The New Death and others Quotes

“On the box he had a stack of magazines. Without seeing the covers, I knew they were pornography. Precious finds in the days before the internet. The combination of glossy pages and sperm is the smell of boyhood for men my age. You used to find them hidden in the bushes. I guess kids stole them from the shops and then were too scared to take them home. Sometimes they'd be damaged by rain or fire (masturbation and setting fire to things: the two great impulses of boyhood), the paper as brittle as an old man's skin. Meanwhile, as I found out years later, girls were reading 'romance novels' in the comfort of their bedrooms. Men, have you ever read those things? Damn.”
― James Hutchings, The New Death and others

“Come - someone must. Those with no gods will grow restless and cunning, and in time will cast us down, and we shall be gods no more." "Not I," said blind Justice, and her stony face flashed a momentary smirk at the thought. "Why not Fame or Fortune?" "Darling I don't think so," said the sister goddesses together. There was a long pause. The gods shuffled their feet and avoided one another's gaze. At last a voice broke the silence. "I will," said Death.  ”
― James Hutchings, The New Death and others