Lex Trent versus The Gods contains one of fiction’s most entrancing character types: the scoundrel. This scoundrel, the Lex Trent of the title, lives the quiet, and seemingly blameless, life of a law clerk by day, only to spend his nights as “The Shadowman”, a cat burglar who has eluded capture for long enough to become a local legend.

Before deciding to study the law, and after fleeing a crime that went slightly less than smoothly, Lex made himself the subject of the Goddess of Fortune and, flighty and distractable as she may be, her help and the good luck that goes with it make Lex’s career as a thief, trickster, and rogue quite a success. He is clever enough to make sure his skills are up to the task; it wouldn’t do to depend completely on luck, and his careful and thorough planning serve him well. Until, that is, he gets caught up in the Game.

The Game is for the entertainment of the Gods. Lex lives in a world the Gods have left. Well, a world the Gods have divided, and one that is now connected only by a series of ladders–ladders that are guarded by fierce creatures and tradition that leaves mankind trapped in the World Above and the Gods the rulers of the World Below. The Gods’ interest in mankind is now limited to collecting followers and winning the Game–a competition where the God who wins gets bragging rights, and the humans who lose face injury or worse. But, the player who wins, well, that player gets fame and fortune, something Lex feels is worth a little risk–after all, doesn’t he have Fortune herself on his side?
Alex Bell has a deft touch with world-building–with details that make the world feel vibrant and real and just the sort of place a man like Lex would live. From the messily separated World Above and World Below to the dangerous magicians, grumpy Gods, lawyers, griffins and fellow human beings who live alongside, Lex’s world has an internal logic and vivid life are all its own. The descriptions of the world that Lex travels through, conning and swiping what he can around the way, are fun as well as fascinating.

There were midnight markets set up all round the docks–the hub of all activity in the city. Stalls were randomly set up all over the place, selling crafts, spices, talismans, amulets and black enchantments from across the Azure Sea. Enterprising local Withians had set up their own stalls to supply the foreigners with Withian delicacies such as mini-sea-squids-on-sticks and candied insects although really the main export of the Wither City was its books.

Lex hops, skips, and flees across the world, first fleeing prison and later striving to win the games of wit, skill, and chance that pit him against the chosen players of the other Gods. Lex strives, connives, and learns as he goes, and his flair and insight keep the story moving and the games tense. Although it is impossible not to get infected with Lex’s confidence and spirit, the end of the games, and the true winner, is never certain. Even Lex knows, and the Goddess of Fortune insists, that:

The trouble was that luck could only take a person so far.

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