Not Quite the Illiad

Wicked Beauty, the 3rd novel in Katee Robert's Dark Olympus series, essentially rewrites Homeric epic poetry in a fun way. 

We have 3 narrators here. Helen (here, Perseus' sister, son of the former Zeus), Achilles (who in this is an orphan, raised in Hera's orphanage), and Patrocles (here the beloved son of of two lesbians who left Olympian politics to protect their family.) At the start, we learn the previous Ares has died, and Athena is running the trials to replace him. Zeus sweetens the pot by giving Helen's hand in marriage to whomever wins the trials. 

Helen isn't pleased by the latter, and enters the trials herself to retain her autonomy. Which sets her in opposition to Achilles, who is second in command to Athena, and his lover Patrocles.  Well, except for the fact that Achilles is so convinced of his own path to the title, that he really has no beefs with Helen. Helen, it seems, knew Patrocles as a child. 

As the trials begin, Achilles and Patrocles and Helen form a triad relationship, which amazingly allows for the two men to continue to have sex with each other as well as her. (In what bits of this style of writing I've read, two men generally won't touch each other once a woman gets involved. Not the case here.) 

One of the better parts comes from the revelation of what a jackass Paris is. Indeed, during his prior to the narrative romance with Helen, he spent most of his time destroying her self esteem. 

Honestly, even if this series seriously deviates from the source material, it has grown on me. I find myself amused by what the author can come up with to reimagine characters and stories. I do hope we eventually get a book focused on Hermes and Dionysis, since they remain the two most fun characters supporting the narratives.

Burn away mortality

 Finished Electric Idol yesterday, the second book in Katee Robert's Dark Olympus series. While not quite as smutty as the first one, it's in there, but we also get a better look at the setting than we did in the first book. 

This one starts similarly to the first one, as Demeter is trying to marry off another of her daughters to Zeus, recently promoted to the position. (Seems Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades are legacy positions; with the previous Zeus dying off last book, his son Perseus has now become Zeus.) In this case, Demeter is negotiating to get Psyche to marry Zeus, which is annoying Aphrodite, who traditionally finds Zeus's wife. As such, Aphrodite tells her son to bring her Psyche's heart. 

Psyche isn't exactly thrilled with this prospect; besides the fact he's mildly attracted to Psyche, she's been very nice to him, despite his reputation, not undeserved, of being Aphrodite's button man. 

As such, when he arranges a meeting with her to poison her and take her heart, his heart changes, and they start a game to stave of both power hungry mothers. They start a fake romance, complete with social media posts building off a rather suggestive picture taken by the paparazzi at the start. They get married with Hermes presiding, and Zeus's sister Helen and Eris as witnesses. 

None of which particularly appeases Demeter or Aphrodite. 

At any rate, they do have their romance, and the resolution involves Psyche using her particular gifts to take acre of the situation. 

Honestly, I liked it better than I thought I would. While the original myth is not among my favorites (in one version, Eros leaves Psyche when she figures out who she is, in another Aphrodite tortures her until her mortality burns away), this was a satisfying take on the entire affair. I'll also add I'm a bit less worried about the next book involving a love triangle involving Achilles, Helen, and Patrocles... here, at least, the rather sexually fluid nature of the Greek myths, while not explored in smutty detail, is at least discussed, as Psyche discusses affairs with women and men, while Eros admits to sleeping with several people of both genders. Or Aphrodite trying to set Zeus up with Ganymede at the outset. While I doubt the next book will include explicit content beyond what's standard in dark erotica, I think the relationships will be. 

But yeah, if you enjoy mythology and like erotica, this series will likely entertain you.

Mythological SMUT!

 So, I got Neon Gods by Katee Robert out of the library, mainly because I read the back of the sequel at work, and the premise amused me. What I didn't catch is that it's erotic fiction. Which certainly opened my eyes in a few passages.

The premise here is that Olympus is a fairly large city with mortals filling leadership roles in the city under titles taken from Greek mythology. Most of the 13 are in the Upper City, with Hades living in the Lower City across the River Styx. 

We open on Persephone, here again a daughter of Demeter, and her sisters Psyche, Eurydice, and Callisto. They're kind of like Kardassians, with Demeter playing Kris Jenner. Difference being here, Demeter promises Persephone to Zeus for marriage (a bad idea, since this Zeus has been through 3 Hera, all of whom wound up dead by his hand). Persephone flees Zeus and winds up crossing the Styx and being semi rescued by Hades. 

Hades and Persephone make a deal, wherein they'll pretend to be in a relationship to get Zeus to back off. Which mainly serves to write some really elaborate adult scenes of Hades deflowering Persephone. 

There are some nice allusions to the myths this came out of, like Persephone's safe word being "Pomegranate", and their adoption of 3 puppies (Cerberus, Scylla, and Charybdis). I kind of like the female Hermes and her oddball partnership with Dionysus (I'd love to read a book centered on them.) I enjoyed that Persephone kept her autonomy throughout, not sublimating her identity into Hades. (Indeed, her persona is one of a Brat, which seems to be a rarity in these things.) I enjoyed that there was a plot in there, and the focus wasn't completely on the scenes. (Also a rarity, I've found.) I thoroughly laughed at exactly how ruthless Demeter turned out to be.

I do wish there was more of an exploration of the setting, as to whether or not the 13 are maybe descended from the Gods themselves, or how Olympus came about. 

While this is not something I'd normally seek out, it did capture and keep my attention, and leave me wanting to see what happens next.