Even Though I Knew the End

Even Though I Knew the End is a 2022 fantasy novella by C. L. Polk. It was first published by Tor Books.

Synopsis

In 1941, Elena "Helen" Brandt is a private detective and augur in Chicago, who agrees to hunt a serial killer even though she knows that she will die in three days when her decade-old deal with the Devil comes due.

Reception

Even Though I Knew the End won the Nebula Award for Best Novella of 2022, and was a finalist for the 2023 World Fantasy Award—Novella, the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novella, and the 2023 Aurora Award for Best Novelette/Novella. Publishers Weekly commended Polk for their "focus on character development [that] makes every interaction matter [in] a layered exploration of love and power with genuine emotional stakes and a soaring, perfectly bittersweet payoff", and judged that "readers will wish they had more time to explore [the world of the story]".

Lightspeed called it "the queer supernatural detective noir everyone needs", lauding Elena's narrative voice as "catchy and funny in the way good urban fantasy protagonists are", and noting the "quick pacing". Strange Horizons observed parallels with Supernatural and praised the novella as a "straightforwardly terrific yarn" that "also explores questions of justice, queerness, and the arduous work of making moral choices within immoral structures", noting that Polk included "enough period detail to make her world feel real, historical, and populated with actual humans."

James Nicoll, while conceding that his own expectations in terms of worldbuilding may be unfair, nonetheless faulted Polk for depicting a setting which is identical to 1941 Chicago except for magic historically being real and publicly acknowledged; he also expressed his "pessimis[m] about Helen and [her lover] Edith's long-term prospects, what with their habit of not telling the other about stuff they think might upset their sweetheart", but overall found that "[i]t's well-written and moves fast", concluding that he "liked it a lot".