Books Five Books Five SFF Stories About Making Amends People adopt very different strategies when it comes to making up for mistakes. By James Davis Nicoll | Published on June 26, 2025 Daggerspell cover art by Keith Parkinson Comment 0 Share New Share Daggerspell cover art by Keith Parkinson We’ve all been there. We’ve said an unnecessarily unkind word, spurned a plea for help, inadvertently transformed the entire human race into shambling automatons under the control of an eldritch abomination. Such errors are so commonplace as to be beneath discussion. More interesting is the question “What next?” Vow to avoid such missteps in the future? Do you try to make amends? Simply embrace villainy and move into a skull-shaped mountain lair? The possibilities are vast. Here are five works exploring some of those myriad possibilities…1 Swamp Thing #1 by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson (1972) The American government values Alec and Linda Holland’s bio-restorative research. Thus, the converted barn deep in a swamp to which Lt. Matthew Cable delivers the two scientists. The isolated location and regular police patrols will keep the Hollands and their precious research safe from malevolent organizations like the Conclave. A Conclave bomb sends a flaming Alec to his death in the nearby swamp. In his place rises the plant-man Swamp Thing, a monstrous figure imbued with Alec’s brilliant mind. Linda is the next victim, gunned down by the Conclave. To Cable, there is only one possible conclusion: Alec (who was blown up and set on fire) and Linda (who was shot) must have been murdered by the Swamp Thing (who eschews technology). Cable failed to protect the Hollands, but he can at least dedicate himself to seeking revenge (however misguided) in their name. Some readers might wonder about the logic that led Cable to blame Swamp Thing for the Hollands’ deaths. Again: The Swamp Thing doesn’t use technology… not even pants. What I wonder is why Cable kept Linda out at the barn lab after the bombing, given that the location was clearly not secret. Carrie by Stephen King (1974) Carrie White is an unattractive, weird loner. Fellow high school student Sue Snell does not hesitate to join in when the popular Chris Hargensen provokes a crowd of girls to mock a traumatized Carrie in the school showers. Only after P.E. teacher Miss Desjardin berates the bullies does Sue realize that she was, to quote that famous sketch, one of the baddies. Sue resolves to make amends. Sue arranges for her boyfriend Tommy to take Carrie to the upcoming high school prom. Sue and Tommy’s gesture delivers a brief moment of happiness to miserable Carrie. Unfortunately, it also provides mean girl Chris with an opportunity to take revenge on Carrie for Carrie’s part in getting Chris punished. People who have only seen the DePalma film might be surprised that the novel makes it clear very early in the book that the prom did not go well. The dramatic tension doesn’t arise from the sudden veer into horror as Chris discovers why bullying Carrie is a bad idea. It comes from watching how choices—some benevolent, some not—line up to produce the calamity the reader knows is coming. Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr (1986) Despite not knowing her name or precise location, ancient mage Nevyn takes a peculiar interest in finding Jill. Swordswoman Jill hails from the kingdom of Deverry. By the time Nevyn finds her, she is romantically entangled with feudal lord Rhodry. The arrangement between highborn Rhodry and lowborn Jill is a familiar one. Only Nevyn knows that there’s much more to the story. Centuries ago, Nevyn had to leave his one true love Brangwen behind when Nevyn was exiled by his magic-hating father. The result, thanks to Brangwen’s unsavory brother Gerraent, was carnage. Worse yet, reincarnation means old mistakes can repeat themselves. Jill is Brangwen reborn. Can the old mage make up for his well-intended misstep? Or is Jill’s fate already determined? A question neither asked nor answered, as far as I can tell: is the Nevyn-Brangwen-Gerraent tragedy the first iteration of this doomed story, or just the first iteration in living memory? Reincarnation means this story could have been repeating itself for thousands of years. Numamushi: A Fairy Tale by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh (2023) Years ago, the great river snake loved a human woman. The romance ended in madness and murder. Therefore, when the snake saw a burned human child float by, he did not eat the infant. The snake rescued the baby, named him Numamushi, and raised the boy as best he could2. Back when he was a priest, Mizukiyo cajoled young men into joining a pointless war. A surprise inheritance—a mansion abandoned for years after gruesome murders—allowed Mizukiyo to hide from the world. Nevertheless, he is happy to befriend the odd boy, Numamushi. Through no intent of his own, Mizukiyo is the old snake’s doom. How can the former priest make amends for making Numamushi an orphan? I know snakes are not known for their parenting skills, but the great snake is an unusual snake, perhaps even a local god of sorts. In any case, the book’s title does say it’s “A Fairy Tale,” which allows for some liberties with herpetology. The Transitive Properties of Cheese by Ann LeBlanc (2024) Years ago, Millions Wayland’s attempt to fend off a terrestrial bid to limit multies—duplicated minds and bodies—in space as they were on Earth resulted in disaster and mass carnage. Appalled, Wayland retreated from the world. Wayland found contentment as a hermit cheesemaker3. News that the orbital facility in which Wayland cures her artisanal cheeses is scheduled for destruction forces Wayland to reengage with the world. Her intention is to convince business associate Miller to save her precious facility. Instead, Wayland is caught up in a struggle over the fate of the community that Wayland had inadvertently hurt years earlier. Sometimes inspiration for these pieces is nebulous. In this case, it was reading The Transitive Properties of Cheese that made me ponder the problem of making amends. More specifically, it was the friction between guilt-stricken Wayland and supporting character Hattie, who thinks Wayland should leave the past to the past. These are, of course, only five works. Entire libraries are filled with tales about people facing their pasts and trying to make amends. If I overlooked your favorite, please mention it in comments below.[end-mark] I considered mentioning 2008’s Ironman movie, but discussing it led me to rant about specific subset of making amends stories, in which the protagonist is lavishly praised for solving problems entirely of their own creation. That sort of thing deserves its own essay. ︎Numamushi picks up a number of abilities that strictly speaking are the domain of snakes (for basic physiological reasons). Like DC Comics hero Black Condor learning to fly after being adopted by condors, this is a triumph of environment over heredity. ︎Which is to say, a hermit who makes cheese. Not someone who makes cheese out of hermits. ︎The post Five SFF Stories About Making Amends appeared first on Reactor.