The Privilege of the Happy Ending

The Privilege of the Happy Ending is a 2018 dark-fantasy novella by Kij Johnson, first published in Clarkesworld Magazine. Set in a fictionalized medieval England, the story follows six-year-old Ada and her talking chicken Blanche as they confront a plague of reptilian monsters known as wastoures. The narrative is layered with metafictional commentary, as the author intercuts the main plot with fictionalized backstories and future-projections of minor characters, commenting on the nature of storytelling itself. Whimsical, darkly funny, and structurally inventive, it blends high fantasy with satire and comic fiction.