Petty Pewter Gods (eighth novel in the Garrett P.I. series)

(Originally posted on Saturday, 13 March 2010)

My rating: 3/10 (low re-reading value)
Please read my post from April 2009 to find out about my rating.
Please read my post from May 2009 to learn about Glen Cook’s style of writing.

What’s good:
1. A lot of action (but waaay too crazy).
2. Glen Cook’s style of writing (except for the lack of logic and overall craziness).

What’s bad:
1. The plot is very, very, very crazy. Sometimes it’s really @#$%^& up.
2. There are numerous logical flaws in the plot. Sometimes Garrett himself behaves illogically.
3. There is no detective case to be solved in this book. Garrett is forced to do something for some “gods”. There is some kind of mystery in it, but the book never really explains it.
4. Garrett is no longer a regular guy, with whom the reader can try to identify with. Now he is the only person who sees “gods” and is supposed to decide on the future of some of them.
5. This book is an open mockery of any religion. I can understand that some people criticize priests for their faults and sins, but I hate when people make fun of religion in general (any religion). I knew that Glen Cook is an atheist, which was apparent in the books of the south of the Black Company series and in some previous Garrett novels. I didn’t mind that then, but here he crossed the line. It seems to me he doesn’t understand what religion is all about and behave like this: “I don’t understand it, so I make fun out of it”. To me religion is mostly about becoming a better person and about finding inner peace. Making fun out of such things is unacceptable to me.
6. There is some humour of really bad taste. For example there is a small cherub, who is smoking weed and when he needs a new joint he takes it out of his diaper. Oh, man. I think Glen Cook was smoking weed himself, when he was writing this.

This book has no side plots connecting with other books of the Garrett series, so it may be skipped without any consequences. That’s my advice: Skip it !!! Maybe some teenagers would really enjoy this book, but I will never read it again. This book is BAD.
(3/10)

PS. I have read 4 more Garrett novels and they are all much better than this one. So, don’t be afraid to continue reading this series.