Book Review: Ye Gods! By Tom Holt

Jason, the hero and the son of god, is running around filling his destiny, following Hercules’s steps. But you might say his heart isn’t in it. Being a hero can be tedious. Then there are your aunts and uncles, and dad, the Greek gods, who are using you for their amusement. Plus, all is not well amongst the gods, and here our hero Jason is, in the middle of it. That’s the premise in a nutshell, and I love how Tom Holt pokes fun at this hero myth, tearing it apart. He continues emphasizing the flaws of the gods, showing how silly, petty, and human they are. He has transported the myths to the 90s setting (no cellphones and DVDs, not when the book was written.)

While the setting is fantastic, and there are some clever insights into human nature and our myths, the book falls short with its plot, pacing, and characters. Or this was the case for me. I love Tom Holt books, most of them at least, but sometimes they are too messy for their own good, and this was one of those books. The distracting jokes distract the flow. The characters are annoying. I know the characters are meant to be flawed. I like that fact, but their function is broken to either serve the plot or some joke, and that gets annoying and soon. 

I’m afraid this book didn’t work for me. I cannot remember any longer what I thought when I read it the first time around. But if you are thinking of picking up this as your first book to read by Tom Holt, please don’t. I would either start from Expecting Someone Taller or The Portable Door, or even being radical and starting with You Don’t Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps. The last book was the first book I ever read by Tom Holt, and while it was in the middle of the J.W. Wells & Co. series, I fell in love. So let’s see if I still is the case when I get to it in my attempt to reread all Tom Holt’s books.

Thank you for reading. Have an amusing day!