My history with this book starts a few months ago when I purchased a book called 'Who Let the Gods Out'. It looked bold and different and frankly who could argue with a title like that? I took a chance, took it home and started to read; then did that really annoying thing that parents do to their kids when they feel they've hit upon something brilliant.
"Son, son, you've gotta check this book out!" I yelled like a giddy school girl. Luckily for me, my son is quite patient with me. We have a tradition where myself or my hubby reads to him every night which I love. On this particular night he indulged my repetitive nagging by choosing 'Who Let the Gods Out' as our next book.
We flew through it; lapping up it's fresh perspective, wonderful humor and soap opera drama.
Not long after the release of it's sequel 'Simply The Quest' I had the incredible fortune to meet the author, the lovely Maz Evans, who took the time to sign a copy not only for my son but also for the school I worked for.
I was a proper fan girl, it was that exciting! But nothing made me happier than to see my boy's face when I got home with his signed copy.
Then we reached the third book in the series 'Beyond the Odyssey' and a truly heartbreaking turn of events. We got the book in as soon as we could and sat down that first night to read the first two chapters. But I left the book in his room that night, thinking he was going to sleep. When he came downstairs the next morning however, he'd read two thirds of the book... ...on his own (insert a line full of sad faces here)!
I was in despair until he came to his own defence and called me out for sneaking peaks at the last chapter!
That is how addictive these stories are though, 'Beyond the Odyssey' being no exception. The writing style is well paced, the characters feel realistic: you can connect and empathise with them.
The series centres around young Elliot Hooper, who is trying to care for and protect his mother, the poor woman having been seized by the terminal grip of dementia. With mum being his only carer, he is already trying to hide his problems from the wider world, which includes Mr Boil (the most irritating history teacher in history) and Mrs Porshley Plum (the hellish heffer of a neighbour whose devious schemes are immoral and nothing short of pure evil).
Now lets throw into the mix a disgraced constellation and ex member of the zodiac council Virgo (who is always right by the way) and the Greek Gods: Zeus, Aprodite, Athene, Hermes and Hephestus who land on Elliot's doorstep.
Then place the ticking time bomb between the Gods and the Deamon of Death (Thanatos) that is the race for the chaos stones (4 stones that control pretty much everything). For good measure, lets just plonk Elliot right in the centre of that race as he seems to be the key to controling the overwhelming powers of the four chaos stones.
By this third installment Elliot is embroiled in all of this whilst trying to cure his mother's illness and rekindle a relationship with his newly released ex-convict father and facing scrutiny from the authorities, who have concerns over his safeguarding and welfare. The drama is unceasing and yet there were parts of the book which had me laughing out loud.
The language is easily accessible, with a few nuggets of beautiful vocabulary dropped carefully in like the perfect seasoning. I found reading this book something akin to climbing up to the top diving board at the pool (which is a stupid thing I would've done on a dare many years ago when I was a kid and had more brass than common sense).
The whole book series so far has felt like a long road, not without it's heart aches and sacrifices.
Now I'm standing on that precipice, sick with rage towards certain characters (not from the height) whilst wanting to cry for others (not because I've realised my own stupidity).
At the very heart of this series though is a love between a mother and her son. Lord knows I can relate to that.
It will take all my courage to leap into that final book when it comes out. But I'll breathe, brace myself and make that dive. I'm just hoping that, even though he'll be that little bit older by the time the book is released, my son will take that dive with me.
A book from a trilogy or series this is book 18 of my 52 book list.
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