Review: Sons of Zeus

Sons of Zeus by Noble Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I received a free copy of this audiobook through the First Reads program here on Goodreads. Thanks to the author, publisher, and Goodreads for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Now that was a pleasant surprise. Well, I did expect to like this book as the idea seemed really interesting, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. An interesting premise became an engaging story.

I listened to the audiobook of this, which I received as a GoodReads First Reads Giveaway. I was pleased with that, as a lot of the audios I listen to are historical fiction, and this seemed to fit the niche just right. And while it had lots of what I enjoy about historical fiction from the time period (ancient Greece), it also improved on some.

The battles. Sometimes I find that battles are too drawn out in historical fiction. Too detailed, they often drag on and lose my interest in the telling. But what I liked about Smith's battle descriptions is that he gives it to us in small chunks, then moves the story on to something else. We get the feel of the fighting without the play-by-play that so often becomes tedious.

The characters. I really found myself liking the characters here. There were a lot of them, and it was tough at first to keep up with all of them. (This is a drawback to audio and epics - without seeing the names, I have a harder time learning them. Also, no point of easy reference to go back and look them up). But once I got a handle on who's who, I cared about what happened to them. The villains were pretty cool as well, and even sympathetic at times.

Some of the character voices were a bit off, but that was more the narrator's interpretation than what the story had. I did feel like the dialogue was a bit too "modern" at times, but that did make it easier to follow as well. So there are two sides to that coin.

I'm purposely vague with character names and specific comments for two reasons. One, I'm not sure of the spelling of many (see audio comment above). But more importantly, I don't want to post any spoilers. I'd like anyone that picks this book up to enjoy the discovery as much as I did.

Let's just say I'm very much looking forward to book 2 in the series. From what I understand, it is a planned trilogy. Which should be just about right.



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