Rating: 1.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Perseus is destined to be a great hero…whether he wants to be or not. Born a demigod and son of Zeus, he has always lived in the shadow of a prophecy he neither understands nor desires. Perseus would prefer to spend time with his lover and best friend Antolios. But the gods will not be denied, especially by one of their own offspring. So Perseus finds himself propelled upon one adventure after another, always struggling to balance his need for independence with the demands placed upon him by his father and the other gods of Mount Olympus. As he finds himself perceptually pulled away from Antolios and forced to live a life not always of his choosing, Perseus must learn to put his faith in something greater than himself.
As a survivor of four years of high school Latin, the Greek myths (and their Roman cousins) have a special place in my heart. Once you’ve slogged through dozens of translations, it’s hard not to develop an affinity for the ludicrous exploits of the randy gods on Mount Olympus. As a result, I was really looking forward to King of the Storm and found myself incredibly disappointed. The author indicates this is meant to be something of an alternate history or a fantastical adaptation of the classic myth. It does contain many aspects of the Greek myth, but never feels particularly original or new and instead it read as a weakly constructed rendering that failed on most levels. The writing is technically fine, but lacks much depth and never really grabbed my attention. Perhaps my biggest problem is how lifeless much of the book felt. Perseus was the first and perhaps the greatest of the heroes from Greek myth and his battle again Medusa is quite literally the stuff of legends. But in King of The Storm, the entire incident plays out as a rushed, almost slapdash affair and many of his heroic adventures end up getting the same treatment. The result is a rather boring interpretation that failed to either elevate Perseus as a character or to engage the reader. This happened on multiple occasions as seemingly crucial plot moments weren’t fully developed, barely addressed, or written without intensity or energy.
It doesn’t help that Perseus isn’t particularly likable. In that regard he is like many of mythological brethren, but I don’t think that’s the angle the author was striving to achieve. He tends to be whiny, routinely cheats on his long-suffering wife (this book is as much m/f as m/m though the m/f is off page), and is generally altogether un-heroic. Antolios is rarely seen, which given his importance to Perseus doesn’t make sense. They spend most of the book drifting in and out of one another’s lives, but in no particularly meaningful way. It was hard to connect to either of these characters on anything but a superficial level and their romance, such as it was, never seemed particularly believable.
I never try to be overly negative in my reviews because I understand how deeply connected to their works authors can be. They often put months or years of work into a project in the hopes that someone will appreciate their efforts. With King of the Storm, while I indeed appreciate the author’s attempt at putting a new twist on an old tale, the execution just wasn’t there. Much of the book felt tired and failed to really grab me as a reader. Unless you are just a diehard fan of Greek myth, I’d have to suggest giving this one a pass.
