Lesser Known Gods - Richard Hetley
The most important thing with any comedy fiction - be it satire, parody or slapstick - is that it is funny. If it
isn’t funny then, it fails; it’s *that* simple. So, is this, the original LKG fanfic, funny. Well, sort of . . . While
it’s not likely to have you rolling around the floor holding your aching sides, there are a number of
humourous moments. For a start, the author has gone for the cheap gag approach, meaning the reader is
barraged by any number of humourous words (cheese, fish, foon, etc). Yes everyone and their dog has done
it, but even the great Terry Pratchett OBE does this, so it can’t be all that bad. The ‘plot’, or caper, which is
a much more adept word under the circumstances, follows Speldor, Plasto and company as they attempt to
thwart the plans of the evil Johnny Bubonic (who appears to be modelled physically on the Discworld’s
Death Of Rats). What this means is that we get endless bad jokes, running around, daft fights, etc. Does this
work? Yes, because, along with some pretty good writing, there a number of clever parodic elements to the
story. What about the army surplus running gag? Sounds a lot like any number of Saturday morning cartoon
villains to me. How about the curious Nobody, who appears to have god-like powers that even the gods
know nothing of. Sounds a bit like Madam Web, Dungeon Master, Sorceress, to me. It’s these little touches
that make the story, and after a huge sushi fight it’s nice to be able to pick up on these small details, smile
and say “Oh, I get it”. If the series casts off it’s Benny Hill pretensions and follows subtle ‘The Tick’ - like
parody, then I’ll look forward to the rest of the LKG saga. [3/5]
Black Mystery Month - Ethan
This fanfic starts with an amusing parody in which we learn the whereabouts of every member of the LKG
pantheon - it even has a meanwhile - and continues with an amusing look at everyday life for the Immortals
with their own huge ‘House of Fun’. But this story differs from the other LKG fanfics. For a start there is no
comic book adventure. Instead, the story is an introspective look at the dark history of American society that
covers the question “Why are there no black gods?” with such an obvious and chilling answer that you’ll
wonder why you never thought of it in the first place. It’s a rather heavy issue to sandwich between the
wacky (and indeed, zany) comedy, but as with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld stories, the author manages to
pull it off. Thought provoking. [3.5/5]
God Alone 2: Not Quite Lost In New York - Evan
You read the title and think “Home Alone parody; got to be a Home Alone parody”, right? Well, you’d be
wrong if you thought this, ‘cause this is a length piece of MacGuffin written in order to clarify the ‘rules’ of
Godhood, and little else. In it, Speldor and three godlet recruits travel to New York after a newspaper
reports on strnge supernatural happenings linked to one of their number. While there, Speldor is captured by
the Illuminati - a bunch of super-powered pretenders - and he reveals the plan behind all this god nonsense.
But is it funny? Not really, no. Although there are one or two passages which might raise a smirk, this story
is mostly notable for the fact that that it seems to lay down a number of jokes (Jinikato, god of fandom,
using a tricorder to study Speldor’s last known place of manifestation), only to abandon the punch-line
(everyone knows that Trekker’s tricorders are toys, and as such, do not work). So, we’re left with an
unfunny story with run-on sentences and little plot. It could have been worse, but hey! it could have been a
hell of a lot better. [2/5]
Looky, Looky - Suzy (or quite possibly, Robin/Rhapsody)
So what’s all this about? Is it an intricate word puzzle? Is it written in some kind of obscure cypher? Will I
have to hold my Compaq monitor up to a candle in order to read between the lines and discover the story?
Or is this the work of the Lesser-Known-God of non-sequitors, and as such, is a collective jumble of
meaningless phrases thrown together in an effort to come up with a bizarre and off the wall fan fiction that
absolutely *no-one* will understand. Oh, I think I know - and I am scoring it accordingly. [The Dog By The Tree]
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