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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
This book is awesome. Read it. It won't take you long.
The reviews that spouted superlatives have a far different idea of funny than me. I wanted desperately to like the book. Fantastical creatures, nay gods, living among us. Sounds like a fun day. (Sigh). I am enjoying getting my doses of Greek mythology unconventionally (Song of Achilles, Circe). So, education—somewhat. Entertainment—meh.
A really fun concept that I wish I'd come up with myself.
One of the best modern mythology I have read, if not the best. It's realistic (as far as that is possible with mythology), it's up to date, it's romantic and it is fun.
Great way to learn more about the Gods in a fun way.
Great way to learn more about the Gods in a fun way.
So this is glorious good fun.
I love characters from myth/fiction transposed to different situations - Gods Behaving Badly served up exactly what I wanted. Aphrodite and Apollo shagging in a dilapidated bathroom kick off proceedings in the exact irreverent tone this sort of story needs, in an Orpheus/Eurydice update featuring an engineer and a cleaner.
The gods moved to London cheaply during the plague and haven't left since. No one believes in them any more, so their powers are dwindling. Neil and Alice are mortals too afraid to tell each other that they love each other. Apollo is due a dose of revenge that (surprise) implicates poor Alice.
The gods themselves are creatively re-imagined - Eros as an adorable born-again Christian hiding his wings under sweaters, and Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, among others. Apollo is a hokey psychic TV host. I wish we'd had more of Demeter, pottering in the garden, dismayed at the fading of her power to make plants grow. Artemis is dour, sex-repulsed (this is actually done really well), and missing her beautiful hunting hounds, having settled for being a dogwalker for pugs and spaniels. She does most of the plot moving, sometimes begrudgingly.
Unfortunately that plot gets too big to be satisfactory, and that's where it loses control. A journey to the underworld, to Styx, a battle with Cerberus, and finally meeting Hades and Persephone, is crammed into the final quarter. As often happens with this sort of thing, the scene-setting becomes ropey and too expansive. Palaces are "imagined" into being by the dead architects, but it's hard to understand or to care. Most of the fun comes from the minutiae of gods doing ordinary things.
A deus ex machina rounds things off, the gods are restored to full power (through the power of belief, no less, which I'm pretty sure is a Doctor Who plot), and the mortals get married. It's not a terrible ending. It's just a bit too high fantasy.
Still a good read, for the majority, and the characterisation is a strong high point that manages to cover over the cracks that start to show by the end - unlike Hephaestus, last seen re-papering the bedroom for Aphrodite.
I love characters from myth/fiction transposed to different situations - Gods Behaving Badly served up exactly what I wanted. Aphrodite and Apollo shagging in a dilapidated bathroom kick off proceedings in the exact irreverent tone this sort of story needs, in an Orpheus/Eurydice update featuring an engineer and a cleaner.
The gods moved to London cheaply during the plague and haven't left since. No one believes in them any more, so their powers are dwindling. Neil and Alice are mortals too afraid to tell each other that they love each other. Apollo is due a dose of revenge that (surprise) implicates poor Alice.
The gods themselves are creatively re-imagined - Eros as an adorable born-again Christian hiding his wings under sweaters, and Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, among others. Apollo is a hokey psychic TV host. I wish we'd had more of Demeter, pottering in the garden, dismayed at the fading of her power to make plants grow. Artemis is dour, sex-repulsed (this is actually done really well), and missing her beautiful hunting hounds, having settled for being a dogwalker for pugs and spaniels. She does most of the plot moving, sometimes begrudgingly.
Unfortunately that plot gets too big to be satisfactory, and that's where it loses control. A journey to the underworld, to Styx, a battle with Cerberus, and finally meeting Hades and Persephone, is crammed into the final quarter. As often happens with this sort of thing, the scene-setting becomes ropey and too expansive. Palaces are "imagined" into being by the dead architects, but it's hard to understand or to care. Most of the fun comes from the minutiae of gods doing ordinary things.
A deus ex machina rounds things off, the gods are restored to full power (through the power of belief, no less, which I'm pretty sure is a Doctor Who plot), and the mortals get married. It's not a terrible ending. It's just a bit too high fantasy.
Still a good read, for the majority, and the characterisation is a strong high point that manages to cover over the cracks that start to show by the end - unlike Hephaestus, last seen re-papering the bedroom for Aphrodite.
Is this book a literary masterpiece? No. Is it easy to read, light hearted and enjoyable? Yes. I raced through this book pretty quickly, enjoying all the plot building antics along the way. The concept is a good idea and the world building of the Underworld was nice.
As both a mythology fan and a structural engineer, I feel very seen by this book. It’s a delightful modern take on the Ancient Greek myths, and the characters feel very true to the originals.