Divine Ambivalence

3 September 2010 | Filed Under Book Reviews 

A Review of Divine Misfortune, by A. Lee Martinez

“Hello. My name is Anubis. I like long walks on the beach, carrying departed souls into the underworld, and the cinema of Mr. Woody Allen.”
- Anubis’ Pantheon.com profile video

In a world where gods attend charity events and can be found on an online match site, Phil and Teri decide they’d better get a god if they want to improve their lives. When they decide on Luka/Lucky, raccoon god of fortune and prosperity, he expects to crash on their couch and things go downhill fast.

Similarly, what I thought of as a good premise didn’t turn out how I expected either. The style wasn’t my cup of tea. Some parts seemed more fitting for a movie than a book, like the image of Lucky pushing his sunglasses down to the end of his nose and grinning mischievously. I could clearly see it at the end of a cheesy trailer.

It has its moments. Most of these were not plot-related. Any event that was seemed so unrealistic I was thrown right out of the novel. For instance, mercenaries exchanging stupid arguments with their captives and each other instead of doing their job.

Characters who began as interesting, like goddess of tragedy and heartbreak Syph, quickly devolved into the equivalent of a mulish two-year-old. By the end of the book, there was an entire cast of metaphorical two-year-olds.

However, I did like how it doesn’t focus on Western gods (especially the ever popular Greek and Norse). Granted, except for Quetzalcoatl I had no idea who they were, but their appearance was satisfying nevertheless.

My guess? It wasn’t my style of humor. Others might have better luck.

My Rating (out of five stars)
★★

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