Author: Michael Boatman
Series: First in
series.
Published: April 3 2014 by Angry Robot
Length: 400 pages
Source Publishers:
Other info: Book
2, Who Wants to be the Prince of Darkness comes Spring 2015
Summary : When
God decides to quit and join the human race to see what all the fuss is about,
all Hell breaks loose.Sensing his abdication, the other defunct gods of Earth’s
vanquished pantheons want a piece of the action He abandoned.Meanwhile, the
newly-humanised deity must discover the whereabouts and intentions of the
similarly reincarnated Lucifer, and block the ascension of a murderous new God.How
is he ever going to make it as a stand-up comedian with all of this going on…?
Review: Yahweh, aka the Abrahamic god, has decided
he's had enough of being God. Therefore,
he quits, joins the Human Race and tries to live life as a stand-up comic.
However, with gods of old pantheons trying to take his place, and a now-human
Lucifer to deal with, this isn't going to be easy.
I was really looking forwards to this. Multiple pantheons,
all the myths, all wrapped up with a big dose of comedy? Right up my street.
It starts off well. The dramatis personae sets up an interesting
c premise, featuring my favourite gods from various mythologies, plus a few
more I was less familiar with.
Lando has a good voice. I liked him and his comedy could be
good if it wasn't wrapped up in a whole load of other stuff. I also liked Yuri,
Lando's family, and Suhrabi. I love the way the gods are presented-Zeus and the
Morrigan especially.
The thing that let it down most was the plot, and the way it
just went ways I don't really get. The bit with Hannibal got good at the start,
then relaxed a bit earlier than I was
expecting. The whole thing with Lucifer, Gabriel and the angels was very
predictable, but turned out well. But then there's this whole bit in the middle
where I think Lando swaps bodies or something with another guy. I say I think.
I honestly don't know what happened there, but it changed Lando for the last
quarter of the book. Also, the god battles, while fun, were also a bit
confusing in that they went everywhere in time and space and were hard to
follow.
Also, I didn't get the comedy that I was promised, apart
from in small bits ie introduction of
the gods. Or maybe it just wasn't my kind of humour. Either way, sadness from
that.
Despite this, I will read book two. Just because Hell. And game shows.
Overall: Strength 2 tea to a book with a really good
premise that just wasn't put together as well as I was hoping.
Dear Nina,
ReplyDeleteHi, Michael Boatman here. I wrote Last God Standing, which you reviewed back in 2014. I just saw your review, (sorry it didn't fully work for you) and just wanted to drop you a line to say thanks for taking the time to read and review the book! It's always gratifying to know that readers like you are out there, keeping the faith!
Thanks again.
Michael Boatman