Divine Misfortune

This comedic look at the complexities of the human-divinity relationship is oddly like Christopher Moore's novels. It is funny, smart, sarcastic, and brutally honest at time, ,and it is these qualities that readers will be entranced by. It doesn't get any more amusing than a divine love triangle gone wrong, all at the cause of the raccoon-headed god of luck, Luka. Not even gods whose area of expertise is good fortune can evade all of life's pitfalls, and with an eternity to ruminate on wrong-doings the situation can escalate to godly proportions.

Phil and Teri don't worship a god like most people, but after Phil is passed up for a job promotion (again) they decide it's time they search the internet personals for a god of their own. It's a scary world though, full of long-term commitments and blood sacrifice, but after some searching they stumble upon Luka; a raccoon-headed god of fortune who's mild mannered nature suits them perfectly.

And then everything goes horribly, horribly wrong.

Divine Misfortune is quite the humorous novel, in fact the author even had me giggling on the dedication page. I'm not a very expressive person while I'm reading, but this one got me to chuckle out loud a few times. Phil and Teri are adorable and the gods are quite hysterical when placed in a modern show more setting. It's not the first time I've read such a novel, but it's no less successful at being incredibly funny.

I would definitely recommend this one. I would say it's a mix between Christopher Moore's Coyote Blue and Neil Gaiman's American Gods, to be honest. That's definitely a recipe for success if you ask me! show less

Divine was the perfect little quickie, a fast irreverent read at a time when I couldn't give a book quality attention. You know how it is--some books deserve contemplation (Claire DeWitt, I'm talking to you), some require intellectual engagement (China is notorious for this), some insist you immerse in their world (Sanderson, you're so demanding), some want your emotional commitment (I usually avoid the needy ones). But Divine doesn't require any more than availability.

Based in a current version of America populated by the gods, Divine doesn't break any new ground, but does have fun playing with old myths. Phil, the main character, was recently denied a promotion and discovers his competitor's edge is his supportive divinity. On the way show more home, he's in a minor fender bender ("The other driver pulled out a special knife and ran it across his palm, drawing some blood to offer to his god as he incanted, "Blessed by Marduk, who keeps my insurance premiums down") and pulls into his driveway only to discover his neighbor now has the only perfect lawn in the subdivision, courtesy of a lawn service that worships Demeter. Phil decides he needs a god of his own and convinces his reluctant wife to choose a deity from Pantheon.com.

What they select is an amenable raccoon-headed god of minor good fortune. What they get is a raccoon version of You, Me and Dupree, a Hawaiian shirt wearing food hound, throwing parties for the gods and inviting his Mayan god friend Quetzalcoatl to crash on the couch ("Y'know, he was only joking about the alter thing,' said Quick. 'I was never into human sacrifice, even when it was legal.' 'Oh, I know. Conquistador propaganda.'"). Adjusting to life with a couple of gods isn't easy for the straight-and-narrow Phil and Teri, and it's even harder when strange things start happening.

Truly, it's just simple fun. The plot is decent and the countering evil actually seems evil. There is an interesting parallel storyline with a former goddess of love spreading gloom and despair ever since being dumped--her discovering a new line of work was amusing. There's a multitude of small bits like that, little common twists on deification that entertained me with their absurdity. Something about Charion bringing a dead potted plant as a house-warming gift and a Fury enforcing subdivision covenants entertains me. It does get a little absurd by the end, but it never veers so far out of control that it verges on acid fantasy, ala [b:John Dies at the End|1857440|John Dies at the End (John Dies at the End, #1)|David Wong|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1189289716s/1857440.jpg|1858059].

Leave an offering of a used copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide and a homemade bookmark and the god of quick reads will oblige.

Three and a half stars.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/divine-misfortune-by-a-lee-martinez-no... show less

When you play in A. Lee Martinez's universe you know what you're going to get; work-a-day people who are trying to do better than just get by who get thrown into absurd circumstances and which rapidly escalate to "comic inferno" proportions. Such is the case here, as a young couple decide that it's time to become adherents to a deity and they wind up with Luka; a quasi-Chinese god of good fortune, and all-around mooch.

Luka isn't actually a bad sort, but, as we all know, friends come and go but enemies accumulate, and when the beings that Luka has crossed in the past decide to make life miserable for his new adherents, that is when matters escalate.

While I enjoyed this book, I had a few problems that I didn't have with the previous show more stories that I read by Martinez. The main one is that so many plot points are in play that by the time it all comes together there doesn't seem to be enough space to really develop the relationships. It's as though Martinez had a set page count he was writing to and he just cut things off when he needed to escalate to the climax; I really think that this is one of those times when more would have been more. show less

Phil notices that people get promoted at work when they have a deity to worship. He convinces his wife Teri to look for one on the Internet. They decide on Luka, a raccoon in a Hawaiian shirt who is a prosperity god. What they didn't realize was that Luca, his friends call him Lucky, is going to be living with them along with his buddy Quetzacpatl. Throw in Syph, a former love deity turned goddess of misery, and Gorgoz, a savage primordial god. All Phil and Teri wanted was for things to start going their way, instead they find themselves in the middle of feuding gods.

