Well, Morris in The Poison Oracle is a dysfunctional mess, and Dickinson emphatically shows that. In fact, the contrast between him and Anne is profoundly ironic: she's most definitely part of humanity, even though she's decided to become a terrorist, whereas he is not, even though he's acting out the role of a respectable person.

I'm sorry it upset you - I certainly didn't mean it to do so. I love the imaginary anthropology in the book, and Dickinson makes one very profound statement through Morris: "A society that allows you to become anything also allows you to become nothing. In other societies, you have to be what you are." The irony hits here again: Morris is thinking about Anne, but it's also true of himself. It isn't until he's forced into a fatherly role for Hadiq and Peggy at the end that he starts joining the human race and becoming a person.

I will say that The Poison Oracle isn't as much of a re-reader for me as King and Joker and One Foot in the Grave are. King and Joker is also Dicksinson doing female PoV - two of them, in fact: young Princess Louise and her elderly, bedridden nurse.

I keep forgetting about the Gordianus books when I go look for things to read!!