Book Brouhaha

Summary: Acerbus hates his job. While he is content to watch and study the mortal races, the other gods constantly look for reasons to destroy their newly-created world. When they finally find an excuse, they command Acerbus to become the Smiter, destroyer of all creation. Armed with nothing but spite and goblins, Acerbus decides that there is only one way to ensure his own failure and save the world: by becoming an Evil Overlord. Review: This is an absolutely delightful story.  Thomas has such a fun style of writing!  "Smite Me" was a perfect blend of whimsy, humor and thought-provoking ideas.  I frequently found myself laughing out loud as I read though this story.  The way Acerbus interacts with his fellow gods is priceless. While this story remains engaging throughout, I found myself a tad confused in the middle.  It was unclear to me why any of the gods, including our main character, would obey the main god, Lux.  Acerbus constantly seems to...

He had never seen such a huge pile of gold before, and in a cave of all places.  He tugged at one of the coins.  It was oblong, dull, and most of all stuck, as if some catastrophe had melted all the coins, deforming and fusing them together into a solid heap.             He set down the lamp and pulled a pry bar from his pack.  He jabbed at the mound, searching for a loose coin.  Once he found one, he slowly and carefully coaxed it free.  The ground shook a bit, but tremors were common at this depth.  That was probably how the gold came to be abandoned down here in the first place.  He would be more careful than the previous owner.             With the first coin removed, the second pulled out more easily.  Then a third, and a fourth.  He noticed that the rock underneath was a smooth, spongy material, but he didn’t give it...