Greek mythology meets murder mystery meets historical fiction - all my favorite genres come together in The Immortals - the first book of the Olympus Bound trilogy written by Jordanna Max Brodsky. I love the basic concept - immortal Greek Gods walking amongst mortals, and while their depleted lives are a far cry from their divine existence as mighty Olympians, they have survived through the millenia, taking on new identities as required. Readers not familiar with Greek mythology will benefit from a quick Google search on who's who on Mt Olympus - starting with Artemis, her twin Apollo and all their step-siblings - most of them do make an appearance in the book!
The ritualistic killing of the murder victim is as described as in the long-forgotten Eleusinian mysteries, and Selene must find and put an end to the mysterious cult which is using human sacrifice to restore the ancient powers of the God being worshipped. Reluctantly, she enlists the help of her estranged family, and Classics professor, Theo - a mortal, who finds himself in the unlikely position of being Artemis' sidekick! Needless to say, after the requisite twists and turns, a couple more murders, bullets and arrows flying - the culprits are brought to justice!! Alls well that ends well!!
This type of fantasy novel inherently requires a suspension of disbelief - we're talking Greek Gods here, after all!! Even with that in mind, some parts of the book are simply too outrageous!! The whole romantic angle with Theo and Selene - that just didn't sit right. I mean, I get why Theo is smitten - but Artemis?? Her attraction to Theo is unfathomable, her ambivalence about hanging onto her 'chastity' (ahem!) - would an immortal goddess really be swayed by mortal desires of the flesh - comes across as an awkard attempt to add tension to the story - so not needed!! And while I enjoyed the little excursions into history through Selene's memories - Artemis killing Alexander Hamilton - now that truly made me LOL!!
The premise of the book is great, but the execution is a bit sketchy. Some parts almost come off as a Young Adult fiction - in fact, if it hadn't been for the gruesome murders, I would have happily handed this one to my daughter! I happened to borrow the second book of the trilogy at the same time as the first, so the question of whether I'll continue with the series is moot - which brings us to Winter of the Gods...
The inherent problem here is the repetition - at the end of the day, we have a fading Greek goddess detective, another string of murders, and a divine justice ending - there are just too many similarities with the first book. This time around it is the Gods themselves that are being sacrificed, and Theo has a much larger role to play - apparently being 'Friend of the Gods' comes with benefits such as being able to use divine weapons.
We meet more of Selene's family - including Eros, the God of Love, who is now a gay French dude, Phillipe, who runs - of all things - a matchmaking site!! And there are tons more references to Greek myths - all of which should make this book tons more interesting - but it doesn't really flow as it should. Theo's new friend, Minh, just happens to be a archaeo-astronomist (is that even a thing?), who is easily able to decipher the meaning of the sacrificial animals - really, talk about coincidences!! And while on Minh, the whole thing with teaching her boyfriend a lesson - almost too much to bear (pun fully intended!!)! Let's not even mention the Selene-Theo "will they - won't they" track - it is just too much like a bad teen movie!!
Needless to say, I did not enjoy this sequel. I can imagine that the third book will take us to Mt. Olympus, and a face-to-face with Zeus - and yes, I do intend to read the third one when it comes out!!
