home to find her sister missing. When she asks around, the neighbours tell her Sadie went down into the ground—a place best left to smokers and fools, and definitely not somewhere Sadie should be…
But Sadie is no longer a child. Is it time for Christina to start worrying less, and trust Sadie to make her own decisions?