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A review by christinecc
Argo by Mark Knowles
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Look, I know I don't like every Greek mythology retelling book, but I still seek them out with the sense of hope akin to a spider rebuilding a web between a car and a parking lot ceiling. Like, this one is going to stick. Definitely this one. And once again, I am proven wrong.
"Argo" is certainly not good, nor is it laugh-out-loud bad (or my other favorite, frisbee-across-the-room bad). But despite its inherently adventure-packed subject matter, "Argo" is dreadfully, dreadfully boring.
If you're not familiar with the myth of Jason, the Argonauts, and the quest for the Golden Fleece, "Argo" is an... acceptable introduction? Except it's really not because, as I said, it takes a sea quest adventure and sucks all the life out of it. It tells the story of Jason of Iolchos, whose royal father was deposed by Jason's evil half-uncle. Not only do we spend the first 10% of the book with the evil uncle (who is passably entertaining as a paranoid villain in the vein of the king sitting under the Sword of Damocles), but when we switch to Jason the story has all the swiftness of molasses. Everything from this point on is a trudge, waist-high, through plot that is always explained and never truly lived. The characters are indistinguishable and invisible except as needed for a few lines of dialogue here and there. And that brings me to another feature of the book.
What is the point of a novelization of the Argonautica if you are not, for some reason, going to make the most of its ensemble cast? Why include Herakles and Hylas and do nothing with them? Why include Orpheus if all he's going to do is sing once and then decry the fact that if only his wife had worn sandals, she wouldn't have died of a snake bite? (With a reaction from the crew about as emotional as, "That's rough, buddy.") Worse, Peleus the father of Achilles is here, but does that matter? Could he have been replaced by another bland character named Steve? Yes, yes he could have. And so could the two other stand-out heroes, Castor and Pollux, who are fresh into exile after a spat concerning the Atreides and their sister Helen of Sparta (soon to be Helen of Troy, but if you're new to the weird timeline of mythology, Helen's still a kid here, probably between 10 and 13 years old if we assume Theseus hasn't headed over to fight the Minotaur yet because his father hasn't met Medea yet... and neither does Jason until the end of this book).
Ah, Medea. The only interesting character of the Jason myth, because let me assure you, Jason is a very boring man until he is allowed to get into some morally muddy waters in Medea's hometown. Medea in Mark Knowles's universe is adept at magic, which is really just pharmacology, and she worships Hekate instead of all those patriarchal gods that her father prefers. Ok, sure, why not? But what drives Medea, here? What makes a princess betray and abandon her family to marry a stranger and travel to foreign lands with no one but her new husband and her wits for support? Well, Knowles does try to give her agency. As in the myth, Medea's knowledge and skills are crucial to Jason stealing the Golden Fleece. But as for personality and motivation, she's about as empty as the other characters. I don't need Medea to be good or bad, I don't even mind if she's petty or earnest or naive or cunning. I just want her to be interesting. This Medea misses the mark.
Overall, I can't recommend this book, especially to someone who is new to the source material and risks being put off the Jason myth altogether. I respect the attempt, and it clearly took a lot of work by virtue of the LENGTH of the book. But considering the page count reaches a staggering 528 pages and stops right after Jason steals the Fleece (while apparently planning to cover Jason & Medea's Mediterranean honeymoon & crime cruise in a future sequel), the book is too long and too bloated to justify the length.
Recommended only if, like me, you simply must read another Greek mythology retelling. Otherwise I think readers would be better served by the d'Aulaires, Edith Hamilton, or even Stephen Fry's recent mythology books.
Thank you to Netgalley and Aria & Aries for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
"Argo" is certainly not good, nor is it laugh-out-loud bad (or my other favorite, frisbee-across-the-room bad). But despite its inherently adventure-packed subject matter, "Argo" is dreadfully, dreadfully boring.
If you're not familiar with the myth of Jason, the Argonauts, and the quest for the Golden Fleece, "Argo" is an... acceptable introduction? Except it's really not because, as I said, it takes a sea quest adventure and sucks all the life out of it. It tells the story of Jason of Iolchos, whose royal father was deposed by Jason's evil half-uncle. Not only do we spend the first 10% of the book with the evil uncle (who is passably entertaining as a paranoid villain in the vein of the king sitting under the Sword of Damocles), but when we switch to Jason the story has all the swiftness of molasses. Everything from this point on is a trudge, waist-high, through plot that is always explained and never truly lived. The characters are indistinguishable and invisible except as needed for a few lines of dialogue here and there. And that brings me to another feature of the book.
What is the point of a novelization of the Argonautica if you are not, for some reason, going to make the most of its ensemble cast? Why include Herakles and Hylas and do nothing with them? Why include Orpheus if all he's going to do is sing once and then decry the fact that if only his wife had worn sandals, she wouldn't have died of a snake bite? (With a reaction from the crew about as emotional as, "That's rough, buddy.") Worse, Peleus the father of Achilles is here, but does that matter? Could he have been replaced by another bland character named Steve? Yes, yes he could have. And so could the two other stand-out heroes, Castor and Pollux, who are fresh into exile after a spat concerning the Atreides and their sister Helen of Sparta (soon to be Helen of Troy, but if you're new to the weird timeline of mythology, Helen's still a kid here, probably between 10 and 13 years old if we assume Theseus hasn't headed over to fight the Minotaur yet because his father hasn't met Medea yet... and neither does Jason until the end of this book).
Ah, Medea. The only interesting character of the Jason myth, because let me assure you, Jason is a very boring man until he is allowed to get into some morally muddy waters in Medea's hometown. Medea in Mark Knowles's universe is adept at magic, which is really just pharmacology, and she worships Hekate instead of all those patriarchal gods that her father prefers. Ok, sure, why not? But what drives Medea, here? What makes a princess betray and abandon her family to marry a stranger and travel to foreign lands with no one but her new husband and her wits for support? Well, Knowles does try to give her agency. As in the myth, Medea's knowledge and skills are crucial to Jason stealing the Golden Fleece. But as for personality and motivation, she's about as empty as the other characters. I don't need Medea to be good or bad, I don't even mind if she's petty or earnest or naive or cunning. I just want her to be interesting. This Medea misses the mark.
Overall, I can't recommend this book, especially to someone who is new to the source material and risks being put off the Jason myth altogether. I respect the attempt, and it clearly took a lot of work by virtue of the LENGTH of the book. But considering the page count reaches a staggering 528 pages and stops right after Jason steals the Fleece (while apparently planning to cover Jason & Medea's Mediterranean honeymoon & crime cruise in a future sequel), the book is too long and too bloated to justify the length.
Recommended only if, like me, you simply must read another Greek mythology retelling. Otherwise I think readers would be better served by the d'Aulaires, Edith Hamilton, or even Stephen Fry's recent mythology books.
Thank you to Netgalley and Aria & Aries for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.