/lit/ - Literature

>>22415705
Prosper's Demon, Prosper's Demon #1 - K. J. Parker (2020)

Unlike most any other time I've written about what I've read this is entirely for those who either have already read this novella or don't care about spoilers. I'd say it's 60% about my reactions and 40% about the book, which is an in-book reference. I'm ambivalent about the writing and its structure. It's not something I could comfortably read at length. There's a plot and philosophizing, but I mostly found it to be irrelevant. The protagonist didn't interest me. I may read the second novella if only to see how it affects my interpretation, which is provided below.

I didn't see anyone who had the same interpretation of the book that I did, though surely there must be others, so I felt compelled to explain myself. The correct view may be take it all at face value as almost everyone seems to have done. I'm unable to do that, which may only be because I prefer it that way. I believe the events proceeded as laid out, but I believe that almost everything the unnamed narrator says about said events are lies. The following is how I read the book.

Prosper's Demon follows an unnamed narrator whose derangement is only matched by his ability to manipulate. He's a deeply disturbed sociopath who wanders around seeing demons in others and proceeds to kill them in various ways that often minimize his involvement because it's a hassle to be pursued for revenge. He's a serial killer and a mass murder convinced of his own righteousness. Often he lapses into delusions where he thinks he's talking with demons.

The story starts with the narrator in bed with a dead prostitute, whom he killed. He shrugs it off as having been possessed by a demon and disposes of her. He says it's never his fault. Right afterwards he mentions he stole what's most valuable to each member of his family. He says he has absolute authority like the Emperor. Then he says he has no roots or connections. The narrator claims he's licensed to do all this, but then he says his proof is counterfeit. He has an origin story of a wombmate demon. If any of it was true he wouldn't also be saying that he's constantly dodging vengeful family and the law. He goes on about how brutalized his childhood bully. He proposes that the evilest of men have the same virtues as the best of men, that it's arbitrary. He says he doesn't understand how his demon changes, which is only because he must accept that the demon is apart from himself. Then he's killed a twelve year old girl and her brother, though he only remembers the latter. Somehow he manages to get away with it all. He even kills his sister's three-month-old daughter and nothing comes of it. He sacrifices a five year old girl he bought. I don't see any of this anything other than his own choices. The demons don't exist. There's nothing fantastical going on. This is a secondary world story with a unreliable narrator talking about his crimes.

Rating: 2.5/5 (3)