Zorachus

I haven't only fallen behind on my blogging, I've gotten behind on my reading as well. Grrr.

Zorachus is a dark fantasy novel by Mark E. Rogers. The protagonist is a saintly young wizard who is thrust into a position of power and wealth in a very dark and corrupt city. What does he do with it? Can he do anything good with it?

There's lots of interesting philosophical discussion, and much of the novel seems to be set up something like a thought experiment. Khymir, the evil city, isn't just corrupt; it was actually founded and maintained by a demon as a proof that life is evil.

Zorachus is an immensely powerful wizard, and his position gives him enough wealth and social status to do almost anything. So his options, against this dark background, are wide-open: he can pursue almost any plan for reform that comes to his mind.

But how do you make people better, when they not only don't want to be moral: they think that "moral" is a strange kind of mental illness that afflicts people who don't live in Khymir?