The Greek Gods
returned 30 years ago after centuries of dormancy after they were drained in
the big battle against the Titans. They have set up their new land in
California.
Derek is a scion of
Ares, carrying the legacy of his powerful war god sire, along with his brother
follow their role to capture and defeat dangerous monsters. And capture over
rogue scions
Including the heir to
the mysteriously missing Athena and four other powerful Scions. But as he gets
closer he realises things are far from simple and world changing devastation
could follow him making the wrong choice. But does he dare oppose Ares? Can he
even oppose him? Who can fight the god of war?
Greek mythology! I am
sold. Sold sold sold. Throw me some good ol’ ancient god mythology and I’m
always one board. Doubly so when you get all the research in place and go all
out for the research pulling in figures like Cassandra and random Greek
monsters (so many Greek monsters) and generally working on their characters
while adding a heavy dash of original concepts as well? Sold sold sold
So we have a world
where after several centuries of dormancy after fighting the Titans, the
Olympians have woken up and are back. And Not Amused that humanity has sort of
forgotten them or, at very least, has stopped worshipping them. Since the Greek
Gods are not exactly known for their humility, gentle persuasion or generally
not being capricious, short tempered and seethingly insecure jealous sex
maniacs, this did not go down well.
The Greek gods chose
their territory - California - and divided it between themselves as new regions
for the new Greek nation state. It is inferred that the US objected to this.
It’s also heavily inferred that Zeus was having None of that and there’s
something of a detent between “Neo Vasileio” and America
This is one element
about the world building I like - we have that excellent balance between giving
us lots of information so we know what is happening in this world, who is who,
what the stakes are, what powers are being thrown around, etc etc but not so
much that we’re inundated with unnecessary facts. Even though I kinda really
really want those facts. I want to know what the reaction was with the greater
world. I want to know exactly what Zeus did. I want Zeus and Hades and Apollo
to be more than extremely briefly appearing characters. I want to meet all the
Greek gods who have territory that we haven’t met yet - Artemis, Aphrodite,
Hermes, Poseidon, Demeter, Haphaestus, Hestia, Hera, Perseophone. I want to
learn all of this
The Greek gods have
their descendents who all have powers based on their ancestral deity (lots of
magic, a chosen element and general skill set) with the most powerful of those
descendents being the heirs to their Olympian legacy. This comes with lots of
shiny magic, lots of shiny powers and lots of really epic, shiny fight scenes
And our hero, Derek;
powerful descendent of Aries line. Except he doesn’t like killing people, at
all. And he fights tooth and nail against the berserker, magical charged rage
that drives him to violence. His greatest skill is fighting and he really
doesn’t want to and his overwhelming goal is to keep his brother safe - his brother
who is regarded in contempt
Ok, Derek is eleven
levels of badass, but his defining features are not his combat abilities which
he almost regards as shameful, but his deep love for his brother, Liam, his
care for those around him and his desire to protect them - and not in a
patronising away. As he gets closer to Selena he becomes protective and caring
without smothering - he knows she and Liam can look after themselves, doesn’t
try to keep them away from the action but does try to help and shield them when
he can. It’s a nice balance between protective without being patronising.
The plot has lots of
conflict both physical and directional as they struggle to recover ancient
Olympian artefacts that can be used for various nefarious means. Resurrecting the
Titans, giving the Olympians ultimate power, again, killing the Olympians…
there’s lots of terrible things that can be done with them. And the big
question is whose agenda do they trust? Which god? Any god for that matter? Who
is actually right? Whose agenda can they trust? And I like that Derek doesn’t
just run with “the god I like” or “the god who isn’t Ares because I hate him
and he’s an arsehole” but thinks it through as best he can even when faced with
so little choice because they’re just so powerful.
Through that we have
some good characters and interactions with his brother Liam - who constantly
drives him to be better than he is and resist his worst impulses and powers. We
have Selena with her great faith in Athena, her goddess, her growing links to
Derek and yes there’s a hint of romance there but it’s not nearly there yet so
instead we just have powerful mutual respect instead. She struggles with her
real identity and fear for Athena as her prime motivations
I can’t emphasise how
much I like how despite all these story changes the plot still remembers its
mythology. Like Athena is being cast as the good, decent Olympian but Derek is
quick to remember that Athena turned a woman into a giant spider because she
was good at weaving and, like all the Olympians, she can be prone to epic
pettiness when pressed.
We do have more minor
characters which are diverse - the heir of Zeus is a Black bisexual man. And
part of me has to point out his highly sexual and promiscuous which is
something of a trope with bisexual people - and Black people. However he’s also
the heir of Zeus. Zeus’s legacy is not one of austerity and sexual restraint.
He may also be one of the more powerful of them, given the fact he’s the heir
to Zeus. Which would be seen better if we saw more of him though. We also have
Corey, a gay White man and descendent (not heir) of Hermes… unlike the others
he kind of starts with a pre-existing relationship with Derek and Liam. The
problem with this is that none is established - it’s just assume he’ll turn up
extremely briefly to use his powers as a magical taxi without actually
incorporating him into the mission or establish his power at all. And he is
more present than the heir to poseidon, a woman of colour who may be
establishing a relationship with Liam but, again, appears briefly - but at
least has a solid part of the mission and is a power in her own right.
These characters all
have a lot more potential to be more as well so i’m hopeful for future books in
the series.
Which covers everything
really - I’m so hopeful for this book. I’m hopeful for Derek, I’m hopeful for
his relationship. I’m hopeful for his storyline, for this world setting for the
gods and the so many storylines that could be developed, that could grow and
change and become so much more. There’s so much to explore - I can’t wait to
read more
