posted
I'll be honest: I've never read Gil's All Fright Diner.
Despite the fact that it kept showing up on nearly every darn "Staff Suggests/Bookstore Spotlight/Etc" shelf.
Didn't trust it. A witty parody of the classic horror tropes? Mmmm-hmm.
Then my friends started to talk about this new book he'd written. In the Company of Ogres...a tongue-in-cheek look at epic fantasy.
Friends I trusted. Friends who assured me the humor wasn't the same old "Elves and orcs are STOOPID because they JUST ARE!" crud. That it didn't rely on random pop culture references.
That it reminded them of Pratchett.
Darn it!
I picked up a copy, flipped it open to a random page.
I read the following passage:
He called after her. "Why don't you just let me die?"
She turned her wrinkled face in his direction. Her red cheeks glowed in the faded twilight. "Because, Ned, I've had a vision. One day, some far-off tomorrow, the fate of this world any every creature that walks its lands, swims its waters, and soars through its skies will depend upon you and the decision you make."
He hadn't expected the answer. She'd never given him one before. He felt a little better hearing it, to know there was a reason for his suffering. He puffed his chest out with a proud smile.