Synopsis:
Wealth, power, and an easy life. Vaz had it all, but nothing could satisfy him. He always wanted more.
When one of his plans makes his boss finally decide he is a threat, Vaz finds himself with only two options: to roll over and die, or to roll the dice. Literally. Due to an ancient pact between his people and a god of chaos, Vaz, like all citizens of his country, has a special die that grants wishes… if you get a 20. Anything else results in a grisly death.
Vaz knew there would be a price to pay, but he didn’t expect that, instead of getting his wish right away, he’d have to work for his own safety. Worse: that he’d have to work for the sake of another person.
Now a fugitive forced to prevent a young woman’s death, Vaz is confronted not just by the ugliness of his world, but by his own part in it.
Review:
Unfortunate hits as hard as buckshot to the chest, and in only 166 pages! This urban fantasy with a magic system based around chance is as hard-hitting as it is action-packed, and it sure as hell doesn’t skimp on dropping some hard truths about apathetic people.
Skeezy banker Vaz devises a new rate scam that will definitely get him some perks at work, maybe a promotion. But after coming home all giddy, a dude with a shotgun awaits him. Using his Last Resort, he takes a chance on his life with Chance, the god of this world. What unfolds after is a masterclass of cat and mouse, harsh self-discovery, and some really great banter.
Firstly, let’s start with the magic system here. In this world, every person is born with a Last Resort, a twenty-sided die. And when things are at their lowest, people can cast their die and hope to turn their fortune around, but only if they roll a twenty. Anything else is gruesome death (here seen by a vicious cat and scorpions). But there is a catch, the god Chance sends an Emissary to said person and that person must perform a task/quest as part of a Compact between the god and humans. This was such an awesome magic system alone, but then Silva throws us a coin part and, again, people on their quest can flip the coin and try to guess it right, if they do, Luck helps them, if not… Seriously, this magic system packed so much fun into it, I could read so many stories with this as a basis!
Vaz is an interesting protagonist. He’s not likable but he’s also not unlikable, and I think that stems from the perfect encapsulation of apathy in our current world. Silva does a wonderful job of imbuing Vaz with a sense of ‘I think I’m a decent person but really I’m not’ and the following line sums it up succinctly:
‘But if you take a good person and remove the “good” part, the result winds up being the exact opposite.’
Vaz is selfish in that he wants to make a better life for himself but at the expense of others, even without truly thinking about the consequences of his plans. His growth over this short novella was just superb (as well as hilarious when it finally smacks him in the face). And his relationship with his Emissary was phenomenal. The banter, the anger, the annoyance, everything was just great.
Syren is the other main character, and she’s drawn into this plot for connections to Vaz in a fun way. Her character is also great but I won’t spoil why. But as with Emissary, her interactions with Vaz are spectacularly witty and funny, while also emotional. They were a great odd couple type pairing.
The prose is great and the pace is wonderful. It’s also surprisingly really funny, lots of great back and forths, as well as situational humor that isn’t outlandish. I thought the few ‘Before’ chapters leading up to why Vaz has a shotgun guy in his bathroom were perfect and didn’t overstay their welcome, in fact, they added greatly to the storyline. As mentioned, there was such great character growth in only a short page length, bravo. And the ending is the exact type of ending that would make any Sopranos fan ecstatic.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Unfortunate. I’ve had this book on my TBR since it came out almost a year ago now and I’m just mad I waited this long to read it. Seriously, this was such a fun story!
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