Michael Boatman

I would like to thank Angry Robot Books & NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book to review. Though I received this e-book for free, that has no impact upon the honesty of my review.

Goodreads Teaser: "Lucifer is enjoying his retirement in an obscure corner of Limbo when he learns of a plot by Gabriel, the current ruler of Hell, to use humanity's greatest weapon against it - Television!

Cue the hottest reality game-show ever conceived:Who Wants To Be The Prince of Darkness? Gabriel orchestrates show more an "Infernal takeover" of Earth by stealing unwitting mortal souls and sending them to a mostly empty Hell, hoping to reinvigorate the Infernal Realm.

Now Lucifer must find a champion to seize control of Hell and free millions of stolen mortal souls before the theft becomes permanent. But who would ever want to be Hell's champion?"

Upon reading this book I rapidly came to the conclusion that the teaser is misleading. Lucifer doesn't look for a contestant to participate in the game show, but he does find a champion. The problem is the champion is completely clueless and for some of the time an unwitting player. But of course we are talking about Lucifer, so it's not much of a surprise that things aren't as they seem.

Gabriel is bitterly angry at Lucifer, and channels his anger into completely revamping Hell once he is the uncontested ruler of the realm after Lucifer's retirement. One of the more popular aspects of his overhaul is in modeling Hell after Earth. And since demons want to experience living on Earth more than anything, Gabriel finds a way to start slipping more in. Through the agency of an obscenely popular TV game show his nefarious plan works brilliantly. It begins with a trickle of demons replacing the human souls, but rapidly becomes a flood when they see how oblivious humanity is to the growing threat. Without doubt this is a not so subtle commentary on the mind numbing, thought-deadening qualities of TV.

Quite the creative and entertaining story, filled with ridiculous quirks of all kinds, as well as characters of all kinds - quite literally. The story begins in such a way that it seems it may be a parody of a parody, functioning as a way to set the stage for the story to come. After the first few chapters we meet one Manray Mothershed, self help guru to the modern world, though he prefers to refer to his teachings as self actualization. It's through Manray that the story is brought into the present and begins to move forward. As he stumbles into some sort of understanding of his new situation he begins meeting other characters that also become pivotal to the story.

The characters are entertaining, though sometimes a tad confusing. With everyone from Hell having a reversed morality and thus reversing things like swearing and blaspheming it can be challenging to figure out which sentiments belong to who. But those few bumps aside the concept of the book is more than solid, and the creativity is delicious. As Manray and company become fleshed out so to does the plot, both pulling the other forward and flinging the story along, rather like being the whip at the end of an ice skating line. And there are plot twists aplenty, though the tale is strange enough not to really need them. Certainly not your average tales about Hell! show less

You know God’s getting tired of this crap.

But who thought He’d want to be a stand-up comedian?

Michael Boatman, apparently; an actor familiar to many from shows like China Beach and Spin City, Boatman’s debut novel is a fantastical and funny look at what it must be like to be a god for such unfunny people.

In this particular case, God has abdicated and headed down here, winding up as a black man named Lando Calrissian Cooper.

Yeah, that’s right. He’s named after the black guy in Star show more Wars. And his various struggles with human life are amusing, added to the outright hilarity of his set comedy pieces.

But that’s not all. There’s an action-adventure element in play as well. His abdication has left a power vacuum up above, and various figures from Earth’s pantheons—and not just the Western Civ pantheon—begin to make a play for the throne. Then there’s the complication of a certain fallen angel, once sentenced to Hell, who has also shown up on Earth in a human incarnation, with plans that are not at all clear.

This novel would easily strike the humor-impaired as blasphemous. For the rest of us, it’s irreverent and funny, though a bit uneven in tone. All in all, it’s a very satisfying read that bodes well for Boatman’s future as a writer.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: http://litrant.tumblr.com/post/87091801471/a-god-with-a-sense-of-humor-last-god-... show less

I almost stopped reading several times. Fairly derivative and hard to care about the protagonist in the first half. ..or ever.
Some interesting concepts, all to the idea that humans have (almost) outgrown their need for gods.
girl talking to a god: "you tell me that toy are real, but also that you were never what we believed you to be. ..that we have looked too long in the wrong direction. "
Unlike American God's, which is deities fighting for that last of human belief, the idea here is that show more humanity's first demon, fear itself, tries to destroy all other gods and in so doing, lead to humanity's destruction. The elder gods, led by Yahweh, fight for the freedom of humans to choose for themselves. show less

The Revenant Road is very entertaining. It's funny, gross, macabre, imaginative, brutal, silly, and all those other adjectives that describe a good read. Urban fantasy is so very often so very serious, centered around some doomed love between our beautiful heroine and the even more beautiful abusive boyfriend she comes to worship. It tends to be tiresome and disappointing, especially because I associate the genre with people like Charles deLint and Emma Bull who tell great stories. The show more Revenant Road meets at the intersection of urban fantasy and horror and it's a fun place to be.

Our hero, Obadiah Grudge (best name ever), learns while on book tour that his father has died. The funeral follows with a series of uncomfortable revelations and even more uncomfortable new friends - dead and alive. Here be monsters, lots of monsters, and our hero and friends battling it out with them to save the world - cuz that's what heroes do, right? They save the world.

Despite a few missteps, The Revenant Road is all fun and games - until someone gets their eye put out - then it's just plain fun. show less