Scan barcode
A review by princessleopard
Bellerophon: Son of Poseidon by Cathleen Townsend
4.0
Preface: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
After a training exercise goes horrifically wrong, Bellerophon, son of a Greek king, finds himself exiled and destitute. He wants nothing more than to marry his betrothed and live an ordinary life, but now that he is no longer a prince, he has nothing to offer her. Lero must pledge himself to a new king in order to earn enough money to marry his betrothed - but the gods have other plans.
Honestly, this was pretty good! Ancient Greece is a unique setting, and it was actually handled pretty well. There are a lot of details of the day-to-day of Greek life and customs that similar novels skim over, which I enjoyed. Religion is especially hammered in as being part of the characters' daily lives, in ways both big and small.
The main protagonist, Lero, is honorable and likable. He's easy to root for, as is his main desire - to marry his betrothed, whom he dearly loves. I found myself just waiting for his betrothed to get the axe in order to spur him into some sort of revenge plot or something similar, but thankfully that doesn't happen. The author actually respects her female characters enough not to make them just pawns of the narrative. The male characters are interesting too - a lot of them are just brawny boneheads, but some of them have some shades of complexity to them, which I appreciated.
I will say the novel does get weaker around the 2/3rds mark, when the plot switches from the basic conceit (earning money for marriage) to something very different. It's still enjoyable, but definitely weirder, especially when it introduces Lero's brother. The bits with the gods are also kinda weak, in that they don't amount to anything aside from explaining why things happen to Lero the way they do. I expected Hera to be running some sort of scheme to get back at Aphrodite for neglecting her son, but that doesn't happen. The god bits end up feeling very shallow.
Other than that, this novel was a pleasure to read. If you like action-driven stories, or swords-and-sandals films, you'll very much enjoy this book.
After a training exercise goes horrifically wrong, Bellerophon, son of a Greek king, finds himself exiled and destitute. He wants nothing more than to marry his betrothed and live an ordinary life, but now that he is no longer a prince, he has nothing to offer her. Lero must pledge himself to a new king in order to earn enough money to marry his betrothed - but the gods have other plans.
Honestly, this was pretty good! Ancient Greece is a unique setting, and it was actually handled pretty well. There are a lot of details of the day-to-day of Greek life and customs that similar novels skim over, which I enjoyed. Religion is especially hammered in as being part of the characters' daily lives, in ways both big and small.
The main protagonist, Lero, is honorable and likable. He's easy to root for, as is his main desire - to marry his betrothed, whom he dearly loves. I found myself just waiting for his betrothed to get the axe in order to spur him into some sort of revenge plot or something similar, but thankfully that doesn't happen. The author actually respects her female characters enough not to make them just pawns of the narrative. The male characters are interesting too - a lot of them are just brawny boneheads, but some of them have some shades of complexity to them, which I appreciated.
I will say the novel does get weaker around the 2/3rds mark, when the plot switches from the basic conceit (earning money for marriage) to something very different. It's still enjoyable, but definitely weirder, especially when it introduces Lero's brother. The bits with the gods are also kinda weak, in that they don't amount to anything aside from explaining why things happen to Lero the way they do. I expected Hera to be running some sort of scheme to get back at Aphrodite for neglecting her son, but that doesn't happen. The god bits end up feeling very shallow.
Other than that, this novel was a pleasure to read. If you like action-driven stories, or swords-and-sandals films, you'll very much enjoy this book.