Title: Pantheons
Series: Pantheons #1
Author: E.J. Dabel
Genre: YA, urban fantasy, mythology
Publication date: January 5th 2012
Published by: Sea Lion Books
Source: e-book from the publishers (Thanks!)
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Buy it: Amazon
Synopsis:
On the streets, they call fifteen year old orphan Isaiah Marshall the “Indestructible Diamond”. Isaiah is the leader of the “Redrovers,” a group of teenage misfits consisting of his friends Jeremy, Monty, and Pipsqueak, but when they trespass into “Kaliber Academy” to get even with the arrogant Jason Ollopa, they are in way over their heads.
Principal Webb enrolls them into the High School and Isaiah soon learns about the existence of the gods of the Ancient World. Because the gods have refused to fight the last War for fear of the Mysterious Dark, the Powers-that-Be have stripped them of their spiritual bodies and given them mortal, teenage forms.
Isaiah discovers he's not only a god, but that he's the child of the Greek goddess Metis, the son destined to overthrow his cruel and sadistic father Zeus, the Darkener of the Sky, and become the greatest god in all the Pantheons.
Isaiah is thrown into a world where the democratic Olympians, war-mongering Norse, Gothic Celts, firstborn Egyptians, the enlightened Hindu, the animal-like Aztecs, the martial artist Asians, the intelligent Babylonians, the great spirits of the Native American Indians, and the fierce Finnish will war against one another for the greatest of all prizes: the Dominion.
Let me tell you a little story about Zeus, the Greek god of the sky, and his first wife Metis, an Oceanid and Greek goddess of wisdom:
During the Titan War, Metis acted as Zeus’s counselor and advisor. And way before that, Metis was the one who advised and gave Zeus the potion that would make Kronos throw up his children (I’m not going to get into that story, though). Soon after Zeus and Metis married, she became pregnant with a daughter who would become Athena. However, there was a prophecy that Zeus heard about that said that if Metis were to give Zeus a son, that son would be very powerful and he would overthrow Zeus, just like Zeus did to his father, Kronos. Fearful and not knowing that the child Metis carried was a girl, Zeus tricked Metis into turning into a fly...then he swallowed her! And then this leads to Athena’s unusual birth, which I’m not going to get into either, though it very tempting, lol. You guys should totally check it out if you haven’t done so already, it’s very interesting!
In Pantheons, Zeus doesn’t know that Metis did actually give birth to a son, as well…a son that is prophesized to overthrow Zeus. And that son is Isaiah Marshall.
I thought the author did a fantastic job taking this myth and making it his own! Very creative! Love it!
So as the prophecy says, Isaiah is destined to overthrow his father. And what better thing to help fulfill this than his anger toward Zeus for killing his mother? Yes, Isaiah is determined to kill Zeus.
Let me tell you, Isaiah is a very strong character; he went through some serious character development. I mean, how can he not when he finds out that he is a freakin’ god, his parents are/were gods too, his dad killed his mom, and he learns about some prophecy he is supposed to fulfill! Crazy stuff.
Isaiah trains for a tournament in which one god from each of the ten Pantheons participates. If Isaiah wins this tournament, he will be that much closer to actually having a chance at beating his dear ol’ dad. Talking about the tournament, it was intense! I really liked the alternating point of views between one god and another.
Overall, I thought it was a really good read! I mean, as a mythology nerd, how can I not love a book that incorporates like 10 different Pantheons of gods?! The best part is that although there are so many different mythologies going on, it isn’t overwhelming! And the even greater part: the books main focus is Greek mythology, my favorite! :D
Oh I can’t wait for book 2! It’s going to be great!
Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)
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