A. Lee Martinez and Meta

 I’ve been meaning to get around to reading some A. Lee Martinez. They specialize in deconstructive/reconstructive fantastic comedy. You know, where the characters are genre savvy.

I recently read an article where Christopher Nolan said that the problem with amateur critics is that they feel if they can recognize a trope, the work is a failure. I somewhat agree that if people actually use that argument, it’s not a valid argument. However, I don’t actually know how common it is.

The problem isn’t recognizing plot devices and tropes. I’m going to arrogantly argue that it’s a problem when creators let tropes do all the heavy lifting by themselves. You still have to tell a compelling story. (Yes, I am thinking about Rob Liefeld)

I don’t think creating a meta heavy work is a big deal and I think that it’s something that pop culture increasingly leans into. TV Tropes is basically an instruction manual for it. I personally think Buffy the Vampire Slayer really pushed meta heavy into the lime light but it goes back at least as far as Don Qioxote.

(Actually, A True Story by Lucian of Samosota which was written in second century AD is an even earlier example of meta aware fiction. No, I’ve never read it and I have no idea if it’s any good. However, it’s clearly not a new idea.)

While I had read some of Martinez’s short stories, I’d been meaning to read their longer works. I started with Divine Misfortune pretty much at random.

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I won’t really be spoiling much 

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A world where every myth is true, interactions with the gods has stopped really being about religion and become contractual. Phil and Teri decide to make a contract with Luka, a raccoon-headed god of luck. Unfortunately, Luka fails to mention this will pull them into the bad graces of a couple of gods who are out to get him…

The short version is, I felt that Divine Misfortune works because the characters are sympathetic and engaging. The setting is utterly silly, but we are still drawn in and don’t want unspeakable things to happen to the characters.

Can we see the strings? Is the Man Behind the Curtain pretty obvious? Yes. Martinez treats the setting as a joke but not the characters so I don’t mind. It’s enough for me to buy the ticket and go on the ride.

Honestly, my biggest question was why is Luka a raccoon and not a tanuki?

Now that I’ve convinced that A. Lee Martinez is a fun author, I’m planning on tackling his Constance Verity trilogy, about a heroine who is always the chosen one and really burnt out about it. Clearly trope heavy but being thoughtful with those tropes.