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Because it's fiction, Susan
(lemmy.ml)
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this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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Generally speaking whether I like a character or not has very little to do with whether I think they're moral. One of my favorite characters in any book is a horrendously evil man - like approaching Hitler levels, though on a smaller scale - but goddamn is he a fascinating character to read (Vorbis from Small Gods - which if you haven't read it is a masterpiece)
The black-on-black eyes stared imploringly at Brutha, who reached out automatically, without thinking… and then hesitated.
HE WAS A MURDERER, said Death. AND A CREATOR OF MURDERERS. A TORTURER. WITHOUT PASSION. CRUEL. CALLOUS. COMPASSIONLESS.
“Yes. I know. He’s Vorbis,” said Brutha. Vorbis changed people. Sometimes he changed them into dead people. But he always changed them. That was his triumph. He sighed.
“But I’m me,” he said.
Vorbis stood up, uncertainly, and followed Brutha across the desert.
Death watched them walk away.
Especially impactful when you consider that Death basically never passes judgement on individuals in the series. For him to try and dissuade Brutha from helping Vorbis shows a level of disdain he usually only reserves for people who are cruel to cats
It's funny, the name Vorbis didn't ring a bell for me, but seeing Death's dialogue in uppercase tells me exactly what series it's from. I'm still sitting at just one book read out the lot and more's the pity.
Shepards crown? I'm deliberately not reading it in the hope that my future kids fall in love with Discworld and we can read it together