Review
Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God
2012
PS Publishing
Review by Peter Young in Big Sky #1 (2013).
Set in a future Southeast Asia, a land that possesses no national identities as we know them, the mercenary god-slaying gunslinger Gorel of Goliris embarks once more on his quest westwards to find his lost homeland, via a search for the Mirror of Falang-Et and whatever truth it tells, while at the same time forming a ménage à trois with two untrustworthy allies of both genders and all sexual appetites. There’s sex and drugs aplenty along the way, and frog people, and myth, some fairy tale and some magic. There are shades of Delany in both the sexuality and quest nature of the story, plus a dash of Leiber and a healthy dose of C.L. Moore in her pulp ‘sword and planet’ fantasy mode. This was a slow-burner for me but ultimately Gorel delivered everything I could reasonably expect because it stayed true to its roots in the above influences, and yet also managed to remain original and contemporary. Is there a collection of further Gorel adventures on the way? Tidhar would be onto a winner there.
