When her mother has to relocate to curate a gallery show, thirteen-year-old Karen is sent to stay with her father, Zed, a man she barely knows, in
Mt. Olympus.
From Oh My Gods! by Stephanie Cooke and Insha Fitzpatrick, illus. by Juliana Moon
She's surprised by his extravagance, from the carriage drawn by horses in winged costumes at the airport, to her multiple rooms at his mansion, at ordering every type of pizza imaginable since he doesn't know what she likes, and even the wrist corsage he gets her for her first day at Mt. Olympus Junior High. Not only is her dad the mayor of Mt. Olympus, he's the dean of her school. The man is ubiquitous, as well as charming and wealthy.
From Oh My Gods! by Stephanie Cooke and Insha Fitzpatrick, illus. by Juliana Moon
Karen is shown around the school by a really fast guy, Hermes, who introduces her to the different groups, from the Titans football team, to the Fates, random Jeff and the kids of the Mythbusters group who take Karen under their wing. There's the bright Tina who offers to catch her up; the kindly Dita; the guitar-playing Pol; and his sister Art who is wicked with a bow and arrow.
From Oh My Gods! by Stephanie Cooke and Insha Fitzpatrick, illus. by Juliana Moon
When a boy is turned to stone in the library where Karen and Tina are studying, the group meet at a local diner and peruse a book on Monsters and Mythological Creatures, suggesting that a Gorgon might be at work. Karen is flummoxed by their earnestness, convinced they must be part of a LARPing group, that is, until they reveal themselves to be the gods and goddesses Apollo (Pol), Athena (Tina), Aphrodite (Dita), and Artemis. Learning that her father is a god as well, and that Karen may be a demigoddess whose powers could come in at puberty, all the weirdness of her new situation makes some sense.
From Oh My Gods! by Stephanie Cooke and Insha Fitzpatrick, illus. by Juliana Moon
But, there's still the mystery of the boy turned to stone which escalates when Pol is similarly transformed and there is a worry that Karen's arrival may be related to these bizarre crimes.
While fitting in to a new school, making new friends, and establishing a relationship with a previously-absentee father may be familiar circumstances for some young people, Karen's new life is anything but. By telling Karen's coming-of-age story in a world based on the immortals of Greek mythology, Toronto author Stephanie Cooke and American author Insha Fitzpatrick have added a playful dimension to this graphic novel. Everything is a little more fantastic, from the characters and their abilities–details are provided in "Karen's Mythology Notes!!!" at the book's conclusion–to Karen's naive accounting for the weirdness she perceives–like centaurs as drama students really committed to their craft–and the inclusion of so many elements of Greek mythology. Every new reveal, like the diner called Ambrosia and the Fates literally bumping into Karen and her friends and saying "We didn't see this coming" (pg. 123), is cheeky and entertaining. While the illustrations by Brazilian digital artist Juliana Moon have given Karen and her friends the normalcy of young teens with their backpacks, clothes and hair, she also embeds it in the mythological Mt. Olympus and makes it realistic.
I've just learned that this is a series–yay!–and Oh My Gods! is just OMGs #1. The next book, titled The Forgotten Maze, is due out in January 2022, and this is particularly welcome as Stephanie Cooke and Insha Fitzpatrick have left us with an impending adventure starring Jeff and a maze, as well as with wanting to know if and how Karen discovers her powers as a demigoddess.
Written by Kallie George
HarperCollins Canada
978-006274-152-3
224 pp.
Ages 8-12
March 2019
It is the journey that is most important. (pg. 107)
Young Pippa adores working with the horses at an Athenian stables but, when she is distracted from her chores after catching a glimpse of Zeus's steed Nikomedes in the sky, she is fired. A foundling, abandoned by her parents with only a coin engraved with a winged horse, Pippa trudges off, needing to find food and shelter. But when she awakens, she discovers she has been transported to Mount Olympus with other children to compete in the Winged Horse Race, an event that takes place every 100 years to choose Zeus's next steed. Each child has been selected by a god or goddess to ride their winged horse, and Pippa, the only child without an impressive family, has been chosen by Aphrodite to ride Zephyr, a small horse "like a moonbeam." (pg. 40) The other children include Basileus who is to ride the powerful
Kerauno for Ares, the shy Timon riding Skotos for Hades, the only other
girl, Sophia, rider for Athena, Theodoros riding for Poseidon, and the arrogant Khrys riding for
Apollo.
