The bridge between worlds hangs on lyre strings

Book Review:  Olympus Bound by Jordanna Max Brodsky

Six months have passed since Selene and her friends thwarted Saturn's ritual on the Statue of Liberty.  Believing it best for him, she allowed Theo to believe she died in the effort.  She mourns his absence and the deaths of her siblings while remaining focused on finding Saturn and ending his threat once and for all.

Theo mourns Selene desperately.  He researches ancient rituals in the hopes of resurrecting her.  They will meet again and it will be painful for both of them; he feels betrayed and she realizes that she didn't do him any favors.  As with the other two books, however, there's a larger story in play.  Saturn has Zeus and he's planning to sacrifice him.  Selene and the remaining gods gather at Mount Olympus for the first time in centuries. 

This is an outstanding trilogy.  Brodsky merges religion, mythology, ancient mysteries, and science into an insightful and compelling storyline.  Her characters are layered and utterly believable.  We meet Athena in this book and I loved the story Brodsky created for her.

I admit that I thought it was best for Theo and Selene to part in the second book.  He's a mortal and she's a goddess -- even if she wasn't carrying millennia of baggage, age will come between them sooner rather than later.  Ruth seemed a better fit for Theo and Flint (aka Hephaestus) seemed a better fit for Selene.  Love is not logical, however.  Brodsky has convinced me that Theo and Selene belong together.  I highly recommend this trilogy.

Manhattan has many secrets. Some are older than the city itself.

Book Review:  Winter of the Gods by Jordanna Max Brodsky

It's been 3 months since Selene (Artemis), a few of her fellow Greek gods, and a Professor of Classic Mythology, worked together to uncover a cult trying to resurrect the Eleusinian Mysteries.  She's in a foul mood -- she hasn't punished a wrongdoer in at least a week, and it's December in Manhattan -- all of the hallmarks of Christmas are grating on her nerves -- she has a lot of rage to vent.  She is enjoying getting cozy with Professor Theo Shulz, however.  When he's not singing or humming Christmas carols, that is.  Or joking about sex.  She says that she spent enough time being what mankind imagined, and now she will decide who she is -- but she's not entirely sure it works that way.  Her powers are already significantly diminished from what they were when men believed in her.  What happens if she chooses to let go of her chastity, one of the main attributes men imbued her with?

That's a question she'll have to come back to.  Another cult has made a sacrifice, a man sprawled atop Wall Street's Charging Bull statue, surrounded by a variety of ritualistic symbols.  When she and Theo receive the call from Detective Freeman, Selene assumes the worst -- that her fellow gods are replicating the methods used by Orion, in the hopes of regaining their former powers.  She's wrong -- this time it's the gods who are being sacrificed.  But by whom and why?

Aside of Selene's choice of punishment for a rapist, which seems likely to have consequences for the bears involved (which she should have considered), I really enjoyed this book.  The mystery is excellent.  What I loved though is that Brodsky again writes her characters true to the original myths but allows for believable growth and regret.  All of the gods have acted rashly and criminally over the millennia and this storyline confronts them with their misdeeds.

I may not have bought the quick romance between Selene and Theo in the first book, The Immortals, but I bought the relationship struggles they face in this book.  Utterly and completely.  And I was happy with the way things were between them at the end.  We'll see what happens in the next book, Olympus Bound.  It's checked out and on my nightstand at home!

The Greek Gods are alive and well and living in Manhattan

Book Review:  The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky

When people stopped believing in the gods, the gods began to diminish.  They still walk among mortals though.  Artemis now goes by the name Selene DiSilva and she calls Manhattan home.  Her powers may be greatly diminished but she can still handle mortals.  Or can she?  As the story begins and she intervenes to save yet another woman from an abusive man, she finds herself wondering if this is the fight she won’t win.  She does win, but just barely.  Has she finally grown so weak that a mere man can defeat her?  As troubling as that thought is, Selene soon discovers there’s something that frightens her even more.  Someone is trying to resurrect the Eleusinian Mysteries and they are upping the ante by using human sacrifice.  Selene suspects that it’s one of her fellow gods, trying to regain former powers.

This is the first entry in the Olympus Bound series and it’s intriguing.  I liked Brodsky’s interpretation of not only the histories of the Greek gods, but also what they would be like if they were among us today.  And I appreciated Selene’s observations about her fellow gods, particularly Persephone.

The mystery was okay — the gods don’t really hide themselves all that well but why should they bother?  No one believes in them anyway.  I had most of the bad guys figured out but not the main one.  That one caught me by surprise but in a good way.  The tension level was excellent.

The romance, and yes, there is one, sort of — that didn’t really work for me.  Let me amend that.  I felt the romance of Artemis and Orion.  Brodsky sold that very well.  Selene and this guy, not so much.  Aside of the glimpses of her past with Orion, Selene is a pretty icy character.  During her heyday, she may have allowed herself to care about her handmaidens, but these days she keeps everyone at an emotional distance.  She protects women but she doesn’t care about any one of them individually.  I would expect that countless years of only exposing herself to the worst of men would have hardened her against them particularly.  Yet somehow,  while trying to figure out the next move of a fellow immortal intent on sacrificing human lives for godly power, she finds herself drawn to a man she originally suspected of murder?  Over the course of a few books, maybe.  All in the same book though?  Which took place in something like 10 days?  It felt rushed.  Not a deal-breaker though.  

Originally posted on my wordpress blog on January 12, 2017.  Reposting it here as I'm preparing to review its sequels, Winter of the Gods and Olympus Bound.