#prosper's demon

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

Round V

Underjerker (Crystal Crazy)

Unnamed narrator of Prosper's Demon (Prosper's Demon)

I know Both/Neither

Voting ended onJul 30, 2025

[bellasbookclub]

Reccer Spotlight: G!

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

In Other Lands

Witch King

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain

My Heart is a Chainsaw

Prosper's Demon

Demons and tigers and faeries, oh my! From harpies to murderous ghosts, G's recs are bringing you all kinds of Creatures. Full text available in their tab of the Bella’s Book Club Summer Reading ‘24 Reclist.

more info on BBC Summer Reading 2024

more Reccer Spotlights

[fearfulsymmetryyrtemmyslufraef]

Prosper's Demon by K.J. Parker

In a botched demonic extraction, they say the demon feels it ten times worse than the man. But they don’t die, and we do. Equilibrium.

The unnamed and morally questionable narrator is an exorcist with great follow-through and few doubts. His methods aren’t delicate but they’re undeniably effective: he’ll get the demon out — he just doesn’t particularly care what happens to the person.

Prosper of Schanz is a man of science, determined to raise the world’s first philosopher-king, reared according to the purest principles. Too bad he’s demonically possessed.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2023: PROSPER’S DEMON and INSIDE MAN by K. J. Parker.

Full disclosure: I bought INSIDE MAN on a whim because it was comp’d to Deadpool and Geralt on the cover, didn’t realize ‘til I got home that it was technically Book 2 of a series, super didn’t realize Book 1 was PROSPER’S DEMON (which I’d decided previously to pass on for whatever reason I can’t remember now), but then decided, “What the heck, they’re short, I’ll try them.”

Dear reader: I was Disappointed™.

The twist at the end of PROSPER’S was interesting, at least, and I found the demon narrator of INSIDE MAN much more compelling than the exorcist of PROSPER’S, but overall I felt like they were trying Too Hard to be funny and they were way too cynical and conceited for my taste. The best either of them got out of me was a sensible chuckle, and even those were thin on the ground. These were hugely mediocre (to the tune of “I’m scratching KJ Parker and Tom Holt (his other name) off my List indefinitely”), and, like. GOOD OMENS already exists, and does it Better.

Their only saving grace was that they were short and thus padded my Books Read in 2023 Count--done with both of these by January 5!

[arywizm]

Books read in December:

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern - But the world is strange and endings are not truly endings no matter how the stars might wish it so. || 4.5/5

Incredible. I just wish it was just a bit longer, a little more dense and intricate than it already is - it's a great pleasure to spend time in this world.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee - "Just thinking about all that blood." I nearly shudder. "Doesn't it make you a bit squeamish?" "Ladies haven't the luxury of being squeamish about blood," she replies, and Percy and I go fantastically red in unison. || 3.5/5

cute

however it did take every last bit of my mental strength to refrain from judging this (literally) by its cover. just stop putting photos on ya covers and we will all be happier for it.

Prosper's Demon by K.J. Parker - It’s not something you tell people about, obviously. Not your parents, not your friends, not your dear old uncle or your favorite aunt: "I can see the devil in people. I can see the devil in you." || 3.75 /5

very cleverly written although it does turn a little bit Shyamalan-esque at the end

Dream Boy by Jim Grimsley - Nathan remembers, oddly, Preacher John Roberts leaning over the pulpit toward the congregation in puzzlement, in confusion at the notion of the Disciple John resting his head on Jesus’s chest. || 4,5/5

haunting, and you feel it long before you have any obvious reason to, it's brilliant in a way that I can't quite define - it has this dreamlike quality in that you don't quite understand the horror of it until you wake up.

Vicious by V. E. Schwab (reread) - He wanted to care, he wanted to care so badly, but there was this gap between what he felt and what he wanted to feel, a space where something important had been carved out. || 4.5/5

read this again because it's a lot of fun and I didn't want a history vademecum to be my last read of the year.

I don't have anything more to say about it other than that while I generally prefer reading in original if possible "what the fuck are you doing?" doesn't have quite as much impact as "co ty, do kurwy nędzy, wyprawiasz?"

Theatre:

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare ( dir. Piotr Cieplak) - Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?

I feel like no production of this play will ever live up to my expectations after watching Simon Godwin's interpretation.

I also saw The Nutcracker in the Grand Theater for the first time in years and came to the conclusion that we really don't appreciate what a fever dream this ballet is.

[sun-hippie-life]

[littlepiecesofme7]

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Prosper's Demon | Author: K.J. Parker | Publisher: Tor (2020)