Under the direction of Bellerophon, the hero who'd tamed Pegasus, the child riders learn the many rules for the race, how to train, and how to deal with their gods and goddesses who are constantly squabbling and are willing to bend the rules or even cheat in order to be honoured with having their winged horse selected to replace Nikomedes. While Pippa is falling in love with Zephyr, who is easily distracted by butterflies and such, she is the only one who has not had an opportunity to meet her goddess. Upset with this slight, she and Zephyr fly off and get lost, only to meet the Fates, one of whom suggests Pippa will not win. Pippa is desperate to stay on Mount Olympus and care for Zephyr and so she comes up with a plan to help herself and some friends out. But how will Mount Olympus's immortals react when their rules are ignored, even for a good reason?
Taking a trip to ancient Greece and to visit the immortals who inhabit Mount Olympus is a treat with Kallie George's expressive text and extraordinary story.
The sky was her home now: blue ceilings,
courtyards of clouds, and, if she was out late, stars so close and so
numerous it was like they were woven tight as linen. (pg. 107)
These are worlds mythological and singular in their attributes but Kallie George invites us into that reality as welcome visitors to see the wonders of Mount Olympus and the imperfection of its inhabitants and the parallels between children then and now. There is the bully who threatens and cheats, the know-it-all child, the boy who misses his family, and the orphaned girl whose heart is teeming with love for horses and specifically Zephyr. They may be wearing belted chitons and sandals but they are young people most of us will recognize. And Kallie George's messages about love and trust are universal and perpetual.
Like the other middle-grade series Kallie George has written, including Heartwood Hotel and Magical Animal Adoption Agency,Wings of Olympus is fated to take off as a new series. There are animals and a unique time and setting and a diaphanous sheath of fantasy. I look forward to seeing where the next books land.
"Nikepteros," she whispered. "Victory in flight." (pg. 107)
••••••••••••••••••
Kallie George is launching Wings of Olympus this Thursday in Vancouver for those of you who know any middle-graders who love horses or mythology or a great story. Details here.
If you feel the cover image I've included above is larger than the norm posted here, it is. I wanted to show readers the powerful cover of The Door in the Mountain so that you may well understand why I deferred (worthlessly, I might add) my reading of this young adult novel which helped launch Chizine Publications' new imprint, ChiTeen. The minotaur-like creature frightened me, as I'm sure he would have if I'd met him in a dark, lonely labyrinthe. While there are treacherous acts and despicable characters in The Door in the Mountain, however, I should not have allowed the cover to discourage my reading. I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down. It was like rubber necking at a horrific accident. You had to see how it would turn out.
"How what turns out?" you might ask. Well, if you think the stories of Greek mythology have already been told, you are so wrong. What we won't know how it turns out is the culmination of Ariadne's rivalry with all her god-marked siblings, most especially Asterion, her youngest brother, marked by the Bull-god himself, Poseidon. Seems their mother, Pasiphae slept with Poseidon's priest to ensure that son would be god-marked by Poseidon, same as herself, in conflict with her husband, King Minos, who'd been marked by Zeus. (Gifting by a god manifested itself in powers such as shooting fire from one's hands, controlling water, crafting marble, creating wind, etc. ) Shamefully unmarked, Ariadne often found comfort as a child at the workshop of craftsman, Daedalus, whose own son, Icarus, sprouted feathers and bird-like features, though he could not fly. But as she grew older and more beautiful, she found consolation, at least temporarily, in humiliating, even hurting, her siblings.
One of her first acts of vengeance against her little brother Asterion, then age 2, begins as a ploy to see if her hypothesis that his little horns reacted to heat was valid. Young Asterion endures the pain of being badly burned, but this does not appease Ariadne as the boy's transformation into a bull is seen by her mother and Poseidon's worshippers as another honour bestowed upon him. Now Ariadne receives even less attention as Asterion is regarded as god-like and included in regular rites of the priests and priestesses.
When Ariadne's eldest brother, Androgeus, is murdered while attending the Games in Athens, everything changes. Without the protection of Androgeus and with the assignment of Chara, Asterion's only friend, to be Ariadne's slave, Asterion's fate becomes tragically directed by Ariadne's evil resentment. The Greek myths may suggest where this story may go but don't doubt that Caitlin Sweet will show you another path.
More crushing than a Shakespearean tragedy and more surreal than the myths we heard as children, The Door in the Mountain overwhelms. Jealously begets evil, and propositions become ritual sacrifices, and there are no promises or trust that can survive. The only prospect for redemption must come at the pen of Caitlin Sweet as the fates of all in The Door in the Mountain achieve no resolution. You may hate Ariadne's wickedness and cheer for Chara's eternal caring. But to what end? Only Caitlin Sweet and perhaps the Greek gods know. I will leave that capably in her (their?) hands for now.
nota bene
Again I have learned never to judge a book by its cover. (But, just so you know, ChiZine Publications, the weird face on your address labels and some marketing concepts still creeps me out. Big time.)
