Book Review: Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez

Divine Misfortune
A. Lee Martinez
Orbit, March 2010
ISBN 0316041270
Hardcover

I wept bitter tears when I realized we were losing Terry Pratchett.  While no one author could replace him, A. Lee Martinez is shaping up to be one of the funniest young men in fantasy literature.

His latest book, Divine Misfortune takes place in an alternative world where the mythological gods exist and are still worshipped. They even have a match-up service similar to eHarmony where browsers can find a compatible god.

When Phil misses yet another promotion, he’s thinking it’s time he swore himself to a god.  After all, the guy who got the job he wanted admits he got the job because of his patron god’s favor.  Phil’s wife, Teri, isn’t so sure.  Gods are a lot of work.  They involve sacrifice and an altar. But, when Teri sees a cat that’d been struck by a car brought back to life, she relents.

Phil and Teri select the fortune god, Lucky, a raccoon.  Lucky doesn’t demand much of his followers, so they think.  But, when a Hawaiian shirt clad raccoon shows up at their door with multicolored luggage, they are considering re-considering their oaths.  Lucky’s okay about them reneging.  It’s a lot of responsibility.  He goes away–and the next day is the day from Hell for both of them.

Phil and Teri think all is well when Lucky returns, but the little god hasn’t told them everything.  There’s his ex-girlfriend, the former goddess of love and a blood feud with a blood-path god.  Talk about Divine Misfortune!

A. Lee Martinez will keep you laughing all the way through the book.  If you liked Small Gods and Good Omens from Pratchett, odds are you’re going to get lucky reading this book, too.

Reviewed by Rebecca Kyle, April 2010.

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May 3, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews

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