Interview: Stefon Mears on The Rescue Game
Stefon Mears’ The Rescue Game: The Tale of a Professional Damsel in Distress is one of fifteen exclusives in The Light Fantasy Bundle, curated by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Stefon answered questions about what the job actually requires, who takes Marigold’s complaints, and what a young dragon gets out of being defeated for a living.
The Interview
What does it take to be good at getting rescued?
It’s a combination of skills, most of which derive from skills these women learned at court.
A) They have to be observant, with a strong eye for detail. This way, during the rescue, they catch all the key elements that not only tell them all they, personally, need to know about the knight doing the rescuing, but also prepare them properly for the most important part of the gig.
B) They have to be great storytellers. They have to return to court with this knight and thrill the whole court with the tale of the knight’s prowess and the dangers of the dragon. They need to convey all the little details to bring the story to life and build the knight’s reputation.
C) They have to excel at knight management. After all, these women are all alone, out in the wild, without a scrap of armor. They can’t bring their own men-at-arms, or there would be inevitable questions about why they need the knight to rescue them in the first place (or at least why her warriors don’t help the knight). Fortunately, most knights are pretty noble, and while they might be interested in seducing the fair maiden, they’re big on consent and wouldn’t press the issue if she makes clear she’s not interested. Some, however, are either a little less noble or perhaps overwhelmed by the thrill and terror of facing a dragon. At times like these, the princess needs to be able to hold her own and either talk them down or put them down and keep herself safe until back at court (where not all the stories she tells about that knight are guaranteed to be good ones for his reputation).
Marigold spends the rescue tied to a pole in a frilly blue gown, because that’s the tradition, and she mentions she’s been asked to stop filing complaints about it. Who has she been filing them with?
Her boss. Marigold is the best in the business at the rescue game, but she didn’t invent it. You’ll meet her boss in the story, so I’ll stop there.
Marigold isn’t the only one on that ledge working a gig. The dragon has a working name, Kanfiliax, which she keeps forgetting to use, and she mentions that most dragons are kind enough, while working, to cut a knight’s rope before the fall would kill him. What does a dragon get out of the rescue game?
To be clear, when talking aloud and on the game, she always uses the dragon’s working name. It’s only proper, after all. But as to what the dragons get out of it, in a word, gold. These are young dragons who are still developing their muscles, their breath, their senses and their skills. By participating in the rescue game, they get a head start on building their hoard in relative safety. After all, no one is supposed to die in the rescue game, and these enterprising dragons plan to reach adulthood already having reasonably big piles of gold to call their own.
Because dragons freaking love gold.
The bad news in this book could endanger Marigold’s entire way of life, “and many a kingdom along with it.” Without giving too much away, how much is riding on the rescue game?
This is tricky to answer without spoiling anything. Suffice to say that events are in motion, and if Marigold doesn’t find a way to stop them, not only is the rescue game over, but the fury on both sides would devastate kingdoms and countrysides.
Which piece of the traditional dragon-and-princess story was the most fun to let Marigold grumble about?
Probably the fact that she has to be tied to a stake in the first place. It’s a vivid, classical image after all, but it does lead to a number of practical questions, some of which she gives voice to.
You love playing roleplaying games. If the rescue game were something you could sit down and play, which part would you want?
Well, I’d probably end up the game master, running the whole thing. But I could have fun playing all three of the main roles—rescuer, rescuee and dragon. Knowing me, though, I’d probably have the most fun playing the dragon.
What are you working on now—and what’s fun or exciting about it?
I’ve got a book coming out this week called The Eyes of the Overlord. You see, outside of the obvious (Tolkien), I cut my fantasy reader’s teeth on the likes of Robert E. Howard’s Conan, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, and Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné. These are worlds where magic is rare and dangerous, and cities teem with as much adventure as the wilds. I’ve always wanted to have my own city that could stand beside Howard’s Aquilonia, Leiber’s Lankhmar and Moorcock’s Imrryr. And it’s been in the back of my head for about twenty years. Zinquon, a port city full of factions and alchemy and trouble of all sorts.
Then, as I sat down to write about it, I took a left turn. See, in most of the old school sword and sorcery stories like the ones I mentioned, usually the protagonists are outsiders or anti-heroes. So in The Eyes of the Overlord, I made them members of the city watch, solving a crime to help the everyday citizens, even facing down factions when they need to.
In essence, it’s a mystery in a sword and sorcery setting.
About the Author
Stefon Mears has more than thirty novels in print, twenty novellas, and short stories in more than a dozen collections and twice as many anthologies and magazines. Among his more popular series are the Jumpstart Duchy (complete), the Rise of Magic (approaching completion), the Telepath Trilogy (complete), Spells for Hire (ongoing), the Edge of Humanity (ongoing), and the Cavan Oltblood series (ongoing). He can be found online most reliably at www.stefonmears.com. Stefon’s romantic suspense short story “Gunrunning on Vacation” was selected for the 2022 edition of The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year.
Find Stefon Mears
Get the bundle
The Rescue Game is one of fifteen exclusive books in The Light Fantasy Bundle, curated by Kristine Kathryn Rusch—funny, light, and romantic fantasy for a jangled season. Pay what you want, starting at $5, and you can choose to send a share of your purchase to World Central Kitchen. Ends Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 9 PM Pacific at storybundle.com/fantasy.