Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
I heard about this book from my younger (college student) sister. The gods only know how she unearthed it. Published almost two years ago, Gods Behaving Badly follows the Greek gods living in contemporary London. Stripped of most of their powers for reasons unknown, the immortal family now lives in a fetid house. They are up to their old tricks; plotting against each other and interfering with mortals, causing much grief to the objects of their attention.
The main characters include Apollo, Aphrodite, Artemis, Eres, a plain and kind mortal woman (Alice) who is in love with a plain and kind mortal man (Neil). In a Washington Post review, Ron Charles wrote, “[Gods Beaving Badly] hovers somewhere between Pride and Prejudice and an episode of ‘Bewitched’.” It had moments of super-silly hilarity, moments of theological insight, and moments where I found myself diappointed. Overall, I wanted a more complicated satire. It had a lot of potential, but in the end, this was just a fun beach read.
I suppose I would recommend this to older teens, looking for something outside the YA genre (because, let’s face it, it gets boring reading about the same teen/high school problems) and to adults who have read Percy Jackson and want to read something similar but for adults.
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R.L. LaFevers
Theodosia, like Percy Jackson, has been touched by the gods. But there are two key differences: this story is set in the early 1900s and it centers around Egyptian Mythology.
Theo’s father is the head curator of London’s Museum of Legends and Antiquities. Her mother is in Egypt at an archaeological dig, sending artifacts home by the crate load. When the arrive, Theo goes to work. Touched by the Goddess Isis, Theodosia has the rare ability to sense curses and to remove curses. She spends much of her time doing just until her mother arrives with the Heart of Egypt. Cursed beyond repair, the Heart of Egypt must be returned to Egypt before it casts England to its doom.
Like Riordan, LaFevers weaves religion, myth, culture and history into a (more) modern adventure. This will join The Lightning Thief on my summer reading list.
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
I picked this up on a recommendation from Rick Riordan at Myth and Mystery. It’s also a best selling YA fantasy that completely escaped my notice – a rare thing, indeed!
Fablehaven is a refuge for mystical and magical creatures, both ‘good’ and ‘evil.’ I use those terms lightly as a Brownie may mistakenly be considered good when it repairs a broken vase. But it did not repair it out of the kindness of its heart, rather its nature is to repair. It does so without reward. Fablehaven is inhabited by creatures from disparate lore: fairies, naiads, golems, demons, and a giant cow. The story is engaging and evenly paced. The interactions between the siblings (Seth, the young risk-taker, and Kendra, the sagacious elder) are often humorous and always believable.
“Seth had never scared easily. This was the kid who had jumped off the roof under the misguided assumption that a garbage bag would work like a parachute” (p 46).
One of my favorite passages occurs early on (p 38), when Seth happens across a mangy witch tied up with a knotted rope and she invites him inside her shack.
“I better not,” he said again. “I don’t see how you could live out here like this and not be crazy.”
“Sometimes good people grow weary of society.” She sounded a little annoyed. “You happened upon me by accident? Out exploring?”
“Actually, I’m selling candy bars for my soccer team. It’s a good cause.”
She stared at him.
“I have my best luck in rich neighborhoods.”
She kept staring.
Seth’s adventurous spirit sets much of the plot in motion, but he also makes an excellent guinea pig for his older, more cautious sister. Passages like this were gold and so I finished this rather quickly. It didn’t have the excellent structure, buildup and bang ending like the Bartimeaus Trilogy but volume one has left enough breadcrumbs to keep me interested. And it had excellent illustrations (something I normally see in juvenile books). So I will be picking up the sequels… but not with same eagerness I grabbed Fire by Cashore.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan
A delightful collection of three short stories set in Riordan’s modern mythological US. It introduces a handful of new mythological characters (Phobos, Deimos, and Persephone) while relating more about characters we already know and love (Annabeth, Percy, Clarisse, Charlie Beckendork). There are also interviews with some of the principal characters. A great book to hold of those Percy Jackson fans until we get our hands on The Last Olympian.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth
I just finished Labyrinth. It definitely had a book 4 feel. Not quite as readable as book 3 but foreshadowing events to come in the fifth and final installment.
Percy is on the cusp of adolescence. He is becoming a better/stronger fighter. He develops his power over water. His feelings toward Annabeth border on the romantic. But Percy continues to show his ignorance, misunderstanding Annabeth’s reaction to the introduction of a red-headed mortal who sees through the Mist – Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Rachel becomes essential to completing this years quest; navigate the Labyrinth to find Daedalus and convince him to help save the Camp Half-Blood from eminent invasion by Luke’s growing army.
We meet many new and interesting mythological characters in this one but sometimes it occasionally feelings like overload. It was great to have a mortal invovled (Rachel) and I hope to see more of her in the next book.
