Unbearable

by A. Lee Martinez

Genres: Fantasy

208 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2026

About the author

A. Lee Martinez was born in El Paso, Texas. At the age of eighteen, for no apparent reason, he started writing novels. Thirteen short years (and a little over a dozen manuscripts) later, his first novel, Gil's All Fright Diner, was published. His hobbies include juggling, games of all sorts, and astral projecting. Also, he likes to sing along with the radio when he's in the car by himself.

Reviews

[Jonathan Koan]

Oof, this book was incredibly disappointing. It is incredibly short, and I heard the pitch for the book at a convention (LibertyCon), so I added it to my TBR. Unfortunately, what is delivered is a thoroughly unsatisfying tale.

This book is about Jay Ortiz. Ortiz works for a mob-boss (Horace), and after stealing from Horace he is found digging his own grave. However, he comes across this magical sword which is embued with the power to fight off a dragon, which represents evil and is threatening to break out.

The premise of the book was interesting. Unfortunately, the author decided to make the book very ethereal and metaphorical. Rather than be a book about a guy with a magic sword and a dragon to slay, it becomes about the duty of the holder of the sword and rather than literally slay the dragon, the wielder has to simply use it's power to hold the Dragon back in it's Gorge.

The book really is about the symbolism of good vs evil, of the symbolism of power, rather than be about the story itself.

Martinez uses the book's worldbuilding to differentiate between The Waking World and the Dreaming World. Unfortunately, the execution of what the Dreaming World can be is just so dull. So much of it is just depressing and dark and melancholy.

The concept of "luck" and the sword protecting Ortiz was interesting in the beginning of the book. And I did enjoy the character dynamics of Ortiz and his girlfriend, Irene. That was probably the best element of the book.

Overall, this book just didn't work for me. An interesting pitch that unfortunately is just dark, melancholy, and uninteresting. Because it is a short book, it didn't take too long to read, but this is one time I feel the story really was not worth it. 4 out of 10.

[CatSidhe]

Some petty criminal and dumbass loser finds a cursed magic sword while digging his own grave and finds himself tasked with saving the world.

I did not find the book as funny as previous books by this author, probably because it was not as over the top absurd in its plot and worldbuilding, but I liked the mix of cynical Noir novel with magical realism and parody, and it was still quite fun to read and the characters were likable despite their faults. One thing I always liked about A. Lee Martinez is his willingness to always try writing different books from the ones he wrote before while still keeping his own style.

I still found the ending a bit predictable in retrospect, but it fitted the general theme of the novel about violence and lust of power being self-destructive. And it is always nice to have some books where problems are not solved by having a climatic battle with the bad guy.

[Jack L. Suggs]

Good

I've read all of Martinez's published works (that I know of). (Or, of which I am aware, if you're an old English teacher). I enjoyed them all, but thisi is my last favorite of the bunch.

The book has humorous sections and the hero is somewhat relatable, but I never developed a "relationship" with him. I did this with heros of his other books.

That said, it was enjoyable, the writing was good and I sincerely look forward to reading any subsequent books that A. LEE releases to the wild.

[Lissa Oliver]

It wasn't one of my favourite books by the author, it was lacking the usual quirks and humour of his characters, but an entertaining read nonetheless. Main character Ortiz doesn't ask questions and simply drifts along waiting for things to happen, so in that respect I felt be lacked "oomph".