Written by Patrick Bowman Ronsdale Press 978-1-55380-186-3 204 pp. Post Hypnotic Press (audiobook) 978-1-927401-63-7 Ages 10+ March, 2013
Trojan teen Alexi from Patrick Bowman's first book in his Odyssey of a Slave series, Torn from Troy (reviewed here on December 8, 2011), continues to serve the Greek commander Lopex (Odysseus) aboard the Greek ship, Pelagios. After the Greeks took Troy and escaped the Cyclops, their wish is to head home to Ithaca after years away. Cursed by the Sea God follows them in their homeward travels, making stops to replenish supplies, to broker trades, and to make repairs as needed. But, courtesy of Patrick Bowman's imaginative plotting and complex understanding of Greek mythology, their journey is neither direct nor easy, inviting the reader to accompany the motley crew from one adventure through some peril to another exploit. There is little respite for the reader or Alexi as the Pelagios sails for Ithaca. This instalment begins with the crew arriving on the island of Aeolia whose king keeps his people in order with threats of "polishings". Sadly, the king has not been advised about the fatal nature of "polishing" by the winds. To thank them for their candor, the king provides Lopex with a securely tied bag containing some energetic entity that would help them on their voyage. For three days, Lopex holds tight to the neck of that bag, never sleeping. But when the ships are only a day and a half away from home, Lopex falls asleep. Though Alexi tries to rouse him and secure the bag closed himself, the Greek brute Ury grabs it and releases the wind within, allowing hurricane forces to push the ship almost back to the very island from which they'd come. Lopex, seeing Alexi struggling to shut the bag that Ury had opened, accuses the boy of this traitorous act and deems him Ury's slave now, without the protection he'd enjoyed earlier. Now with a still greater distance to travel home, the crews of Lopex's ships resume their journey, stopping at an island of ship-wreckers who serve a cannibalistic queen and then one inhabited by a sorceress, Circe, who both tricks and aids the Greeks. Without revealing too much more (though a reading of Homer's Odyssey should provide more details), the crew of the Pelagios must delve into the hidden realm of Hades, home of the dead; attempt to resist the haunting songs of sirens; avoid a six-headed monster; and endure starvation on the island of Helios. Their travels are encumbered by so many obstacles that it's hard to believe that there would be opportunity for Alexi to continue to be victimized by Ury but, as one of Lopex's secondary leaders, the Greek bully finds the means to humiliate Alexi and plot his murder, believing Alexi knows something about the killing of Ury's brother at Troy. But, Cursed by the Sea God is as much about trust and friendship as the voyages, with Alexi often wondering about others' motivations and needs. Many middle-grade readers are currently enamoured with a series involving a boy named Percy who learns he is a demigod, but I believe that Patrick Bowman's Odyssey of a Slave series far surpasses it in the authenticity of dialogue and embedded perspective of the characters. Never does the text seem contrived or hollow, nor do the characters demonstrate the traits of anything but victors, slaves, warriors, and strangers with whom Alexi has encounters. Using time-slips to bridge across time periods demands that readers suspend disbelief but setting the story in an ancient civilization, as Patrick Bowman does in Cursed by the Sea God, as well as in Torn from Troy, and writing so evocatively and with complexity, there is no need for this suspension of disbelief. I began to consider the possibility that there really were sea monsters, witches, and animated beef parts in Ancient Greece and that their gods and mythology were all based in reality. That's an astounding accomplishment for a writer. Moreover, without leaving readers hanging tortuously in anticipation of the next volume, Patrick Bowman agreeably encourages his readers to return to learn more of Alexi's story. After the drama and the relentless adventures in Cursed by the Sea God, it may be difficult to wait for Book III, but wait I will, determined to know how Alexi's story gets resolved.
