“‘Tis the Season” is a 2004 science fiction short story by China Miéville. It is about a man who takes his teenage daughter to the one official Christmas party in London’s highly privatised holiday season.
A Great Author
My first interaction with China Miéville’s writings came a few years ago when I read his magnificent novel Perdido Street Station
Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell
Anyway, “‘Tis the Season” follows the plight of a divorced dad as he tries to make Christmas special for his daughter. The problem is that he lives in a future London where Christmas, and everything associated with it, has been trademarked by a company called YuleCo, and a person must have a one-day end-user license to participate in any traditional festivities! Thinking he’ll have to do his best with non-proprietary alternatives he gets a lucky break and wins some tickets to a special, licensed Christmas party in the center of London. Lucky him right? Maybe… except that the party has brought out some demonstrators who are determined to win Christmas back for the people, and that threatens all his big plans.
My Two Cents…
- I found myself laughing out loud at the dry, sarcastic humor that poked fun of intellectual property run amok!
- China Miéville does an excellent job creating lots of holiday spirit in “‘Tis the Season” – despite the bleak setting. Nicely done.
- While this is a great story, there is some strong language that may not be appropriate for kids.
Interesting Tidbits About This Story:
- Page Count: 8
- Word Count: 4,000
- Special thanks to one of my readers, Mickdaddy, for suggesting this great story!
- “‘Tis the Season” placed 3rd in the 2005 Locus Poll for best short story.
- Did you know that China Miéville is a member of the British Socialist Workers Party? Yep. You can learn more about this excellent author at Wikipedia.
Where You Can Find ‘Tis the Season:
- This short story was originally published on the Socialist Review web site in December 2004, where you can still read it online for free.
- “‘Tis the Season” is also included in China Miéville’s short story collection Looking for Jake and Other Stories
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Craving More Stories?
If you liked “‘Tis the Season” then you might also enjoy The Best Christmas Ever by James Patrick Kelly.
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4 users responded in this post
That was a great deal of fun to read. I’m so glad you were directed to such an interesting, seasonally appropriate story. I haven’t read a lot of Mieville’s work, but this is very, very fun. The dry humor is great, as is the reveal at the end of the sentimental song section.
Thanks Carl – I totally agree with you. The story was much more fun to read than I thought it would be! I have only read two things by Mieville, but I loved them both. I’ll definitely seek out some more of his work.
[...] ‘Tis the Season by China Miéville – a man takes his teenage daughter to the one official Christmas party in London’s highly privatized holiday season. [...]
[...] ‘Tis the Season by China Miéville – a man takes his teenage daughter to the one official Christmas party in London’s highly privatized holiday season. [...]