First, let me apologize (great way to start eh?). I don't enjoy criticizing an author's work, especially knowing it takes a lot of time and effort to write a story. You put yourself into a story and when someone attacks it, it's like they are attacking a part of you.
That said, I did not enjoy this story at all. More than just that, it really grated on me, probably more than any story I've listened all the way through on Escape Pod (and there are only a handful I don't stick with to the end). It bothered me so much I actually registered to comment on it. Admittedly, it's kinda lame I because there have been so many truly amazing or very interesting stories I thought about commenting on and then just didn't get around to it. Hopefully I'll do better in the future.
Secondly, I do want to say I thought the story had a good premise. I think it had a lot of potential, but I found the execution (pun alert?) to be quite lacking.
Why the negative vibes, you ask? Let me count the ways:
1.I didn't get the point. Or if I did, I found it disturbing.
So the girl has godlike powers, goes around killing people she sees as jerks and then one day finds that ruthless smiting is losing its luster. So she goes to some kind of stripper bar with her fellow goddite and is encouraged to just cheer up and believe in herself more (a mantra our culture loves to throw around all too often and one that seems strange advice to a god), she then shows up at the wedding of a smitee's (yes, I just made that word up) son and, after being insulted by a child, basically annihilates everyone but the wedding party. She gives the couple some blessings and feels much better about herself and life in general. The end.
So what does this story tell us? That the world would be a better place if we could just kill all the mean people? Wow! Even if we're just talking about racist people, which is the kind of people this story seems to be judging the most harshly, is that really what would make the world better? Who would be left? I think if we're honest we'd have to admit we all hold some pretty serious prejudices and certainly every one of us has misjudged another at some point. Thankfully, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day and not Malcolm X day. Because mercy is not only better, but more also effective than wrath.
Or is this some kind of commentary on religious deities? If so, it does an incredibly poor job of representing the ones most people believe in.
Perhaps the only conclusion I might agree with is that if a bunch of us suddenly got god-like powers the world would be a pretty rough place to live in. Still, I think the author seems to condone Trixie's actions, not condemn them.
2. The two god characters we meet were reprehensible. I think Greek mythology is fascinating and one thing that seems to stand out about it is the gods being a lot like us but with way more power. The story seemed to play off of that idea, but to its detriment. The god characters seemed so ungodlike and much more like really awful college kids with crazy superpowers and a few limits on their use. What kind of Pantheon chooses these people? The characters had no depth to them and I found very little to admire about them. Have I ever been angry at insensitive, judgmental people? Sure, heck I've even wished their nonexistence I time or two, but I look back on those feelings with regret, not admiration.
3. The story has some very outrageous assumptions. For example: what normal human being, no matter how they might dislike their family, is totally chill if they all get torched in the middle of their wedding? It's just so messed up, I don't know how to comprehend it. Those who have lost a family member they were at odds with don't typically get happier (maybe in cases of extreme abuse) they regret the fact that things were never made right before the end. A happy family is one that finds reconciliation, not retribution.
And another one: it's perfectly fine to kill children as long as they're mean, selfish and unreasonably judgmental? I guess we're in for a serious death toll then, because sometimes even the best parents find themselves with some pretty nasty little whippersnappers. Heck, they're kids for crying out loud. But they still keep loving them and teaching them what is right and wrong, they certainly don't burn them to death because of a lack of character.
4. The thing that bothered me the most is that there was no redemption, for anyone. Trixie never really changed, and maybe that's why I stuck it out to the end, because I was hoping something would break her hard, judgmental, wrathful heart. She didn't give anyone a chance to repent. In her own words, she was neither just nor merciful. Only angry. That's one thing I find singularly amazing about the Bible, it takes the lowest, the scumbags, the people society has completely given up on as too sinful to be saved and it gives them hope, transformation and life when there was none. And, lest the "righteous" think everything is fine and dandy with them, it puts everyone in their place (let he without sin cast the first stone). It condemns wickedness while offering forgiveness to the wicked who repent. Justice with mercy makes for a much better story.
Final thoughts:
-Though this doesn't bother me as much as it does most people, I'd hardly label this as a sci-fi story. The godOS device was barely scraping it by, and it really worked about the same as a modern iPad, but for gods. Mostly, the story just didn't have that sci-fi feel to it. It was lacking all the things that I think makes sci-fi great. Fantasy though? I'd say it fits like a magical unicorn glove, but that'd be a silly thing to say.
-I get that this is a work of humor (can't say I appreciated that aspect of it), but even humor must be taken seriously because it's still giving a message. Just because it's funny doesn't make it right.
Thanks for reading this lengthy rant. I look forward to your responses, whether you agree or think I'm in need of a good smiting myself.