A year ago, fantasy YA author Lesley Livingston introduced her readers to the first of her new series, Starling, which focuses on the Fennrys Wolf (who first appeared in her award-winning Wondrous Strange series) and Mason Starling, a teen whose family is dedicated to the service of the Norse gods. When Book 1 in the series,Starling, ended, Fenn was attempting to keep Mason from crossing the Hell Gate Bridge (which is Bifrost, the link between the mortal world and Asgard, the realm of the Norse gods). But through the machinations of her nasty brother, Rory, Mason cannot get off the train crossing the bridge and Fenn is shot by Rory before the bridge explodes. Entering a barren wasteland, Mason is met by her mother, the hooded figure of Hel, who presides over those who died disgracefully. Though cautioned by Loki, a trickster god, about Hel's claims, Mason follows her mother's directions to get the Sword of Odin in order to escape from Asgard. Meanwhile, Fenn enlists the help of an Egyptian god, Rafe, and a former Janus Guard colleague, Maddox, to reach Mason before she unwittingly becomes a Valkyrie and sets off Ragnarok. Concurrently, Mason's Gosforth Academy classmates, whose families are all intricately involved in the service of the gods of Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian mythology, find themselves embroiled in power struggles that might result in the end of the world. Cal Aristarchos, who has always been in love with Mason, is rescued after falling from the Hell Gate Bridge, though his mother believes he has died. Reunited with his father and learning of his own demi-god status, Cal rushes to help Mason prevent his mother, Daria Aristarchos, from lashing out against the Starlings and performing a blood ritual on Mason's older brother Rothgar. But, with different factions working against each other and without full knowledge of the nature of their heritage, Mason and others lack the clarity to battle evil forces effectively. After all, who are the bad guys? Except for the honest love between Fennrys and Mason, everything and everyone are not as they always appear. Friends, brothers, love interests, fathers, mothers, even swords–they may harbour secrets, fears, magic, and illusions. Even the dead may appear to have life. And with the intertwining of ancient mythologies and deities, anything can and does happen. The nature of Mason's heritage, as well as that of Cal and Fennrys, drives Descendant, with prophecies waiting to be fulfilled or compelled to pass. Keeping in mind that the ancient mythologies were the basis for religious beliefs, with little opportunity for acceptance of other belief systems, the hierarchy of deities and duties may show few commonalities. Without common ground, there must be the battles for one to usurp the others. Be prepared to endure the manipulation of the young students of Gosforth Academy by their elders all in the cause of service to their gods. Sadly, the young teens, such as Mason, have no understanding of the extent to which they will be controlled. Descendant is an intense conflict between multiple forces of good and evil, played out on different stages, among the living and the dead, with players who might know the script or who can only improvise. With Descendant (and in fact with all of Lesley Livingston's books to date), the reader will never, never anticipate the climax or the ending. As with Lesley Livingston's other books, I finished Descendant muttering to myself, "Are you kidding me?" That translates into "Never saw that coming" and "Oh. My. Gosh." and "No!!! How am I going to wait until Starling Book 3 comes out?" Lesley Livingston snagged me again in her literary web of exceptional plotting, characters and atmosphere, and even left me appreciating the captivity.
Lesley Livingston takes the fantasy reader back to the New York City of her Wondrous Strange series but veers off in another direction, now focusing on the Fennrys Wolf, the Janus Guard who'd made an extreme sacrifice at the conclusion of Tempestuous.
The Starling of the title is Mason Starling, a student and avid fencer at the venerable Gosforth Academy. Well-protected (or over-protected?) by her very wealthy father, Gunnar Starling, and eldest brother Rothgar, Mason suffers from debilitating claustrophobia, courtesy of a childhood prank played on her by her other brother, Rory, during a game of hide-and-seek in which she was locked in a shed for days. Rory is hardly the caring older brother that Roth is to Mason. And, sadly, Mason does not have the comfort of a mother, her own dying giving birth.
When Mason, Rory, and their fencing teammates at Gosforth Academy are attacked by horrible, mutable creatures during a violent storm that knocks out all power, a beautiful, naked blond man, who identifies himself as the Fennrys Wolf, comes to their aid. Beyond using his sword to fight off the creatures he calls draugr, saving the life of Calum Aristarchos, who is in love with Mason, and reassuring the claustrophobic Mason (when the group shelters itself in a cellar), the Fennrys Wolf has little to offer about himself. He knows a lot about the draugr and such, but he doesn't know how he knows it.
After Fennrys gathers some clothes from the group he's sedated with magick, he goes off in search of some answers. He is attacked by centaurs, crosses the East River over a bridge called Hell Gate to Dead Ground, and reconnects with Mason whose dark blue eyes continue to haunt and mesmerize him. Mason is similarly drawn to Fennrys. Together they piece together bits of Fennrys' memories, including finding his warehouse apartment and a cache of weapons, and practise fencing, with Mason using a sword which Fennrys gifts to her. Of course, there seem to be a lot of strange entities coming after them - draugr, fireballs, nixxies - but Fennrys is determined to keep Mason safe.
Meanwhile, through Rory who has secretly availed himself of his father's old diary, the reader learns that the Starlings had dedicated their lives to the service of the Norse gods, by vowing to help bring about Ragnarok, the catastrophic end of the world, and thus the return of the gods to the mortal realm. There are other clans, however, in service to the gods of Greek and
Celtic worlds, for example, who are just as happy to leave the mortal world
as is. But, the appearance of the Fennrys Wolf, who has walked between the mortal world and the Dead, is seen by some as a harbinger of the end or the means by which Ragnarok may begin. Sadly, unbeknownst to all, Rory who has learned to do magick is determined to follow the Starlings' destiny.
