A review by chrysfey
Grumpy Old Gods: Volume 1 by Elizabeth Shaffer, Juneta Key, Katharina Gerlach
4.0
I received a copy of this anthology, and I am SUPER late with reviewing it. For that, I can only apologize profusely. (Sorry!!!) I was really looking forward to reading these stories, because I love anything to do with gods and goddess. Honestly, some were hit or miss for me personally, partly due to a few having retirement home story lines, but also for what I'm going to bring up at the end of my review...
My Top 4 Favorites:
- Out of Luck
- A Low-Key Game
- The New Medical Executive
- Whither Athena?
Pan - This story seemed to follow a story and characters already established, so it was hard to connect to it. I really liked the part when the ghosts come into it and wish that could've been longer. Good writing.
A Low-Key Game Night - A game night to remember. The story, the characters, and the narrative and perspective of Jennifer made me laugh. I want to read more about Jennifer, Loki, and Narfi's family. Kept my attention. Great writing.
For Want of a Feather - Confusing beginning (and confusing writing). I liked that Anubis was a character, though.
Out of Luck - I enjoyed reading about so many gods, and I loved learning about Sygana, the goddess of good luck. The part about the farting made me laugh. Literally out loud. I'd say this is the funniest story out of the bunch.
Rule 34 - I was happy to find a story featuring Demeter. I wasn't prepared for the conversation about human sexuality, though. However, it was an interesting story, with interesting characters.
Immanent Domain - A story about a trickster called Coyote, who brings a dating game show to life for a woman who is too smart for him. Unique concept that stood out with funny moments.
God of the Morning - A story featuring the god of morning and the goddess of night and twilight. Not much stood out for me, but I loved the goddesses and family dynamic.
Zeus Really Needs To Go - Zeus as an old, grumpy god in a wheelchair is hilarious, but the stuff about the #MeToo movement made me cringe. With that said, I liked the "time's up" line at the very end. *claps*
Breaking the Habit - Odin needs a break and causes mayhem with folks at a retirement home. I could picture the things they did clearly, which made me smile.
The New Chief Medical Executive - Written as a memorandum for record, making it a neat format for storytelling. The rundown of all the gods and goddesses at the facility is quite humorous. I enjoyed it. The part about Elvis gave me a kick. The twist at the end was genius, too.
Play Hooky - Death has retired and his first assistant is stuck with all the applications for the job. I liked reading about what the job seekers did while waiting to be interviewed.
Harbinger of Doom - A surprising retirement home that shouldn't even exist. I liked the emotion that was brought into the story with the characters.
Whither Athena? - Someone is looking for a missing person...a god...Athena. She's gone and the world is falling to chaos. I was happy to read a story featuring Athena. This story is perfect for these times we are living in now.
I debated whether or not to add this. Usually I don't mention this because, as an author and editor, I know an error here and there (especially in a novel) is normal and can't be helped, but...for such short stories, they all (some more than others) had quite a bit of errors (missing words and quotation marks and punctuation marks, etc). I tried to not let it get to me, but after a while, it unfortunately did. :(
NOTE: Some or all of these errors may have been fixed, since my copy was from a year ago, but I can't be certain.
Nevertheless! The stories that I enjoyed I'd give 4 stars, and my Top 4 Favorites I'd give 5 stars.
I rated them all for myself and found the average of them combined - 3.8 stars (rounded up)
My Top 4 Favorites:
- Out of Luck
- A Low-Key Game
- The New Medical Executive
- Whither Athena?
Pan - This story seemed to follow a story and characters already established, so it was hard to connect to it. I really liked the part when the ghosts come into it and wish that could've been longer. Good writing.
A Low-Key Game Night - A game night to remember. The story, the characters, and the narrative and perspective of Jennifer made me laugh. I want to read more about Jennifer, Loki, and Narfi's family. Kept my attention. Great writing.
For Want of a Feather - Confusing beginning (and confusing writing). I liked that Anubis was a character, though.
Out of Luck - I enjoyed reading about so many gods, and I loved learning about Sygana, the goddess of good luck. The part about the farting made me laugh. Literally out loud. I'd say this is the funniest story out of the bunch.
Rule 34 - I was happy to find a story featuring Demeter. I wasn't prepared for the conversation about human sexuality, though. However, it was an interesting story, with interesting characters.
Immanent Domain - A story about a trickster called Coyote, who brings a dating game show to life for a woman who is too smart for him. Unique concept that stood out with funny moments.
God of the Morning - A story featuring the god of morning and the goddess of night and twilight. Not much stood out for me, but I loved the goddesses and family dynamic.
Zeus Really Needs To Go - Zeus as an old, grumpy god in a wheelchair is hilarious, but the stuff about the #MeToo movement made me cringe. With that said, I liked the "time's up" line at the very end. *claps*
Breaking the Habit - Odin needs a break and causes mayhem with folks at a retirement home. I could picture the things they did clearly, which made me smile.
The New Chief Medical Executive - Written as a memorandum for record, making it a neat format for storytelling. The rundown of all the gods and goddesses at the facility is quite humorous. I enjoyed it. The part about Elvis gave me a kick. The twist at the end was genius, too.
Play Hooky - Death has retired and his first assistant is stuck with all the applications for the job. I liked reading about what the job seekers did while waiting to be interviewed.
Harbinger of Doom - A surprising retirement home that shouldn't even exist. I liked the emotion that was brought into the story with the characters.
Whither Athena? - Someone is looking for a missing person...a god...Athena. She's gone and the world is falling to chaos. I was happy to read a story featuring Athena. This story is perfect for these times we are living in now.
I debated whether or not to add this. Usually I don't mention this because, as an author and editor, I know an error here and there (especially in a novel) is normal and can't be helped, but...for such short stories, they all (some more than others) had quite a bit of errors (missing words and quotation marks and punctuation marks, etc). I tried to not let it get to me, but after a while, it unfortunately did. :(
NOTE: Some or all of these errors may have been fixed, since my copy was from a year ago, but I can't be certain.
Nevertheless! The stories that I enjoyed I'd give 4 stars, and my Top 4 Favorites I'd give 5 stars.
I rated them all for myself and found the average of them combined - 3.8 stars (rounded up)