Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)
Last Judgement
Tagged: Theme.
In the Christian mythos, the tribunal set to follow the Apocalypse, and in fictional accounts frequently combined with it. Fantasy writers often express doubts as to the quality of the justice that might be handed down; Judgment Day (1928) by Norman Davey (1888-1949) is more optimistic than most. "The Judgement Seat" (1929) by W Somerset Maugham suggests God might have more interesting things to do than arbitrate in humanity's petty moral squabbles. "The House of Judgement" (1893) by Oscar Wilde, Portrait of Gideon Power (1944) by S H Lambert (Neil Bell) and Heaven Takes a Hand (1949) by Eliot Crawshay-Williams attempt in different ways to illustrate the difficulties inherent in the judgement business, as does "The Irreverence of God" (1933) by Shane Leslie (1885-1971), in which the Last Judgement is also the Last Laugh. [BS]