So, while Fennrys and Mason fall in love, he learns more of his tragic story and the plots to manipulate him, and she questions her choices and tries to resolve discrepancies between what she feels and what she is told. Ultimately, both Mason and Fennrys become pawns in a larger-than-life plot that could lead to the end of the world.
That synopsis doesn't even come close to the depth and layering of plots and characterizations in Starling. There's a sharp learning curve about mythological concepts from various civilizations that Lesley Livingston obviously is well versed in. When they all come together, both in conflict and in harmony, the result is a multi-layered story in which it's almost impossible to know in whom to trust. That would explain Mason's own confusion: a father who seems to love her; contemptuous and contemptible Rory but her brother just the same; Roth who the readers learn has a few secrets of his own, including an alliance with the servants of the Greek gods; Calum who wants to share with her his fears of the mer-people but blames her for his injuries; and Fennrys, to whom she is drawn and who seems to adore her but whose arrival has resulted in such mayhem.
I'm delighted that Lesley Livingston has chosen to re-introduce the Fennrys Wolf by way of his own series, especially after his heart-breaking ending in Tempestuous. And her innovative and rich melding of the Faery world with the realms of classic mythology is inspired. After all, many belief systems, including today's religions, have similar or identical premises upon which they are founded. With the addition of Mason and Fennrys' romance, sibling rivalries, peer relationships, and a classic good-versus-evil theme, Starling is that first burst of explosion at the onset of Ragnarok - it's startling, it's overwhelming, and it's just the beginning.
An additional video of Lesley Livingston recording the audio version of Starling at the CBC studios in Toronto demonstrates why listening to Lesley Livingston read her story is as much of a treat as reading it.
Written by Patrick Bowman
Ronsdale Press
978-1-55380-110-8
199 pp.
Ages 10+
2011
Reading (and undoubtedly writing) a novel for children that is set in ancient times can be challenging, with its new vocabulary and cultural references, but the experience of immersing yourself in a completely foreign time-period is without equal. Learning about ancient civilizations using non-fiction texts is valuable but incomparable to living the life through a character. How many adults enjoy the experience of Canadian Pauline Gedge's Ancient Egypt in The King's Man Trilogy (Penguin Canada), 8th century China in Guy Gavriel Kay's book Under Heaven (Penguin, 2010) or Ancient Rome in the Marcus Didius Falco series (Lindsey Davis)? Our young readers have a rare opportunity to do the same here, with Patrick Bowman's Torn from Troy: Odyssey of a Slave (Ronsdale Press, 2011), a selection nominated for this year's Red Maple Fiction Award.
In Torn from Troy: Odyssey of a Slave, fifteen-year-old Alexi lives with his older sister, Melantha, in Troy when, after ten years of fighting, the Greeks capture the city using deceit and an infamous wooden structure. By sacrificing herself in attacking and killing a Greek soldier, Melantha helps Alexi escape, although he is captured the next day.
Taken as just another slave with other Trojans, Alexi's ability to speak Greek (his grandmother was Greek) wins him favour with the Greek commander, Lopex (a.k.a. Odysseus, son of Laertes). On board their ship, the Pelagios, Alexi's attention and cleverness continue to impress Lopex, but his tongue makes an enemy of him to Ury, a brute who Alexi learns is the brother of the Greek soldier killed by Melantha. After skirmishes with the Cicones (allies of Troy), Alexi is recognized as a healer, just as his father, Aristides of Herakleon, was and declared hagios (set apart as sacred) by Lopex.
Alexi's responsibilities continue to put him in tenuous situations: stupefied by the ophion and ministrations of Apollonia and the beautiful women of her town; fabricating stories (about miasms sent from Poseidon) to appease the Greeks threatening revolt; and surviving the attack by a legendary one-eyed creature. Luckily, Alexi's good sense and cunning win him allies amongst the slaves and Greeks alike, save for Ury who continues to tyrannize the boy.
Alexi's exploits and ordeals command the reader's attention and support, but it's his sense of justice and loyalty that will endear him to the reader. I found Bowman's writing captivating, although I might recommend that a glossary of Greek terminology be included to explain terms whose meanings could not discerned. Regardless, the mystery which Alexi ultimately feels he must uncover (you'll need to read the book for this) will ensure my reading of his subsequent adventure, The Sea God's Curse (Ronsdale Press, fall 2012).