Martinez has created a world full of every god and goddess from every culture. Mortals enter into agreements where they make offerings and the deity provides a service. show more There is a regulatory agency called Divine Affairs that a mortal can go to when they want to renounce their god without the deity smiting them.

This story is funny and very imaginative. The thought of Quetzacpatl, a giant winged serpent, sleeping on someone's couch and make eggs for breakfast is hilarious. I also liked Bonnie a poor mortal who sits on a bus stop bench next to a bag lady who turns out to be Syph the goddess of misery. Bonnie goes to work at a book store with Syph in tow and she changes the bridal magazines so they have articles like "Top 10 Reasons You'll End Up Dying Alone." show less

Divine Misfortune is set in an alternate world where Gods make deals with humans; in exchange for tribute, Gods provide humans the benefits of their area of specialty. Phil and Terri live an average middle class existence but never really manage to move up the corporate ladder because unlike their coworkers, neither Phil or Terri have welcomed a God into their life. When Phil is passed up for promotion yet again and his neighbour's lawn suddenly becomes perfect with the help of Demeter, Phil decides that it's time for him and Terri to pick a God. With the multiple of Gods in human history -- this is not an easy task -- particularly when you have to pass a credit check to even look at Zeus's profile and Tyr demands the removal of a hand show more as proof of devotion. After looking through the Gods on pantheon.com, Phil and Terri settle on Luka, the God of prosperity and good fortune. Unlike the other Gods, Luka doesn't seem overly demanding and a safe bet to the risk adverse Terri and Phil but what they forgot, is that dealing with the divine is never as simple as it first seems.

Before they know it, Terri and Phil find themselves in the middle of a holy war between their personal deity Luka and Gorgoz "the ultimate embodiment of the chaos that birth the universe." And what are the two Gods fighting over? Well, a goddess of course. There's nothing like a love triangle to keep immortality interesting. If that isn't enough, Luka, who loves his Hawaiian shirts, decides to summarily move in and bring his friend Quetzalcoatl along for the ride. Getting though a typical day is hard enough but when you're dealing with God engaged in a holy war, a South American God filled with guilt for not dealing with the conquistadors, and a Goddess of love, now turned into the Goddess of tragedy because centuries later, she's still not over being dumped, life can become complicated quickly.

You can probably tell from the description that there is a lot going on in Divine Misfortune, yet despite the twists and turns and the appearance of various Gods from assorted pantheons, the story never once feels confused. Divine Misfortune is also infused with Martinez's great sense of humor and this makes the book at times laugh out loud funny. After all, who wouldn't want to offer tribute to a God for some luck when informed that the in laws are coming for a visit, along with their multitude of children, particularly when one of the kids is going through a pyromaniac stage? With incidents like having an entire city's water supply being turned into grape soda as the result of an epic God showdown, all the world's pregnant dogs giving birth at once to winged puppies, Zeus and Mog giving out signed autographed photos and the Goddess of revenge giving boils to spurned lovers, Divine Misfortune is written to make you giggle, then laugh out loud until you have tears rolling down your face.

In terms of gender, Divine Misfortune had three very strong characters female characters but Terri was by far my favourite, Terri, was so feminist, she refused to be saved by a man. When Phil, Terri and Bonnie, (who is forced to deal with the result of unwittingly becoming Syph, the goddess of tragedy number one sycophant), are confronted by gun men, who want to kill them as a tribute to Gorgoz, Phil decides to offer his life in trade for the two women. Terri however is not at all impressed.
Phil stood and stepped between Eugene and his wife. “Kill me. But don’t shoot the women.”

“That’s some misogynistic bullshit.” Teri pushed him aside. “Kill me but let them go.”

“This isn’t a good time for feminism,” he replied.

“Says you.” She turned her eyes away from the guns trained on them. “You know how I feel about women and children first. It puts women in the same category as children. And I am not a child.”

“I wasn’t saying that. I was just trying to be noble.”

“Because it’s the man’s job to be noble,” she said, “and the woman’s job to—”

“Dammit, this is not the time to be having this discussion!”

Bonnie stood. “Shoot me. I’m the one who is going to die anyway. Might as well get it out of the way.”

“Excuse me,” said Eugene. “But this is an assassination, not a negotiation. You’re all going to get shot. There’s no way around that.”

“Although, for the record, miss,” said Rick, “I agree with you that it’s chauvinistic nonsense." (pg117)
When Phil later decides to trade himself Gorgoz to keep Terri safe, does not at all see the gesture as loving and supportive.

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This was a quick, fun and light read. Lucky is a slob, runt of a God who's down on his luck [pun intended] and in desperate need of a few new followers. Unlike most of the bigger name Gods who demand blood and sacrifice and money, Lucky just simply wants a place in the corner to pile his clothing and to sleep. Sometimes make him a sandwich and you’ll find $100 bill wedged in between your couch cushions. All of this seems like a relatively small and simple gesture for Terri and Phil, but when they get pulled into a messy love triangle between gods of old, all they can do is pray for a Lucky outcome. I give this story a 5/5.