I adore language, and I also adore any author who can subvert our expectations of story, topic, and character, and let us see the world in new ways.
For me, Terry Pratchett (most well known for his Discworld series, and perhaps for Good Omens.) is one of the great masters.
I truly grieved his passing a few years ago, and mourn the books he never got to write.
However, I am grateful for those he did. They enriched, and honestly changed, my life.
One of my favorite passages of his, from Guards! Guards!:
“ He is also bearing a sword presented to him in mysterious circumstances.
Very mysterious circumstances.
Surprisingly, therefore, there is something very unexpected about this sword.
It isn't magical. It hasn't got a name.
When you wield it you don't get a feeling of power, you just get blisters; you could believe it was a sword that had been used so much that it had ceased to be anything other than a quintessential sword, a long piece of metal with very sharp edges.
And it hasn't got destiny written all over it.
It's practically unique, in fact.”